By Laura Mick | Project Leader
On March 8, 2002, three women set out on a journey that would change access to books across the Brazilian Amazon.
Three women set out on this expedition: Sylvia Guimarães, Maria Teresa “Fofa” Meinberg and Laís Fleury.
Carrying books and dreams, they traveled for 10 months through the 09 states of the Legal Amazon.
That journey became known as the First Vaga Lume Expedition. In those months traveling across the Amazon, they helped create 21 community libraries and trained hundreds of local reading mediators: community members who would ensure that books became living tools for imagination, learning, and connection.
When they returned to São Paulo, dozens of handwritten letters were waiting for them. They came from neighboring communities that had heard about the libraries. The message was always the same: they also dreamed of having a library.
Those letters made one thing clear: the journey could not end there.
Almost 25 years later, that journey is still growing. Today, Vaga Lume promotes access to books and reading in 102 communities across 23 municipalities in all nine states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon. Since 2001, more than 111,000 children and adolescents have gained access to books and the opportunity to imagine new futures.
One of those children was Débora Fernandes, from Quilombo Bom-Viver. As a young girl, she spent hours in her community library and volunteered to read stories to younger children. Years later, that love of books helped lead her to law school.
Reflecting on the importance of the library, Débora shared:
“In the past, elders say they only had textbooks and books about fair-skinned princesses… they couldn’t see themselves in those books. Today we recognize ourselves in the books we receive.”
This International Women’s Month, we celebrate the courage and vision of the women who began this journey, and the many women and community leaders who continue it every day across the Amazon.
With your support, Vaga Lume can continue expanding access to books, creating new community libraries, and empowering children to imagine brighter futures.
Your donation helps place books in the hands of children who might otherwise grow up without them — continuing the journey that began with three women and now reaches communities across the Amazon.
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By Laura Mick | Project Leader
By Matthew Yang and Aline Novakoski | Volunteer and Project Leader
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