Bahia Street News
July 7, 2008 | Margaret WillsonDear All,
Happy summer! The sun has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and we are beginning to enjoy the warmth that comes after many months of cold.
In our Seattle office, we are incredibly busy. With current Brazilian inflation and the weak U.S. dollar, we have to send four times as much money to Rita in Bahia to maintain the same level of support. Rita says that in Salvador, she is seeing one local nonprofit after another falter and fail because of the downturn in the U.S. and global economy. Bahia Street, however, is maintaining its operations– largely because of you. A few years ago, Nancy and I also started developing educational programs here in the States, first Bahia study trips, and more recently programs with students at the University of Washington. Our aim is that these educational programs not only teach Americans about global inequality and issues of poverty as related to Brazil, but also will eventually pay for our administrative costs in the States so that anyone’s entire donation goes entirely to Brazil. We have already been successful enough in this venture that currently about ninety percent of all donations go directly to Brazil. These educational programs also pay for my trips to Bahia so Rita and I can plan and connect. And indeed, a study group of twelve was in Bahia in May at the same time that I was teaching a group of twenty-eight University of Washington students. It was exciting and lots of fun to meet all the interesting people of the study group and to get to know and teach some remarkable young people among the students.
Although our trips to Bahia were very successful, the situation in Salvador is rather grim. Rita feels that the poor are getting poorer and that the hunger in Salvador is worse than ever this year. We read regularly in our papers here about the global food crisis—in Salvador, where so many people live on the margins of survival, it is tipping some of them into the abyss. A kilo of beans in Salvador now costs eight reais; bus fare, per single ride, is two reais. About eighty percent of Salvador’s population make four hundred reais or less a month. Of this they will spend at least eighty in transport to and from work. Rita says the girls eat everything she can give them, and that she continually has to slow them as they eat too fast and get sick. More and more are saying they get no food at all at home. Looking at the girls, the effects of this near-starvation were clear: the first year girls who have only been at Bahia Street a few months are small and look twisted, often with sores on their skin, and they are inattentive in class. The second-year girls are taller and running around, but they are still painfully skinny with every bone visible. Then the girls who have been with Bahia Street a few years–they are tall, jumping around, look strong and healthy, and are able to handle the rigor of learning at a pace on par with some of the best private schools in the city. Bahia Street is feeding the girls twice a day, and the difference of the food alone is much more marked than I ever remember it being in the past.
Perhaps because of the food crisis and its impact on the poor, the new girls this year have come in with more problems than usual. They are more angry and disturbed than girls in the past have been, and Rita says it is the most difficult group she has ever had. For awhile she was ready to expel the entire group, but she has been working intensively with their caregivers and working with their teachers to get the girls to play games that teach them how to read while they gain basic social behavior. Bahia Street now also has a very good psychologist who comes once or twice a week for private sessions with the girls, and this seems to be helping a great deal. And at least these girls are eating, and that alone is helping them to calm them. We have every reason to think at this point that they will be able to stay and grow within our program.
I am sad to report (for us) that our curriculum director Fio has left Salvador to take care of his elderly parents in his native town to the south. His parents gain, but it has left Rita very alone. She has some good assistance with four young women who are taking over various tasks that Fio oversaw before, but not the companionship she had with him. We will miss Fio, and I am focused now on providing Rita all of the moral support that she needs to run the Center in Fio’s absence.
The older girls on the whole continue to do very well, passing their exams and helping with the younger children. Sadly, the youth orchestra group for the girl who is so remarkably good at the violin has been canceled so she has had to stop. This is one area we would love to explore…finding funding to buy classical instruments for girls as several have shown an aptitude, and learning to play gives them a structuring discipline that helps them with their studies.
Both Rita and I continue to be impressed with Julia, an impoverished young woman who Rita hired to work at the Center several years ago. Not able to live with her family, Julia lives in a one-room shack with another girl and runs all of the day-to-day administration of the Center. With Bahia Street’s support, she has finished high school and is now studying for the Vestibular, paid for by Bahia Street. In fact, there are several Bahia Street staff members who use the Center as a place to study for the Vestibular, making use of Bahia Street’s computer room featuring six networked computers. Bahia Street continues to touch the lives of many more people than the sixty girls that it directly serves.
