From the streets of South America to a scholarship at USC

Nayana Reis(l) with Peter and Jane Brissette Three people in Columbia are happy with the turn of events that brought a student from Brazil to the U.S.: Nayana Reis, and Peter and Jane Brissette. This newly–created family has provided opportunity for one determined and ambitious young woman and a home with the Brissettes.

“We skipped the diapers and toddlers and teenage years,” says Jane Brissette. “We now have a grown daughter to love as one of our own.”

Nayana was one of the “street children” of South America in a land overwhelmed with abandoned and homeless children.

“My father died of AIDS and my mother of cancer when I was nine years old,” she said. “I was separated from my brother Thayan, age 11, and my sister Tatiana, 7. We were sent to foster homes and were abused, made to work as slaves. Each of us ran away from the places we had been sent.

“When I was 12, I took a bus to another city and found the social services department. They promised to help our family get together. They found Thayan living at a place called Hope Unlimited in Campinas. He was safe, going to school and learning new skills; he was loved and well treated.”

Many Americans know of the work of Hope Unlimited, founded by Philip Smith and now led by his son Jack. It started as a school for boys living on the street, providing a safe environment and education. About the time Nayana found her brother, Hope Unlimited had opened a school for girls on the same campus. At age 12, Nayana became the very first student enrolled there. Four years later, their sister Tatiana arrived at Hope Unlimited. At last the three were together.

Philip Smith had been in frequent contact with Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia, and that congregation saw Hope Unlimited as a mission opportunity. For 15 years, Eastminster has sent money, supplies, and more than two dozen work teams to Campinas. That’s how Jane and Peter Brissette met Nayana in her early teens.

Nayana is a student in English Programs for Internationals (EPI) at the University of South Carolina. “It has been my dream to get an education, learn English, and work in some area of international diplomacy,” says Nayana. “I want to help people in distress or danger, especially children.”

Nayana has become an advocate for Hope Unlimited, and since arriving in South Carolina last summer has traveled around the country telling her story and doing fundraising for the agency that saved her life. Ultimately, she would like to earn a master’s degree in International Business at U.S.C.

As for the Brissettes, they will be welcoming into their home another international student, this one from Uruguay, who is beginning his studies at USC.