Our History

Comunidade Rio Flow

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Comunidade Rio Flow is a social project with the mission of building a community of both long-term volunteers from Rio and people from all over the world who stay in our houses during their time with us. We manage the houses and also run programs overseen by our partner NGO, Ser Alzira da Aleluia (CNPJ: 06.065.394/0001-42).

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Ser Alzira da Aleluia (Our Partner NGO)

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Ser Alzira was founded in 2003 by Elma and Antonio Alzira da Aleluia. Now in his mid-70s, Seu Antonio was born in the house that is now the NGO. He was from one of the first families to settle in Vidigal. He was the first Black man from Vidigal to go to university and became a professor of Engineering. We are making a short film about Seu Aleluia’s incredible life.

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We are committed to providing opportunities for today’s generation of children in Vidigal to explore their God-given talents and choose the lives they wish to live.

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We are an inclusive community, where all are welcome to come and get excited and curious about exploring their abilities in sports, languages, social entrepreneurship, and much more. Rio de Janeiro is a deeply unequal city, and Ser Alzira is committed to lessening these inequalities and bringing people together.

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Above the door of the NGO hangs a sign:

Arrive as students and leave as teachers.

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Our Story: How Was Comunidade Rio Flow Born?

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The Beginning: Casa do Mar English School (2016)

In 2016, Larry and Meg started teaching English out of their house, creating the Casa do Mar English School. They understood that while there are no easy solutions to poverty, fluency in English can be the easiest way for children and adults who have grown up in insecure, unstructured environments to gain confidence in their intellectual abilities, improve their job prospects, and feel ready to create their own lives.

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The project started small and was deeply connected to the community, mentoring students in the area as they grew.

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In his mid-50s when he moved to Vidigal, Larry turned his house into a hostel to finance the social project, but also because he found young people and their enthusiasm to fight for social justice inspiring. He wanted to create a place to build “social justice warriors.” After 30 years working in liberal churches in the US, where his focus was on affordable housing campaigns, he understood how difficult the fight was, but also how rewarding it is to feel a part of something bigger than oneself.

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In partnership with Guto, Larry and Meg started climbing classes with the kids to teach life lessons but also to give opportunities for kids from the favela to feel some ownership of their city, which can claim to be the climbing capital of the world.

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Expansion and New Leadership (2023)

In September 2023, James arrived at the project to manage things for Larry while he took a break. James had met Larry while traveling in Rio in February 2023. He had finished an economics undergraduate degree at McGill University in Montréal and then spent a few years working in greenhouses in Montréal and jumping between finance internships, afraid to get sucked into a career path that wasn’t for him.

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Like many other volunteers who have come to stay with us, James came to Brazil for a good time, to explore a new culture and lifestyle, but when he stumbled upon Casa do Mar, he found Larry as a mentor to discuss philosophy, who asked him, “What would be your dream job?” After a few weeks of chatting at beaches and climbing waterfalls, James decided he probably would have to agree with Larry: using whatever skills to help small, inspiring social projects doing beautiful work to expand their impact, all while living alongside friends in a community, in a beautiful place.

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Before moving to Brazil, James returned to Canada to manage the MWS Student Camps Montréal location, one of Canada’s most prestigious summer camps, where he was responsible for 150 kids for six weeks (half of whom lived on site) and a team of 20 camp counselors. He stumbled into this opportunity, originally applying because he wanted to spend his last summer in Montréal playing football with kids and saving some money before the move to Vidigal. But through a fortunate series of events, he was asked to manage the camp, reporting directly to the head office in Toronto. At 25, he was asked to be “the adult in the room,” and after seven years of carefree (sometimes aimless) university days, huge responsibility hit him. The six weeks were the most grueling and exhilarating of his life, and he fell in love with summer camp culture and returned the following year for the same position. As a kid who’d grown up in the British countryside, North American summer camps were a foreign concept, but he had the privilege of working alongside some coworkers who became friends for life, and the experience served as a sort of crash course in educational management, setting him up well for life in Vidigal.

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Arriving in Vidigal in September 2023 to manage Casa do Mar and the small team of two to three volunteers, and six hours of weekly classes, James was excited by the challenge, humbled by how much learning there was to be done, and struck by how obvious it was that he could not bring any of these plans to life without the help of partners and friends from Vidigal.

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Building the Team (Late 2023 - 2025)

With Larry’s daily mentorship and beginner’s enthusiasm powering him through the first rocky three months, Victor arrived in December 2023. Just at the right time.

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Originally from Pavuna, a favela in the north of Rio, Victor arrived as the first paid cleaner to improve standards in the house, bringing with him an unparalleled Carioca charm and excitement to connect with people arriving from all over the world. Victor poured love into the house and helped turn it into a really loving, cohesive community.

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In that first year, Victor juggled the jobs of four people as he and James worked to build partnerships with five local NGOs, teaching 150 students. As more volunteers arrived, we were able to take on Lydia as a full-time teacher. Within three to four months, James had taught Victor English and Victor taught James Portuguese, at least enough to build partnerships and provide support.

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Our strong ongoing partnership with the Associação de Moradores in Vidigal (local council) helped the project reach many more students and gain credibility. It was a privilege to be welcomed in as partners by Marcius and Luiz at Favela Bilíngue (Benfica), Laelson and Lindete at the Igreja Metodista (Vidigal), and Tio Nando, Ulisses, and the team at CSECR (Rocinha). We have learned so much from them and are inspired by their small but deeply impactful community organizations.

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In March 2025, we opened a new house to accommodate our growing team of permanent staff, oversaw a huge two-week renovation project, and grew to hosting about 20 volunteers staying with us each month.

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Growth and a New Chapter (2025 - Present)

Two and a half years later, we are a team of ten, eight of whom are Brazilian, and have strengthened and grown our relationships with all our partners. A strong permanent team has allowed us to raise our standards and provide continuity and high-quality classes for our students and meaningful mentoring opportunities for our volunteers. All of this is possible thanks to volunteers who pay a nightly fee for their accommodation (equivalent to a cheap hostel).

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There were a lot of growing pains during the process, but it was a fascinating one, and we have come out of it with a resilient, strong program. We prioritize making our classes fun, but are proud to reliably provide high-quality classes for free for residents in Vidigal, coordinated by professionals and assisted by volunteers, while still giving our 20 volunteers the same care and attention as when the project was smaller. We never want to lose that, because it makes the project special, and our volunteers keep extending their stays and coming back.

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In December 2025, James and Victor founded Comunidade Rio Flow as a sister project to Escola Casa do Mar. It carries the torch with the same values and mission and most of the same team, but focuses on sports, arts, and social entrepreneurship, while Escola Casa do Mar continues with the English classes.

In January 2026, Daniel and Guto, our two professional sports coordinators, launched a new sports program encompassing a daily after-school sports club in Vidigal and a Saturday morning club in Rocinha.

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Comunidade Rio Flow also runs future iterations of our Social Entrepreneurship Program, where a team of volunteers, guided by Brazilian graphic design and marketing specialists, work alongside an inspiring founder from Vidigal on developing their social project over the course of four weeks.