Also amazing is the continuing work on the reconstruction of the building. The January volunteer work party worked with Fio and Rita to paint more of the rooms wonderful bright murals and colors. The reception/administrative room has been expanded (they used to work within a space the size of a cubicle!) with a space broken through the back wall to allow ventilation. The library has been wired and now provides students with a comfortable place to read. The kitchen is now airy and, although still not large, provides space and storage for the feeding of the about eighty people it serves now twice a day (this includes staff, and there always seem to be a few caregivers from the community who also need to be fed.). On the downside, rain is still getting in the roof area and rats are getting in. The building next door has been abandoned and is breeding rats. Small ones are creeping in the roof, and larger ones come up from the ground. Rita and her staff are currently putting out rat poison every two weeks—over the weekends so no children come in at any time while it is out. This situation is also indicative of the deterioration of the general infrastructure of Salvador. We are fortunate, however, to have received a very generous donation from a study trip participant to address some of the most pressing needs of the building—from closing off the roof to installing railings on the stairs— and we continue to write grants to finish it completely.
Here in the States, I am incredibly pleased to report that my recent book (Dance Lest We All Fall Down) has been selling well. The Seattle library system, which originally bought four books, has, because of demand, now bought four more. It was also just awarded a Silver Medal for Multicultural Nonfiction in the annual Independent Book Awards. And, for me, it has been wonderful meeting people who are reading the book, being invited to speak at book clubs and or gatherings. I am learning from other’s insights as they read, resulting in a wonderful exchange. If anyone would like to invite me to speak about the book or have it as a part of their book club, I would be delighted to participate.
So, this letter is a mixed one I am afraid, but that is the reality of our world. Bahia Street is a part of the struggle, and the path will not always be smooth. We must cherish our successes and be strong for each other, extending that strength beyond countries and continents, to those who touch us throughout the globe. I send you my warmest thoughts on this equally warm summer’s day and hope that sometime during this day you will have a moment–a color, watching a bird pass, a pure sound, laugher with a friend–of pure joy.
Abraços,
Margaret
Bahia Street News
October 4, 2007 | Margaret WillsonDear All,
I am watching the sun peek out between the clouds as I write this and think of all the other times I have written to you. Years have passed, the seasons come and gone, and still this connection continues. I still feel as though I am writing to you each individually, and it means a lot.
I think this particularly now because I have finally finished the book that I have been writing about Bahia Street (I have been working on this for over four years now!). The book is about the people who inspired and taught me in Bahia, and about the community of you here and in other parts of the world who have accompanied Rita and me on this journey. I have rewritten this book in its entirety at least four times, but now, with the help of many people, it is finished at last. The publisher tells us that it will be out in November! I can hardly believe it. To all of you who have supported Bahia Street and who have seen it grow, our struggles and successes— I thank you. This book is about all of us. The title of the book is Dance Lest We All Fall Down, a reflection of a lesson my friends from the favelas of Bahia taught me, that strength comes with the dance we must all do if we are to survive, that we must find our joy. Joy makes us strong, the dance of joy comes through understanding how we can give to others, and that all of us have something to give.
The book will be in paperback to make it more affordable, and we will be letting you know in November when we actually have the first copy in our hot little hands. In the meanwhile, we are taking pre-orders for books: simply email us at info@bahiastreet.org with your name and the number of books that you would like (you may pay once they arrive.). Each book will cost roughly $20 (in the U.S.) with shipping and handling. Outside of the U.S., the book is best available on-line with the publisher in November.
I have read (in translation) the entire manuscript to Rita, and she is as excited as I am. This book starts a conversation, and I can’t wait to hear from you. So do please let me know thoughts that the book sparks in you, what paths it opens, and where it takes you.
Things at Bahia Street in Salvador are going very well. The capoeira program has been a huge success, and many girls are now doing cartwheels, handstands, and flips. They love it. What they are doing is also exciting because, in Bahia, women do not often do this kind of strong exercise that takes a certain risk and confidence. In Bahia Street, we are seeing an entire group of girls all grow in their capoeira skill together. It will be interesting to see how they develop in this art as the years go by.
