PLAYING LIGHTS UP THE SUN
Veronica Pinheiro
01 de novembro de 2024
Playing lights up the sun. This phrase came out of Carol Delgado's mouth at the end of a meeting. After a long period of instability and insecurity that left children and teachers saddened, we got back together with volunteers and friends to think about how we could restart activities at the school. Where I come from, joy is medicine. At that moment, we wanted to return to the school to share JOY. We planned a month of activities with: a book launch; musical performances; building a bed for planting the vegetable garden; a workshop for teachers and staff; a walk; a costume workshop; photo and film making; theatre; the children's PARTY
At the same time, the Sun Cycle was being shared by Selvagem and the Ways of Knowing Group was at school lighting up the sun. And the children, just like IORI's Sun, longed for dawn again. Despair, however, managed to reach some of them before we did: one little girl has still not returned from her attempt to escape the pain. This is why I reiterate that teachers alone cannot meet all the demands assigned to the school. Educating and schooling are different processes.
“É preciso uma aldeia inteira para educar uma criança”. Você já ouviu esse provérbio africano?
We urbanised beings are summoned to disconnection on a daily basis. In the city, this relationship grinding machine, people only look after their own lives and things, often looking after things more than their own lives. Disconnection and fear make life in the city increasingly segmented and ill.
I find it curious that in the city there are spaces to play. In the city, there's room for everything. Disconnection creates a market, people pay to laugh, to be entertained and also to play. When I found out in 2022 that the Selvagem cycle of studies on life had a community, I soon signed up. And I also soon got to know this community up close. And by getting up close, I was able to connect with people, stories and territories.
In this movement of connections, some of these people arrived with such an incredible life background that all I could think about was inviting them to play. I was raised playing what I saw adults do while playing. Joy is a very sacred medicine for Afro-diasporic communities. When we play, we activate our connection with all that makes us up.
As usual, I spent 30 minutes explaining why it was so important that October's activities vibrate kindness and abundance of joy. I talked about the importance of playing with children. I resorted to Bantu philosophy to explain that each child is a living sun, and that walking freely on Earth is only possible if all the suns are lit. Carol summarised the talk with a smile: ‘Playing lights up the sun’.
That sentence made everything simpler. And it was by playing that we got to this page of the diary.
We played at storytelling: With Tania Grillo at the launch of her book Fora onde? [Out Where?] Fora onde?
We played at a music festival with John Caldwell and Anselmo Salles.
We played at building beds and planting a vegetable garden with Otávio Souza.
We played and went for a walk with Rafael Cruz, Tatiana Mello and Wagner Manoel.
We played at being birds and planting freely with Taiana Simões.
We played at creating costumes and characters with Clarissa Viegas and the Ohlograma studio.
We played with Carol Delgado to make photographs and videos, and
we played with Paula Novaes and her theatre making puppets.
We played with the Bondinho Park at the Sugarloaf Mountain.
What about the party?
Next week our Solar Party will take place.