voiceless

Copyright © Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.

Many rural households are affected by the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents on the Brazilian roads. Most times, they are sons and daughters of peasants who migrate from rural areas, and end up being exploited on the highways.

It is a portion of the population socially vulnerable, voiceless and without access to basic rights of citizenship. At the root of the problem are poverty and social exclusion: unemployment, malnutrition and hunger, the destruction of the family, the poorly educated family, and children and teenagers out of school.

The networks that take advantage of activity, linked to pornography, sex tourism and child sexual exploitation, is usually organized within the country, in cities with 5 thousand and 100 thousand inhabitants.

fragile shield

originally uploaded by ©Tatiana Cardeal.

More images of a research about the sugarcane monoculture.

Sugar cane's workers, almost slave workers, which have been working for many years, payed only with bags of food.

Here are Rosangela and her mother Rosana,
at Engenho Meia-Légua, Cortez city, Pernambuco State.
September, 2004

Copyright © 2007 Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.

stepmother girl

originally uploaded by ©Tatiana Cardeal.

After more than ten years living and working on a land, as sugar cane's workers, they were surprised, banished from their houses in the middle of the night, by helicopters and armed men. They lost everything.
They started to live at the borders of the roads, in encampments, waiting for a land and fighting for the Agrarian Reform.

Click here for more pictures of the Chico Mendes Encapment

Pastoral Commission of the Land (CPT),
Assentamento Chico Mendes I,
Ribeirão city, Pernambuco State, 2004.

Copyright © 2007 Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.

stealing trucks

A few years ago, during a research about the sugar-cane monoculture at the Brazilian northeast, I met a protest which blocked the road at a small city called São Bento. They protested because too many people where dying, run over by trucks.
Another boy had died that morning.
These are sugar cane's trucks, and these boys are happy
because they found something to steal, to eat.

São Bento city, Alagoas State
september, 2004

Copyright © 2007 Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.

Good bye

Winds of changes
a gate will open
we navigated in dreams
and expectations

every place
must bring enchants for the eyes
and touch the heart

dear Prestes Maia
symbol of many fights
and knowledge
we brought your name for the world
but it will remain in our hearts

there is a giant bird
that underneath of its wings
received us

here's the life's mirror
It's time to leave
good bye, dear Prestes Maia
we must leave you

the doors are closing
they cease the applauses
but it will be forever
kept in our memory.


Poem by Roberta Maria da Conceição,
who became a nice friend,
always opening her wings and home to receive me
at the Prestes Maia occupation.

the last days

the last days, originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal.

I've been visiting the Prestes Maia occupation these last weeks, to see how things are changing and give some pictures to the people. The progressive and pacific withdrawal of the families had started, and many had moved alredy to other buildings, at city's downtown. They will stay living in those new apartments for 6 months, with a government's fund help, until the "popular" (subsidized) buildings be finished to be inhabitable. Other group of families decided to move out of downtown, to a neighborhood that alredy have "popular" apartments, with the same government support.

Here is João, son of Severino and Roberta, still at his Prestes Maia's home during the lunch. They are going to stay until the last family leaves. They care about the Prestes Maia's library, and they have agreed that the library will be last thing to be moved out of the occupation. For where?
Well, this have been a theme of strong discussion between them,
but it's probably going to another occupation. Let's see.

They have asked to say that they are really thankful for all your support, all the faxes and letters you sent, and this really made a big difference here.

light in the darkness

light in the darkness, originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal.

Here are lady Romilda and the Prestes Maia's coordinator, lady Jomarina, cooking in an improvised kitchen at the encampment. Both of them live at Prestes Maia occupation, and they were cooking pasta for hundreds people of the Downtown Homeless Movement. They have been camping several times, on the streets, in front of the São Paulo's city hall, as a way to protest and pressure the mayor about their cause. Finally, I think it started to work.