Several girls are studying for their eighth grade exam to enter high school, and two girls, Luana and Flavia, who started first grade this year completely illiterate with no study skills or even a concept of how to behave in a classroom situation, have done more than just learn to read and write in these short months: they are both racing to be top of their class. Again it will be interesting to see how they both do over the years.
Another girl, Jessica, has always shown an interest in music, and during a capoeira class last year, a visitor introduced her to the violin. She took to it immediately, showing surprising talent, had this person began giving her lessons. Her skill on the instrument grew much faster than anyone could have imagined. Now, she has just taken a test on the violin and been admitted to a violin course at the Teatro de Castro Alves, the principle music theater in Salvador. An incredible achievement on her part. She will continue to study at Bahia Street, of course, so we will get to see what happens as she studies with some of the best musicians in the area.
Being part of these girls’ often astonishing achievements and their trials is one of the parts of Bahia Street that is so exciting. Because we stay with the girls for so long, accompany them through their years at Bahia Street and continue to give them support as they enter university, we get to see the effects of the program and the girls’ increasing engagement with what the world has to offer. This is a privilege, and I continue to be amazed at what these girls do.
From the States, we successfully partnered this summer with the
University of Washington Department of Chemistry’s Dr. Richard Gammon to bring twenty-two students to Bahia as a part of a course to study climate change, inequality, and the society of Brazil. I look forward to co-teaching a class next spring geared toward students who are the first people in their families to attend university or who are recent immigrants, to study about inequality, social change, and race, class, and gender in Brazil. The course, a partnership between Bahia Street, the Office of Minority Affairs and the UW Jackson School, will spend four weeks in Seattle at the University of Washington and six weeks in Brazil.
These programs are possible in part because of our new building that gives space for us to teach classes while the students are not in class. It represents our expanded mission to teach girls in Bahia that allows them equal opportunities and to teach people here about the realities of inequality as it exists in Brazil. One way that we fulfill the second part of this mission is through our study trips. I greatly enjoyed our June 2007 trip, with a special thanks to Aleixo Dejneka for joining me in leading this group. Our 5th annual study trip will take place May 23-June 3, 2008, and we have another exciting and thought-provoking tour planned. Join us! Bahia Street is a true partnership that provides space for all of us to learn.
My very best to you all, and I will let you know when the book is out!
Abraços,
Margaret
Bahia Street News
May 21, 2007 | Margaret WillsonDear Friends,
It has been too long since you received news from Bahia Street, perhaps because so much has been going on both here and in Salvador. Before we slow down for the summer, I wanted to take a moment to share with you what is happening at the Bahia Street Center and with Bahia Street outside of Brazil.
Rita and I were discussing the start of the school year in March, and Rita noted that she now had more girls than ever before, putting a strain on the budget and building, and generally straining the energy level of the school. Then she told me that she had enrolled 61 girls! When I asked about the number, Rita exclaimed that she simply couldn’t turn the additional girls away. “You’re not the one having to turn them away!” she said to me. So many more girls are now being referred to the Center than we could ever possibly accommodate. The fact that the building reconstruction is essentially completed allows more of the space to be used to benefit these additional students.
The students are now able to learn capoeira at the Center in part because of the additional space we have, but also because of continuing support of /Grupo de Capoeira Senzala Seattle/. They raised another $5,000 at the second annual “Rites of Change” performance event in Seattle, which will fund uniforms, instruments, and the teacher for this school year. Rita was fortunate to be able to hire a female capoeira master, Linda, who comes from a similar background as the girls. She gives the girls yet another role model to hers who transcends the debilitating effects of poverty. It is revolutionary to have a female capoeira instructor given the historically male dominance of capoeira in Brazil. The program promotes physical health, strength in self defense, and pride in their African-Brazilian heritage. Every girl who is physically able plays capoeira now at the Center.
