CARTA A CRISTINE TAKUÁ
Com terra nas mãos e verde nos olhos
Veronica Pinheiro
21 de outubro de 2024
Greetings, dear Cris.
Your words always arrive at dawn. With them, my eyes long to be the sea and they water while dancing among your "delicating" words. I salute the guardian spirits of the beings who keep you on a good path.
It's been raining here for days. I've heard some humans complaining about the rain; the birds, however, are so happy that they sing all day long. Along with the plants in the backyard, they remind me that the Earth can also play with the sky. With the birds I've learnt to celebrate the days. At home I've learnt to celebrate the cycles.
Listening to your talk about the consecration of Ka'a reminds me of the festivities back home. The festivities would bring the whole community together and my family would take part in all the processes of the festivities. From sewing the clothes to preparing the food; from organising the party to the day's music. At the party, some would prepare instruments and play. Everything was set up with a lot of concentration and prayers. The festivity was a reaffirmation of our way of life. My mother sewed for the whole community, my father's father and my father prepared instruments for the whole community. Prayers, blessings and food were meant for the whole community. Nowadays, around here, everything is sold. From clothes to instruments, from food to party tickets.
We are working to awaken the memory of collective strength among the children. Amongst many things, there will also be a party. Since October 3rd, we've been celebrating the lives of the school's children through workshops, musical performances, a book launch, outings and planting activities.
Minha amiga, parece que a voz do vento voltou a falar com os moradores do Complexo da Pedreira. Juntou-se a nós Otávio e seus meninos, Davi e Marcos. Otávio e sua “Fórmula Mágica da Paz” têm afugentado a fome de dezenas de famílias. O segredo de Otávio está só no nome do projeto que ele lidera, pois tudo ele compartilha generosamente com todos que se aproximam dele.
Lembra que falei que havia entre o complexo de favelas da Pedreira uma faixa de verde cuidada por um homem? Achei o guardião daquela roça. Numa região com o segundo menor índice de desenvolvimento humano da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, há um homem farto de verde. Solo-planta-homem suspensos e escondidos no verde à beira do asfalto. Enquanto a insegurança alimentar diariamente circula entre a população local, Otávio, que se reconectou com a terra, cuida e é cuidado por ela.
I continue to believe that greening, growing trees, activating and awakening memories is a job for a community. In Brazil, only 34.5 per cent of municipal schools have a green area, and the majority of schools with a green area have more grass than vegetation. Otávio, a collective man, has a daily relationship with the earth and agreed to dream and work with us and the children in the school yard. Our dream for the school is the same as Isael Maxakali's:Nosso sonho é pegar a terra e recuperar. Porque ela precisa ser curada, precisa de tratamento. Porque a terra é viva. Terra fala, terra olha a gente e terra grita. (…) Por isso que nós queremos reflorestar".
Tayana and Gerrie are also in this canoe full of seeds. While Otávio teaches how to plant in delimited areas, Tayana and Gerrie plant out with the children in the backyard. As a result, we already have a vegetable garden and many sown areas around the school. In this movement to reconnect with the earth, I can see the joy in the children's eyes. The little ones, aged seven, bring extra clothes in their backpacks, waiting for the time to go to the swidden-backyard, the future little forest-school. There is also celebration in Ivone's eyes, a school employee and resident of the community, who gets emotional when she sees the fertile soil, seeds and seedlings arrive. Ivone also listened to wind's voice and, with her memories of home awakened, she has been helping us to plant and look after the backyard.
The backyard is becoming a school within the school. In it, learning lies in the relationships between humans and non-humans. We have gained a classroom under the shade of a leafy Yellow Siris. All our planting movements have been accompanied by a hummingbird that sings and observes us from many angles.
Our days have been like this: earth in our hands and celebration in our eyes, to the sound of birds. The children are learning with their hands and are creating memories in their bodies together with the body of the earth. The celebration in the children's eyes has brought the school community together and my heart has been strengthened by this.
I bid you farewell, my dear teacher, wishing that birds tell you secrets.
And that the enchanted beings guard your paths.
Awrê.
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Otávio Souza, idealizador do projeto Fórmula Mágica da Paz, projeto iniciado como estratégia para autoprovimento de moradores que ficaram mais empobrecidos durante a pandemia de 2020. Assim como Otávio, muitos passaram a pegar alimentos descartados em caçambas do CEASA Rio; no entanto, junto com seu amigo Matheus de Souza, decidiu se voltar para a terra e começar a plantar num terreno dentro da favela. Hoje, além de aprender a cuidar da terra, o projeto vem ajudando jovens a ter acesso a uma renda e a alimentos frescos.
Tayana Simões, biologist and environmental educator.
Gerrie Schrik é educadora e tradutora, sempre fazendo trilha, passarinheira e contadora de histórias, que ama ler e arte – morando numa pequena agrofloresta à beira de um ribeirão na bacia do Rio Piracicaba. Ela tem orientado e organizado tecnicamente as ações de plantio na escola.