Sir. Gilberto Kassab, the actual mayor from the city in person, went friday night (april, 13th) to Prestes Maia building and talk to with the families. The eviction is alredy suspended, 60 days again. But now I think they have something new.

There happened an representative meeting last thursday,12th, that joined Marcio Fontes, Minister of the city, the city mayor, and other representants from federal, state and municipal sphere to resolve the problem of the Prestes Maia families. They are planning a progressive and pacific withdrawal of them, to move groups of families for other buildings, mostly of them still inside the downtown city area, with the support of the federal governament who will reform and rent popular habitations for immediate moving.

the violet girl

the violet girl, originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal.

"Easter is passage - also for ethics politics, that becomes the accessible bread to each mouth and, the wine, joy in each soul. We are who, while still alive, need to make over again the potentialities of the spirit, premises and promises of a true dignity human being. In a compound of Marcel Proust and Hunter of the Lost Ark, we urgently need to undertake the search of the lost conscience, where the solidary indignation against the injustices has smells of appetizing sweet madeleines. In case that contrary, we will be swallow by these simulacrum of pyramids - shopping malls - that at least haven't structure to tell to the posterity how great was the poverty of spirit of a generation that had, as supreme ambition, stocking dozen of electronic gadgets."

Some inspiring words by Frei Betto, for this Easter's sunday.
Frei Betto is a Brazilian writer, political activist, and Dominican friar

This full text in portuguese:
Deus feito de pão

Picture of the girl, at Kibera,
Nairobi, Kenya.

dusty and dryness

dusty and dryness, originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal.

I still feel the heat of that sunny afternoon,
looking children of Kibera playing games.
Covered by this orange color,
I was dusty, thirst.
:
Kibera is one of the largest Africa's slum,
just inside Nairobi city.
There are 800.000 people living there.
:
A place not to forget.


Nairobi, Kenya, for the VII World Social Forum.

Click to see more pictures from Kenya,
and the VII World Social Forum, in a slideshow.

home sweet home

SUSPENDED!!
Eviction is now suspended!

SUSPENSO!!
O despejo está suspenso!!
(click e leia aqui em português)

Yes, the eviction of the Prestes Maia Occupation is now suspended for 60 days!

I'm trying to find the more details about the cancelation, but I had just a talk with a lawyer representant of the Movement, and he told me that the judge went with the Military Police Commander to the area of the building, and saw how dificult, dangeours and insecure it could be the withdrawal of almost 2000 people... so the judge decided to suspend the eviction for this sunday and gave them 60 days for a new negotiation.

Thank you so much, all of you!

the call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the call, originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal.

AÇÃO URGENTE (click no link, em português)

We need five minutes of your day, and a FAX machine.

from Amnesty International,
to help the Prestes Maia 468 families.

A judge has issued a new order to evict the 468 families who have been living in the derelict Prestes Maia building in central São Paulo for over two years. The municipal authorities must carry out the order before 4 March. Amnesty International is calling you to an urgent action. You can see it in this links.

English
Espanol
Français

Please, spread the word, and sign the online pettition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/pmaia911/

Join our group at Flickr, to support and be informed about this issue:
The Prestes Maia Hope

Picture during a meeting at Prestes Maia occupation of the Homeless Movement of Central São Paulo, in 2005.

the sky is not the limit

the sky is not the limit, originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal.

Street kids from Nairobi,
fishing with hands,
at the Uhuru's Park (Freedom's Park).

"Another World is Possible"

VII World Social Forum
Nairobi, Kenya

Prestes Maia, the fight for rights

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal
All photographs © 2006.

Prestes Maia, is a colossal abandoned clothes factory that towers over central Sao Paulo, and the biggest occupation of Latin America, with 22 storeys in total, is home to 468 families; around 2,000 people from the MSTC - Movimento dos Sem Teto do Centro (Downtown Homeless People's Movement).