With more girls and new programs, we are working on ways to support the Center beyond raising funds. In late fall 2006, we began the library project based on Rita’s expressed need for books to fill the library at the Center. Brazil is notorious for its lack of libraries that serve the poor, which coupled with the relatively high cost of books, is indicative of the low literacy rates for Brazil’s poor. Bahia Street did not have the funds to fill the library, so we began looking for opportunities to receive donated books for the Center. Our first grant came from Alibris, which awarded Bahia Street $1,000 to buy English language books. With this money, we bought easy readers and ESL texts to support our volunteer ESL program. Other books continue to arrive from Alibris’ Donate-A-Book program (http://www.alibris.com/wish/donate-a-book.cfm). On the Portuguese language side, I have been working closely with Bloomsbury Publishing Company editorial director Sarah Odedina in securing donations from Brazilian publishers, such as Companhia das Letras and Editora Rocco, among others. Additionally, Seattle volunteer Melanie Wyffels lined up language kits from Yazigi language centers.
Just when we thought that we were wrapping up the library project, the phone rang. Dr. Mitchell Davis learned about Bahia Street through Alibris. He called the office and asked how to buy 500 books for the school, offering $2,500 to fund Portuguese language books in Salvador. Dr. Davis has a strong interest in health and nutrition and inquired about the Center’s nutrition program. Learning that we can provide the only meal a day that the girls usually receive, he offered funds for a second meal as well. Dr. Davis sent $15,000 last month, one of the largest individual donations ever received by Bahia Street. Dr. Davis told Nancy that one of the reasons he supports Bahia Street is because it is a small organization where a donation of this size has a significant impact on the lives of the people being served. His generosity also demonstrates the power of the Internet for small non-profits to connect with a community of people beyond our hubs of activity.
Increasingly, we are working on projects that extend our experiences with poverty, race, and international development into different disciplines. One such project is our partnership with the University of Washington Department of Chemistry, which is running an “Exploration Seminar” to Salvador in August 2007. Led by Dr. Richard Gammon, “Chemistry, Climate Change, and Culture” will focus on the science, public policy, and social justice issues surrounding the topic of global warming and climate change. Bahia Street is a key partner in the project because a knowledge of local culture is critical in the implementation of climate change solutions, and many of the people most affected by climate change are the rural and urban poor: shantytown residents, fishermen, and subsistence farmers. Students will be visiting the Bahia Street Center, having homestays with university students in Santo Antonio de Jesus, and meeting local people in Arembepe, a fishing village north of Salvador.
And finally, a few activities to mark on your calendar! Bahia Street will have a table at the *All Nations Cup* soccer event during the weekend of *July 21 and 22* at Fort Dent Park in Tukwila. We will also have a table at *Brasilfest* on *August 19* at Seattle Center. Please email info@bahiastreet.org for volunteer opportunities—there will be many!
This gives you a taste of all that is going on. While this means that we are very busy, it is exciting to see our programs energize others to work for change in Brazil and beyond. This past week, we participated in a program about international NGO management—an event organized by our present interns—and we were struck by the poise, thoughtfulness, and sense of activism of our former interns serving on the event’s panel. Bahia Street inspired each of them in a different way, and they in turn inspire us to broaden our educational programs outside of Brazil. I feel surrounded now by the growth, the energy, and the dynamic force that Bahia Street has become. You and all involved with Bahia Street have made this possible. And we are standing on the verge of so much more. It is exciting. We can all be delighted and proud of this in our lives.
Happy summer and laughter,
Margaret
–
Dr. Margaret Willson
International Director
Bahia Street News
March 10, 2006 | Margaret WillsonDear All,
I am freezing! Yesterday was spring, and today it’s winter again. Nancy and I just walked to the bank and my fingers are so cold I can hardly type. March is making sure we notice its lion entrance.
By contrast, I was just speaking with Rita yesterday, and she says Salvador this year is hotter than she can remember. She cannot sleep at night, and people are actually getting sick from the heat. Salvador—and other parts of Bahia—are also not getting the rain they should, Rita has seen very little since November. The girls are all returning to classes after Carnival, and Rita is trying to obtain extra fans to make the classroom heat tolerable.
