The favela "Monte Azul" (Blue Mountain) was the origin of the Monte Azul Community Association (ACOMA). However, soon after its establishment, the work was expanded on two further favelas (slums) - the "Favela Peinha" in Monte Azul's neighborhood and the worker quarter of "Horizonte Azul", situated in the periphery of São Paulo. In all three favelas, ACOMA's work has its emphasis on education and upbringing as well as culture and healthcare.

are the main areas of activity of the ACOMA. In the nursery, kinder garden, preschool and school-accompanying youth groups, as well as in the job preparatory workshop, there are currently about a thousand children being cared for. Artistic activities and healthy nourishment, as well as medical assistance, are all crucial factors in the attempt to depart from the self-defeating cycle of a catastrophic educational system and impoverished conditions.

ACOMA's goal is to improve child and adolescent education by not merely equipping the students with knowledge, but by also encouraging their personal development through active participation. This involves teaching the child to take its life into its own hands, to conduct it with self-responsibility, and to thereby alter the harsh reality in which it lives.

Through the Waldorf pedagogy, anthroposophical medicine, and the search for innovative ideas in the fields of communal education, ACOMA attempts to stimulate the development of the individual as well as of the community as a whole.

In the Ambulatório (Monte Azul's ambulatory station), employed and voluntary helpers work together. Roughly 1300 patients stemming from the association's three favelas, but also from other parts of the city, seek the medical assistance of doctors, dentists, nurses, psychologists, and other therapists. Anthroposophical medicine forms the basis of this daily therapy treatment, which is enhanced by birth assistance, family planning, health education, and other precautionary measures.

The Cultural Center of Monte Azul is a key part of ACOMA's social work. What started as a dance and theater group for children and adolescents has become a solid entity in São Paulo's cultural landscape.

The center endorses the cultural blossoming of a big city slum by introducing its inhabitants to music, theater, and dance. It also gives them the chance to attend the shows of renowned Brazilian artists who are sponsored by cultural institutions and private industry. On the other hand, ACOMA's support of talent within the favela has enabled numerous professional artistic careers to take shape.