this week in sao paolo...

it~s been four days since i arrived in sao paolo and it~s been an interesting four days...

on monday, sister caroline took me to see the aldea of the guarani tribe in the northwest part of sp... the aldea is just like our reservations for native americans in the u.s., in that the government in brasil removed the indigenous peoples from their centuries old land and moved them to small parcels of land on the city~s outskirts... since the guarani people lived off the land and had no formal education, they had no need to apply for land claims in the 1400~s and 1500~s when europeans started ^discovering^ brasil... so, centuries later, as cities like sao paolo continue to grow by exponential amounts, metropolitan areas swallow up the areas that the indigenous have in forever, forcing them out... it~s just sad. for centuries these people hunted in the floresta atlantica, grew small crops of vegetables and picked fruits from the trees and washed themselves in the natural springs and rivers that flow all over this part of the country, collected seeds and dried berries to make native jewelery that they were able to sell in the markets... but now, without any legal claim to the land their ancestors inhabited, the guarani have been moved to the aldeas...

the aldeas, i found out, are nothing more than plots of land unsuitable for commercial development and unhospitable for plant growth... builders can~t build apartments or stores on the land and farmers can~t coax anything usable or edible out of the nutrient-deficient ground... so, naturally, it seems, it was a good place to put the indigenous people. it makes me so mad... now, these people, who no longer have the natural resources to eat, drink, bathe, make textiles or crafts for work, have to depend on the help given to them by donations... it~s very debilitating and humiliating for the guarani people...

it makes the plight of native americans more real to me, seeing it, in the 21st century...

we drove onto the aldea and i tried to keep my jaw from dropping, so i wouldn~t seem like i was gawking at the conditions these people lived in... but, the truth is, i was shocked that this kind of place exists in 2010 just outside of one of the largest cities in the world!!! it was mindblowing...

once the car stopped and we got out, i looked around and noticed that there were clusters of little communities inside the gates of the aldea... it~s hard to call them communities, they were little more than a few shacks penned in together... i later learned that each of the clusters of shacks were entire families, sleeping 5+ people per room... in their homes in the forest, they lived in community, whole family trees sharing homes, so naturally, they did the same on the aldea...

the shacks were constructed out of cardboard boxes, sheets of plastic, corrugated tin roofing, plastic crates, scrap lumber, you name it, they used it... few homes were lucky enough to have brick facades and i didn~t see the familiar criss-cross of electrical wires overhead like i thought i~d see... no, here electricity was something the guarani people did without... as was plumbing. this particular aldea housed hundreds of people and only recently had a humanitarian group come in, with the help of the guarani tribe, to build outhouses and shower stalls for each family group... once i knew what they were, i noticed the little green sheds dotting the aldea... now, at least they had somewhere to go, but without running water, what happens when the outhouse gets full is anyone~s guess... can you imagine: in 2010 an outhouse is an upgrade of their previous facilities! something~s just not right with this picture...

it was cold on monday morning, cold enough that i was wearing a pullover sweatshirt and a denim jacket on top, along with jeans and tennis shoes... as we walked around the aldea, i noticed children outside playing ^pula corda^, or jump-rope, some wearing pants and t-shirts... most of the kids only wore a shirt and no pants, or pants and no shirt, and absolutely none of them wore shoes... a little removed from the jump rope group i saw about 4 toddlers gathered, playing naked on the dirt next to a trash pile that was waiting to be burned...

sister carolyn showed me the community health center where the tribal council, with the help of the archdiocese and local humanitarians, petitioned the prefeitura (city government) to build medical facilities to attend to their needs... it is a source of pride for the guarani as they fought for a long time to get something done on their land, but it is little more than two rooms where a volunteer doctor and dentist come twice a week and inspect the children and weigh them to see if they are malnutritioned. i saw the process where the doctor took a screaming and frightened little girl and as calmly and efficiently as possible, removed her clothes, inspected her for sores, bruises, cuts, placed her on a scale to weigh her, than handed her over to the dentist for inspection... what a traumatizing thing to endure for the first 12 years of your life...

it just broke my heart.

on tuesday i went with father dan to his parish and saw their community... here in brasil, the parishes are actually made up of different communities, and st. rita~s is actually about 4 communidades... can you imagine celebrating Mass with 4 different churches every week! think about the parish councils, the catechism, formation, weddings and funerals, etc., for one church... CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT HAVING 4 CHURCHES MUST BE LIKE!!! i really gained a whole different respect for the parish priests... wow.

later that evening i started feeling a cold coming on and by the time we got out of a parish meeting with one of the auxilary bishops from the archdiocese, i had a full on cold. i went with father dan to a pharmacy and got some OTC meds, went home, took some meds with tea, and crashed til the next day. yikes.

today has been spent with mercy, a maryknoll sister from tanzania... we~ve talked about the maryknolls in general, about vocations and about her discernment towards making her life-long vows as a nun... what an amazing story. more on mercy later this week...

one thing i do want to call to your attention is the fact that there are not enough young people looking into vocations at all... whether the priesthood, the convent or as a lay missionary, the average age in maryknoll is around 60 years old! 60!!! father dan was pacing me and telling me to keep up with him as we climbed a hill towards his parish, and he~s 77! certainly there~s got to be more of us out there who feel called to serve the Church in some way... even as single and married people, that~s a vocation, too... think about helping your church in a more real way than just showing up for Mass on sundays, would ya! just sayin... :)

okay, that~s it... going to bed. we have Mass at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow and then a full day in mercy~s parish... see you soon!

peace and love,
crystal