Fio and Rita have spent the summer months painting the interior of the (new) Bahia Street Center, and Rita says the walls are now all bright pinks and yellows. She will be sending us photos which we will put up on the website. They are very busy now with the beginning of the year, hiring new teachers and organizing the schedules of the girls. This is incredibly complicated. All the girls go to public schools (in addition to Bahia Street) for four hours a day, but the school day in Salvador is divided into three parts for the students, one session in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Bahia Street classes are all in the afternoon. All the girls go to different schools in neighborhoods scattered all over the city. This means that Rita and Fio have to negotiate with all these schools to get the girls put into the morning public school session so they can attend Bahia Street in the afternoon. A huge undertaking, particularly when we consider that they are doing this for fifty girls.
However, our efforts are paying off. Daza was one of the early girls to join Bahia Street. She is also one of the girls whose mother has always been very supportive of her work. And this year, on her first try, Daza passed the university exam. Not only did she pass, but with the high marks that will allow her to enter Salvador’s federal university. These federal universities are the most difficult to gain admittance, but they are free if one gets in. So, Daza is this month beginning her first year at the Federal University of Bahia in Communications. This makes the second girl from Bahia Street to enter university, Juliana last year and Daza this year. Bahia Street is a long term investment in people, but we are now beginning to see the wonderful and concrete results of our work. Thank you all for your support over the years.
And speaking of support, Nancy received an email this week from one of our supporters here in Seattle, Peg, that particularly touched us. Peg is the mother of twin girls who are in the sixth grade. She and her older daughter, Miriam, came to the Bahia Street gathering in January and returned home very excited. This was the result as Peg wrote in an email to Nancy:
“I don’t know if you’ve gotten word of this yet from Naomi and Eliana, but they were very taken with what Miriam and I had to say about Bahia Street. It was their birthday this past week, and they asked their friends and relatives to send them donations to Bahia Street instead of gifts. Many complied, and we have raised over $500!”
It is remarkable to think that these girls would choose to use their birthday gifts to give to others. I feel glad for our future with young people like that around.
We have several exciting events on the horizon. First, Rita is coming to Seattle! We are setting this up for the last two weeks of September and will be having a formal dinner honoring her and celebrating the Tenth Year Anniversary of Bahia Street! (I find this personally amazing). We will let you know more about her visit and the events associated with it as they develop.
Also, following the impressive success of this year’s trip, we are hosting a Study Trip to Bahia again this year. The trip will be a total of seven days in Bahia, scheduled for November. Check out the Bahia Street website at www.bahiastreet.org for more details. The trip is a chance to have fun, learn about the realities of Bahia life, the culture, inequalities, African influences, and to have a chance to meet the Bahia Street girls and see our work first hand. Please email Nancy at nancy@bahiastreet.org if you might be interested in joining us!
And finally, Senzala Seattle, a Seattle based capoeira group, is putting on a benefit for Bahia Street on March 31 entitled Rites of Change at the Velocity Dance Center (915 East Pine Street). It looks to be a wonderful event. It features Brazilian-themed performances by Bem Brazil, DJ Joe Mojo, Roda de Fogo, Erin MacNamee, Senzala Seattle, and Capoeira Malês. Additionally there will be an auction featuring an amazing collection of arts and crafts. The proceeds will benefit an expanded capoeira program at the Bahia Street Center. Tickets cost $10 at the door or through www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information, visit www.bahiastreet.org/events or give us a call at (206)633-1724.
A few days have passed since I began this letter and in that short time spring has reemerged. When I stopped for my morning coffee this morning, everyone was talking about their favorite spot for viewing Seattle’s spring blossoms, one told of the Asian cherry trees in the Arboretum, another of the jasmine at the Locks. Everywhere the air is filled with the scent of blossoms and the ground dotted with the bright yellow of daffodils. The explosion of spring brings such joy.
My very best to you all.
Margaret
Bahia Street News
November 2, 2005 | Margaret WillsonDear All,
The smells of autumn are coming through the open window, a clear scent of recent rain and damp leaves. In these months, the slant of early winter sun creates an actual glow in the leaves, a shimmering arbor of magenta and gold, punctuated by the occasional black-green fir.
