2010 September

UW Press publishes Dance

Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond is now available for order.

Bahia Street News

Dear All,

I am laughing as I write this.  I have just been talking with Rita via Skype.  Now, I am a bit slow on the technology, so it is only recently that I have begun to appreciate Skype.  Rita was way ahead, urging me to get the video, which she had already installed.  “We in Brazil are far ahead of you there in the States,” she  said.  On the video I can see her, laughing, tugging her hair. She is so full of energy  these days she actually seems to glow.  Rita is taking swim class, and she now has three remarkable young women working with her to provide her with a wonderful support so she can run Bahia Street with much less stress.

And I have delightful news: Daza, one of the second group of girls that entered Bahia Street, graduated from university a few weeks ago!  She attended the Federal University of Bahia, the most difficult to enter, and graduated in journalism.  Of the tiny percentage of poor Brazilians who get into university, so few are able to finish.  And that is what Daza has done.  She will now be a voice of African-Brazilian women and shantytown residents, the kind of voice that is almost never heard in Brazil.  She has achieved so much, but in so many ways she is also just beginning.  We are so proud of her.  I wait with great curiosity to see what she will do.

And as if this weren’t enough, we have wonderful news of Juliana (a different Juliana to the one who entered a few years ago).  Juliana was never actually an official student at Bahia Street.  She came through an informal program Rita has done for some years, first as a cook helper, then as a cook and finally, with Bahia Street’s help in giving her classes, beginning to work on the computers and administration.  She studied for years to pass her university exam and failed it three times—the exam is extremely difficult particularly for those who have only a public school education.  Bahia Street paid for exam preparation classes, but after the third try, she gave up.  Then Rita asked her what she thought her options would be if she gave up.  Rita also told her that she—Rita—had taken the exam four times before she passed.  So Juliana, with impressive perseverance, took it a fourth time and passed!  And passed with very high grades to get into the Federal University of Bahia in Library Science.  Rita always amazes me in the ways she finds, informally or otherwise, to give young women the support to achieve their dreams.

These are both huge accomplishments for these young women—and for Bahia Street.  For all of you who have helped to make it possible, thank you.

Bahia Street is also expanding its programs. Rita has started, in addition to the daily programs with the girls, an evening program. As she said, “We have this wonderful space, we should use it as much as we can.”  The evening program is just developing, so I will have more details in my next letter, but it includes classes for high school students and for mothers and caregivers of the girls.  All the basic subjects are covered including math and science, and some will even be studying to take their university entrance exams….as you can see it is very ambitious. So please stay tuned for the next letter when I will have many more details!

We have had an eventful summer here in Seattle.  It started with the Summer Beat, a joyous evening of samba, capoeira, music, food and much hilarity.  Next was a house party on Bainbridge at a gracious home on the water, a perfect evening with the moon rising over the sea, great food, and that warm feeling one gets at a really good party.  And finally was the Brazil/America soccer game where, despite a heavy rain shower that chose those exact two hours to pour down, people had a great time—one could win goals on the field—or buy them.  The Brazilians still won (12-10) but there is always next year!  Thank you so much to everyone who helped, participated and donated goods and services to these fantastic events.  And particular thanks to the people who thought them up and organized them.  Bahia Street did make money and—they were a lot of fun.  So, watch out for next summer as it looks as though we may do them all again!

As I finish this, I still have the image of Rita in my head, her laughter and the shouting of joyous children behind her.  We live in a wonderful world.

Abraços,

Margaret

Bolsa Familia and its impact on poverty

The Economist recently reported on the Bolsa Familia poverty alleviation program in Brazil.  The story is interesting on many fronts.  It discussed the intractable nature of urban poverty, and how “new poverty” in the form of drugs and violence is proving more difficult to impact than “old poverty,” defined in terms of lack of employment and access to opportunity.  The story reminds me a summary of a World Bank report I read that concludes that the world has experienced a 7-percent drop in the population living below $1 a day but a 10.4-percent increase in the population living below $2 a day.  We are helping to move people away from the edge of despair, but not to long term prosperity that will succeed in ending poverty in the long term.  Programs like Bolsa Familia and Bahia Street working in tandem can address both the short and long term needs of children living in poverty.

NYTimes: “Educational Gaps Limit Brazil’s Reach”

Dance Lest We All Fall Down

Read about Dr. Margaret Willson’s award-winning book about Bahia Street.