Miqueias Borges is one of the leaders awarded a scholarship at English Path in London
As the first person in his family to go abroad, Miqueias Borges, coordinator of the Soul Bilíngue program, will debut his international experience with style. He will study for three weeks in London, England, with English Path, a partner of the social institution. The classes start on the 11th.
The 27-year-old leader, who started in 2018 at the NGO as a volunteer, believes he started his English studies late. Despite having contact with the language when he was younger, the desire to learn the second language only came when he joined Soul Bilíngue.
"During these years at Soul, my desire to learn English has grown when discovering how much it opens doors to many opportunities," says the coordinator.
According to the CEO and founder of Soul Bilíngue, Ariane Noronha, bringing exchange opportunities to leaders has always been in the plans. "The entire team needs to understand the effects that an international experience offers. After all, we promote international experiences at Soul. I'm sure it will be a life-changing experience for Miqueias and everyone on the team".
Miqueias was born and raised in the east area of São Paulo. He graduated in Psychology at the University of Mogi das Cruzes as a PROUNI scholarship holder. Since his graduation, he has always pursued volunteering in social organizations that help low-income youth.
MIQUEIAS & SOUL BILÍNGUE
The relationship with Soul Bilíngue started naturally. The first contact with the organization took place in 2018, when Soul Bilíngue was still a project. Ariane Noronha, the organization's founder, and Miqueias met at the NGO Gerando Falcões, where they both worked. Ariane was an English teacher, and Miqueias was a social educator.
"One day at lunch, Ariane told me about a project she was planning to do. I thought it was amazing from the first moment," explains Miqueias.
Also, in 2018, Miqueias joined the group of volunteer psychologists in the Soul Bilíngue program. Gradually, the bond with the social initiative became stronger. Besides the appointments with the students, he helped Ariane in the selection process of new classes until the end of the edition.
From volunteer to program coordinator, in 2019, he became part of the team full-time. Miqueias says he found an opportunity to create Soul Bilíngue collectively. "Within four years of Soul, I matured and developed several skills."
His trajectory at Soul Bilíngue led him to be one of the leaders awarded the English exchange scholarship. The coordinator says he was not aware of the impact that an international experience could have on people's lives before joining the organization.
"Before Soul, I hadn't had many references from people with a similar reality to mine who had had an international experience. Now that I am about to have this experience, I feel excited, full of expectations, and grateful to everyone involved in making this dream come true," says Miqueias.
Thinking about the future, Miqueias wants to reach a higher level of proficiency in English that will allow him to talk to people from all over the world and have more international experiences.