The change of autumn is perhaps my favorite time of year, and I pause at least once each day, thinking how precious are these moments of joy. I feel privileged to have friends with whom to share them.
Nancy, our project director, said something to me the other week that I found important: Our search for meaning is interconnected with a need for purpose. I can see it in the numerous e-mails we receive weekly from people wanting to volunteer for us in Bahia. I see it in the outpouring of sentiment and individual effort in response to suffering exacerbated by recent natural disasters. I see it when I am talking with our volunteers here — and in myself. Such involvement gives our lives purpose and meaning.
I was thinking about this when I rang Rita a few weeks ago. It was late Thursday and she was still at the Bahia Street Center. First she told me of difficulties. The university teachers were on strike, the police administration was on strike, government offices were on strike, the postal workers were on strike and the banks were on strike. Chris, the English teacher, laughed in the background and shouted to me over the phone line, “We’re the only people working! Bahia Street, that’s it!”
The bus fares have gone up again, Rita said. The government wanted to raise fares to R$2.20 per ride, but the people protested in the streets, so they only raised it to R$1.70. Minimum wage — what most people in Salvador earn if they’re lucky — is R$300 a month. This means that people can hardly afford to ride the bus to work and certainly cannot send their children to school.
I felt there was little positive I could say in response to all this, so I asked Rita what she was doing so late at the Center.
“I’m cooking,” she said. She began crunching on something.
“What are you eating?”
“A dried shrimp.”
“Oh?”
“I’m making carurú.” She paused and shouted to someone passing in the street in front of the Center.” Antonio! Carurú, tomorrow!”
Carurú, for the non-Brazilians reading this letter, is a wonderful
traditional food of Bahia made from finely chopped okra prepared by as many community hands as possible, dried shrimp crushed with onion and lots of African palm oil. Carurú is a ritual food, symbolic of community, of sharing one’s life with the people who, like the food we eat, sustain us.
In Bahia, September is a special month for sharing carurú in honor of the twin Catholic saints, Cosme and Damião, also known in candomblé, the African Brazilian religion of Bahia, as Ibejis, the guardian saints of young boys and twins. In the final weeks of September, people make carurú and invite everyone, particularly children in groups of seven. The carurú is placed in a large bowl at the center of the room. The children sit on the floor around the bowl and eat first, using only their hands. The adults generally sing to call the Ibejis while they wait for the children
to finish. Putting on a carurú is believed to ensure good health and a good future, particularly for twins and children.
Given the importance of children’s welfare related to this festival, it is not surprising that Rita was making a huge carurú for the Bahia Street Center and all the neighbors who have been so helpful and supportive of Bahia Street, especially during the construction of the Center. Rita later sent photos of the carurú which you can see on the Bahia Street website: www.bahiastreet.org. There’s a link to a carurú recipe there,
too.
Rita also had good news about Juliana, who was our first Bahia Street student eight years ago. She is doing well at university and has moved into an apartment by herself — quite an adventurous and feminist thing to do in Bahia where most young people, particularly women, stay with their parents (or in Juliana’s case, with her older sister, since she’s an orphan) until they marry. She is coming back to the Bahia Street Center regularly and giving talks to the young girls, inspiring them with her achievements.
Things are a bit tight for Bahia Street right now, despite the success of the program, in part because the U.S. dollar is falling relative to the Brazilian currency. We are trying to keep all fifty girls, however, and maintain our current programs of daily meals, academic excellence, family outreach, literacy, health and violence counseling. Since we pay bus fare for all the girls, the increased bus fare affects us as well.
I leave November 11th for Brazil, staying for a month. We are taking ten visitors this year on a study tour which will include Bahia Street and its work. A few weeks after we return, we will be having a party in Seattle on January 22. The trip participants will be there with photos and tales to tell of their experiences and adventures. We will send you more details as the time nears, but put the date in your calendars now. It will be good to share — if not a carurú — certainly good food, good memories and good cheer.
Until then…
grandes abraços
Margaret
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