[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
[October 15, 1997]
[Pages 1372-1373]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 1372]]


Remarks at the Vila Olimpica da Mangueira School in Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil
October 15, 1997

    Hello! Governor Alencar, Mayor Conde, Mr. Dos Santos, teachers and 
students of Vila Olimpica, family and friends of Mangueira. It is a 
special pleasure for me to be once again with Pele--or should I say 
Minister Pele. After he turned Brazil into a soccer superpower, he 
attracted millions to soccer in the United States and around the world. 
But his most important work is now being done as he shows that sport can 
serve our children for a lifetime. Thank you for your passion and your 
dedication and especially for your work here. Thank you, Pele.
    Thank you, Flavia, for your words of welcome. Didn't she do a good 
job? [Applause] As the first student from Vila Olimpica to attend 
university, you bring pride to your family, your school, the entire 
community of Mangueira. You're an inspiration to young people everywhere 
who are striving to make the most of their God-given potential.
    The students may wonder what we are doing here today. We are here 
because children are the future of the partnership between Brazil and 
the United States. Children are the future of our world. And I did not 
come alone; my wife and I brought with us the American Secretary of 
State, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Commerce, the 
Ambassador to the United Nations, our envoy to Latin America, the head 
of our program to keep our children away from drugs, five Members of the 
United States Congress, the United States Ambassador to Brazil, and the 
Brazilian Ambassador to the United States. They all came. I'd like to 
ask our American delegation, the people from the White House, stand up 
and let the children see that we care about their future. [Applause]
    On this Brazilian teachers day, I congratulate Director Francisco 
Carvalho, the teachers, and staff of Vila Olimpica for all you have 
accomplished. And I thank Xerox of Brazil for the vital support they, 
along with other companies, give to Camp Mangueira. Xerox is a good 
citizen of Brazil and of the United States. Today Xerox Business 
Services back home has been awarded the prestigious U.S. Department of 
Commerce Malcolm Baldrige Award for good citizenship. Thank you for what 
you do here, and thank you for what you do back in America.
    I know it is not easy for young people like you to sit in the hot 
sun and listen to an older person like me give a speech. I will try to 
be brief. But I want you to know why it's important for me to be here 
and important for you to be here. We should not stop until every child 
in Brazil and throughout the Americas has the opportunity you have here 
at Mangueira. For here, school attendance is nearly perfect. Dropout and 
juvenile crime rates have plummeted. The Camp Mangueira work-study 
program helps young people find apprenticeships, putting them on a fast 
track to good jobs and good incomes. And you're preparing high school 
students of the Ciep High School to work in Brazil's high-tech economy. 
Very simply, you are giving Mangueira's children a future. Every day you 
prove that if we in positions of responsibility do our job, then all the 
children of this neighborhood and every other one like it throughout the 
Americas will be able to build a better life for themselves and for 
their children.
    This morning in Sao Paulo I spoke to business leaders about the 
remarkable possibilities of the new economy and about the practical and 
moral obligation we have to give everyone who will work for it a chance 
to be a part of the future we are building, beginning with excellent 
education for all our children. Only then can they compete and succeed 
in the new economy, keep our companies on the cutting edge of the 
world's marketplace, and build here and elsewhere a great middle class 
to strengthen democracy and stabilize society.
    It is wrong for only a few to reap the benefits of the wonderful 
changes going on while the many remain mired in poverty. That is a 
betrayal of our values of individual integrity and equal opportunity, 
and in the end, it will erode faith in democracy and free markets. Those 
who have will do better by giving a hand up to those who deserve their 
chance too. In the information age, after all, the true wealth of 
nations lies in the minds and the hearts of our people, especially our 
children.

[[Page 1373]]

    Brazil and the United States have made education a top priority. And 
I salute President Cardoso, himself a teacher, the husband of a teacher, 
the father of a teacher, for his determination to improve primary and 
secondary schools so all Brazilians can make the most of their lives. 
President Cardoso has targeted some of the profits from your farsighted 
privatization program to education. It's the only example of the money 
not going to reduce Brazil's debt. In so doing, he has made it clear 
that he believes Brazil's most important debt is to its children. 
Educating all of them is the best investment Brazil can make.
    We are also committed in Brazil and the United States to making 
technology available to all of our students. A few moments ago, I met 
with four students from here--Jamilla DeAbril Belasa and three young 
men, Daniel, Antonio, and Marcos Frederick--and we were on the Internet 
talking back and forth to students in other schools. Jamilla and I used 
a Vila Olimpica computer to exchange messages over the Internet with 
students in Woodbridge, Virginia, including a young exchange student 
from Brazil.
    Proper technology and instruction, new methods of distance learning, 
place a universe of knowledge at the hands of all of our students. 
Windows replace walls and open new horizons for children here in 
Mangueira and everywhere. We can light the fire of the imagination and 
put the dreams of all children within their reach. We are going to work 
with Brazil to give all students access to this kind of technology, to 
set standards to measure progress, to improve teacher training, to 
increase more exchange of students between our nations, and to help more 
families in communities and businesses get involved in the education of 
our children.
    I want to especially thank the International Data Group of Brazil 
for coordinating the formation of the Tech Corps of Brazil, helped by 
Gary Beach, who founded the United States Tech Corps. These volunteers 
will assist schools with planning and support and training as they bring 
the kind of new technologies into their classrooms that I saw here 
today.
    We must do more. And we must be honest with our children. We know 
that education and technology alone will not abolish poverty and 
inequality, but they do give people what they need to lift themselves 
up, to join the emerging global society, and to make the most of their 
own lives.
    We have to understand what is at stake here. World-class education 
for all children is necessary for the economic well-being of our 
nations, vital for maintaining the fairness that holds societies 
together, and essential for fulfilling the most basic needs of the human 
spirit. In one sentence, we do not have a single child to waste.
    Every child enters this world with a great gift from God, the power 
to dream. But that gift can be lost through poverty, relentless 
deprivation, the daily defeat of hope. We have no greater responsibility 
than to nourish that power to dream with education for the children of 
Mangueira, Brazil, the United States, all the Americas. For it is the 
dreams of our children that will shape our lives in a new century, in a 
new millennium.
    Thank you, Mangueira, for making those dreams come alive. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:10 p.m. on the soccer field. In his 
remarks, he referred to Gov. Marcellor Alencar of the state of Rio de 
Janeiro; Mayor Luiz Conde of Rio de Janeiro; Elmo Jose Dos Santos, 
president, Mangueira Community Association; former professional soccer 
player Pele, Minister of Extraordinary Sports of Brazil; Flavia Pecanha, 
who introduced the President; and Francisco Carvalho, director, Vila 
Olimpica da Mangueira.