The community is meticulously organised and removed 200 lorry loads of rubbish and 1.500 cubic meters of sewerage from the building’s ground floor, together with all the rest, bestowing upon it the social function of a domicile as determined by the Federal Constitution.
They had organized the cleanning maintenance, the security, they had banned all the traffic of drugs and crimes from the building, making it a familiar place full of activities. The created a library, recycling program, and cultural activities with artists and partners.

The owners of the building, Jorge Hamuche and Eduardo Amorim, who do not possess the title deed, abandoned the building for twenty years and owe close to BRL$5 million (EUR$1.8 million) in taxes.
But, an injunction has been issued for the repossession of the building.
The judge of the 25th Civil Jurisdiction of Sao Paulo granted an injunction for the repossession of the property, ignoring the residential rights of the occupants and even a UN report that declares; "the municipal government of Sao Paulo, through the Secretary of Habitation and Urban Development and COHAB, should promote the renovation of the Prestes Maia building for housing and social interests, to meet the objective of the dispossession of the building by the municipality."

The authorities didn't plan a project to remove everybody, and we know that they will return to live at the streets. We are trying to stop this, and to pressure the state governor Geraldo Alckmin and the mayor from the city José Serra, to make first a project, and then remove the families.

I've created a new set to publish the pictures of the development of this story, called "Where do we go?", and a Flickr's community to support them, "The Prestes Maia Hope", with an online petition to be signed (there is a translation of the text for english and french), and much more details about this story.
Please join us.

the witnesses

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal © 2005.

Here is former street kid Poca (Jefferson), performing a moment about our Brazilian's slavery history and the Capoeria traditions, with the Humminbird Band (Banda Beija Flor). They were playing at Diadema, to the people from the Morro do Macaco's slum, in our last brazilian Children's day.

A few weeks ago we saw in many newspapers' covers Alexandra's shadow. Alexandra, 13-years old, participated in the gang who put fire to a bus full of people in Rio de Janeiro recently, commanded by the drug's traffic. Five people died, including a one-year old baby.
As another 750 thousand Brazilian children, Alexandra isn't registered, doesn't have a birth certificate or any other document, and will never have access to any social program in the country because she and all the others don't exist, officially.
Her mother died at 42, with tuberculosis, and she had never met her father. The social welfare never looked for her all this time; she had never gone to school and is therefore analphabetic. She started asking for food on the streets at 7-years old, and was adopted by the drug gangs to be used for small services.
So she changed the alms for the drug trafficker's life.

Her story truly proves how the structures that we live are failing. The family failed, society failed, the church, the community and the State failed. It's a sad repeated story from hundreds of lost children living alone in the brazilian streets. The only alternatives those children have are: choosing the drug gangs, the prostitution, or be lucky as Poca (on the picture above) and find alternatives programs.

Poca, 23-years old now, met this program called CARF (Children At Risk Foundation) in 1993. Poca's big dream whilst he lived on the streets of São Paulo for many years, was to one day become a Capoeira instructor. Thanks to CARF's efforts, he has realised that dream now and today he teaches 250 of our kids Brazilian sporting art of capoeira.
I met then just a year ago and I got involved.
You can watch some slide show sets I did there at this links:
Urban Outcries I
Urban Outcries II
Children's day
Capoeira's batizado

If you like to join and help this project just follow the star. It's my Christmas wish-list :)

Guarani suicides

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal. All photographs © 2003-2005.

Much of their land has been stolen from them. This crisis has driven over 300 Guarani, mainly adolescent to kill themselves.
The Guarani-Kaiowá in Brazil suffer particularly from this, and it has led to severe depression. Three hundred and twenty Guarani-Kaiowá committed suicide between 1986 and the beginning of 2000, the youngest being just 9 years old.

They are a deeply spiritual people, who believe they were the first people to be created by the 'great father', Ñande-Ru. For the Guarani the "terra sem mal", or 'land without evil', is the resting place of the soul after death. It is essential for the soul to arrive there so it can rest peacefully.

If you would like to take some action, please visit Survival site.