Mara Ferreira de Camargo Gabas (photo), a lawyer and journalist, was born in the Brazilian city of Catanduva, in the state of São Paulo, where she still lives. She is a Spiritist from childhood, having received strong influence from her grandfather. Mother of an autistic child, our interviewee has joined forces with other mothers and founded the Corujas do Bem (Owls for Good) Project. Their activities with autistic children are carried out at the Joanna de Ângelis Spiritist Educational Unit in her hometown, as she explains in the following interview.

When and how did the Corujas do Bem Project begin?

My younger son, Rafael, who is 10, is autistic. I always talk about him in my radio broadcasts. I then realised that there are so many other children like him at home, without any treatment. I tried to help them with therapies, but they were not necessarily the right ones. That is when I came up with the dream of having a top quality school for autistic children, and free of charge. One day Angelca Cacciari, of the Joanna de Ângelis in Catanduva came to visit me at the radio station. She found out about my dream and donated her family’s school, which closed in the afternoons. If you want to find out more about it, you can search on Facebook and Instagram forPROJETO CORUJAS DO BEM, Catanduva (SP).

What has your journey been like from your personal experience with an autistic son until finding Spiritism and putting this project into practice?

Spiritism has played a crucial role in helping me understand that there are lies in other ways and we are here to learn. Otherwise I would be completely unbalanced now. I find many explanations in the Teachings. The implementation of the Project came naturally. It was something that came from above for me and something I, as well as the other mothers (who coincidentally are all Spiritists too) dedicate all our love to.

What about the name CORUJAS DO BEM? What is the idea behind it? And how many children do you help at the moment?

We are all proud mums, or owl mothers [as we say in Brazil]. The power motherhood has is something we cannot measure. We look after 30 children now.

What can you say, based on your experience, to mothers of autistic children?

It is a very difficult situation. You need a great deal of love, patience and to give up many things. It requires full time dedication, teaching the same things every day, and often without seeing any progress. We need to celebrate like big victories the small signs of improvement. One at a time.

Rafael is not verbal. After the Project, he has improved a lot. He is calmer and he is able to understand the things around them and the commands we give better.

How do you deal with the differences that result from the different levels of autism?

There are different levels indeed. Each autistic person has a different way and that is why the Project has an individual agenda of therapies designed for each child.

Do you charge for the CORUJAS DO BEM services?

It is free of charge. The parents who can afford make donations. And we organise many fundraising events to help pay the bills, including lunches, rafts and talks. We provide occupational therapy in a special room designed for autistic children, we have speech therapists, fisiotherapy, personal trainer, music teacher, we offer them cooking lessons as well as all the educational side. We went to the United States in 2017 to visit some schools for autistic children and we have brought back some methods that we can implement here, like the communication through images for non-verbal kids. Our activities are in the afternoon. The children come in at 1pm and leave at 5pm.

What is the contact for those willing to make donations or help in other ways? 

Please get in touch with me through our profile on Facebook or Instagram.

What is the strongest impression left on you from all your years in that area?

I think is the solidarity in general and the support we have received for the project. So many people have been moved by our proposal and end up helping us as often as they can.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

May our Project become an inspiration for the mothers of other autistic children in other cities so they can get together and set up a school for their children. It is a very gratifying process.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity of sharing a bit of the history of the Corujas do Bem Project. For us, the Corujas do Bem is a dream come true.