Government of The State of Pernambuco - My First Letter

"The story of the oldest student in the world who inspired many other elderly people to return to school to become literate."

Context:

In 2024, Pernambuco once again stood out in the Brazilian educational landscape, achieving third place in the Basic Education Development Index (IDEB) among the nation’s 27 states. This result reflects the consistent efforts of the State Department of Education to overcome historical challenges in the sector.

Despite the progress, school dropout rates, especially among students over 18 years old, remain a significant challenge. Combating this issue is a priority for the state government. Actions such as implementing quality school transportation, improving school infrastructure, creating paid mentoring projects, professional initiation programs, and training initiatives have been adopted to address dropout rates. Additionally, the government seeks to encourage adults to return to school to complete elementary education through initiatives like the Youth and Adult Education program (EJA).

Briefing:

In this context, the State Government requested an end-of-year campaign with the primary goal of reinforcing the message about the transformative impact of education on people’s lives and society. The idea was to move away from traditional Christmas campaigns and create a unique narrative aligned with the government’s 2024 focus: investing in education and combating school dropout rates.

The campaign’s main piece would be an emotional film, aired on Christmas Day and kept in circulation throughout January. The focus was to present the state as an agent of transformation in people’s lives, regardless of age.

Idea:

During brainstorming sessions and creative research, we discovered the story of Maria Edelzuita, a 95-year-old woman from Pernambuco. She is recognized as the oldest student in the world and has become a major celebrity in her city and across Brazil, with media coverage in various mass communication outlets that told her incredible story.

Edelzuita surpassed the Guinness World Record holder, Kenyan Kimani Maruge Ng’ang’a, by 10 years, as he achieved this feat at 84 years old.
Maria Edelzuita began studying at 93, driven by her dream of learning to read and write—a right that was denied to her in childhood. Her father, a farmer, prohibited her from attending school, believing it was dangerous for girls to study because they might write “love letters to boyfriends.”

Although she couldn’t study herself, Maria Edelzuita prioritized the education of her nine children, all of whom completed high school and chose their professions. Only after losing her husband, with whom she shared 60 years of her life, did she decide to pursue her childhood dream and enroll in school.

Inspired by this incredible story, we had the idea: “Let’s have Maria Edelzuita write her first letter to Santa Claus at the age of 95.”

Execution and Results:

We created a 2-minute film in which Maria Edelzuita writes a letter to Santa Claus in her own handwriting, narrating her life story and the significance of achieving her dream of literacy. At the end of the film, she reveals that the greatest gift she could ever receive that Christmas had already been achieved: the ability to write the letter she had dreamed of since childhood.

The film was aired on Christmas Day 2024 and widely shared on social media. It became one of the most shared videos in the country, with millions of views and shares. On the same day, it reached the trending topics on the X platform (formerly Twitter).

The campaign not only touched the public but also generated tangible results: there was a significant increase in enrollments in the EJA program for 2025, particularly among elderly participants. Additionally, Maria Edelzuita’s story became the subject of educational inclusion projects in several universities across the country, inspiring new initiatives focused on keeping young and adult students in school.