Within a difficult social setting the starting point for change is the personal learning experiences of those struggling for the change. The learning experiences of people belonging to a community of underprivileged in Brazil are presented in this article in order to recognise how sustainable change is rooted in personal learning experiences. The article is constructed of a collection of stories which will illustrate examples of personal experiences that brought about a change in the lives of those people. The interviews were collected during my field visit in Brazil in 2005. The interviews with the local population engaged in finding practical solutions to their difficult life conditions, in addition to the testimony of a representative of the local government, assert that sustainable change is fully inherent to learning experiences. (Contains 1 figure.)