Anti-racist education for a violence-free future

Dear Viva a Vida Friends and Supporters!

Thanks to your donations, since the beginning of March, we have launched two projects with our young participants, attended the World Social Forum (held in Salvador), participated in arts events and performed our play (In)Dependencies around the community.

But first let’s hear about Thiago, an impressive 17-year-old no longer involved in hard drugs but instead writing poetry, doing graffiti and performing in public.

Thiago lives with his mother in Vila de Abrantes.  He is from a large family with 6 siblings – 1 boy and 5 girls, but no father: “for me not having a father, that was very shocking.  I didn’t have that man to talk to, to ask about my day at school, I missed having a father.”

Despite this, Thiago’s childhood was, as he says, “normal”, since the presence of his mother made up for a lot of absences, both emotional and financial... “my childhood was normal, for a child without a father, there was only my mother to help at home.  Thank God, I was never hungry. My mother and I have always been close”.

There is only one episode that had a real impact and changed the course of Thiago’s life and that of his mother and siblings.

During his adolescence he had to deal with violence very close to him.  One of his siblings became involved in criminal behvaiour, which was the reason for his mother leaving the neighborhood they lived in and moving to Vila de Abrantes.

“The worst moment in my life was when my brother became involved in serious life crimes, which was what he wanted, he chose.  Today I have taken a step back from my brother, but I think he’s well.  He is a very complicated, proud person and always wants to be better than other people.”

“I came to live in Abrantes because of my mother’s decision, she came here precisely because of the things that my brother was doing, doing a lot of stupid things where he lives and she was afraid to stay there”.

This change also protected Thiago from continuing to be involved in drug dealing, something he doesn’t like to talk about much.  Despite recognizing that the change was very important for his life, he sees that the neighborhood provides few opportunities for young people and is very unsafe.

“I don’t feel totally comfortable in Vila de Abrantes, due to the simple fact that I don’t have many opportunities”.

At this stage of adolescence the ideal is to be surrounded by protective factors such as good education, leisure and income generation opportunities, but this is not the reality for Thiago, or other adolescents and young people in Vila de Abrantes.

“My adolescence is complicated by bad things – bad opportunities, I’m talking about hard drugs, opportunities to do wrong – and some opportunities for good... good opportunities are always welcome.  I think there is a lack of work opportunities, people need to have leisure, for the community to unite, not everyone is united, most people from here... it is very complicated!”

Here, in this conversation, Thiago is able to see that some good opportunities have emerged in his life and he considers Viva a Vida to be one of these.  Finding out about the Vila Jovem project through the art and drawing course and the Human Rights and Youth workshops, which focus on racism and violence, provided this young man with the opportunity to gain new life prospects.

“I found out about the Viva a Vida project from Youth Worker Marcos Paulo, he presented the project at school and I wanted to participate because I thought his proposals were really interesting and I also thought that we have to concern ourselves with the ideas he discusses.  He was talking about black people.  And I am black, I have to know the truth, my people are hungry, they are not considered by society, among other things.  And this made me rethink my life and what I really want”.

Once he started participating in Viva a Vida’s activities, Thiago began to rethink his attitudes and to understand that through art, in his specific case through poetry, there are new pathways.

“Poetry helped me to express and show my feelings that are hidden within standard society”.

“Getting to know Viva a Vida changed my way of being, of seeing life.  Viva a Vida has benefited me through education, has helped me to understand that one day I can be more than I thought...”

This young man surprises us with every step he takes.  He participated in the World Social Forum at the round table in which our Youth Worker Marcos Paulo spoke about marginal arts.  Thiago was brave enough to recite his own poetry about black youth, which made a great impression on the audience. As a result of this activity, he became so motivated that he ran his own arts event in a really spontaneous and authentic way, at the school where he studies.  Following on from this, we were invited to participate in an arts event run by CESE (an ecumenical Human Rights organization), where Thiago once again recited his own poetry.  At the launch of the two projects Theatre in Debate – have you thought of that? and #VivaJuntos, there was Thiago, once again impressing the audience with his poetry and particularly with a poem that brought tears to the eyes of some audience members talking about his love for his mother.

To finish up, let’s hear what Youth Worker Marcos Paulo, who has followed all Thiago’s progress close up, has to say:

“Dreams are a kind of magic that every man recognizes.  During a workshop about creating Life Plans, while we were reflecting on how to realize our own dreams, I was questioned by Thiago, who at that time was very doubtful about himself and the chance of realizing his dreams.  An emotional encounter developed in which two dreamers decided to plant the seeds of poetry and now his dream has become poetry”.

To finish, find out more about what your donations have helped support this semester:

• Launch of the two projects Theatre in Debate – have you thought of that? (funded by Criança Esperança) and #VivaJuntos (funded by Fundacion CEPSA, Social Value Award).  Approximately 40 young people and community members attended the garden launch of these two projects with poetry performances, a graffiti exhibition and a performance of the play (In)Dependencies, written by the 20 young actors in the group, which addresses violence, racism, homophobia and family dysfunction.  A very lively debate followed the performance reflecting on the issues brought up in the play.  One of the mothers discussed what most caught her attention: “The bit about love in the perfect family, where they hide everything [the parents don’t recognize that their daughter is a bully and a racist] and they think they are the perfect family, but in fact there is no love between them, because if there was love it wouldn’t be like this.
• #VivaJuntos: training youth leaders.  This project includes a series of workshops held at the State college of Vila de Abrantes.  Youth Worker Marcos Paulo is helping more than 200 students in the first year of high school understand Human Rights and what this means for their lives. The students have written some great poetry about their experiences.  In the second semester, the project will focus on graffiti and photography workshops, and our young leaders’ work will then be exhibited in the community and across the municipality.
• Theatre in Debate – have you thought of that?  The V2 Theater Group is taking their play around the community.  Since the beginning of April, they have performed at our center, two municipal schools and a local NGO.  More than 100 young people and community members have participated in debates reflecting on these vital themes.  Twelve more performances are planned for the rest of the year, reaching more than 700 people.
• World Social Forum.  Marcos Paulo participated in the round table about Marginal Arts and young members of the Vila Jovem Youth Group participated in the debate and recited some of their own poetry in front of the audience, this was really moving!
• Arts Event, CESE – once again our budding poets recited their poetry as this important event attended by poets and activists from the city of Salvador.

We have launched a GlobalGiving microproject to help us keep our Community Center open for the rest of the year, allowing more young people to rediscover the joy of adolescence.  Find out more at:

https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/safe-space-rediscover-joy/