Two weeks ago, our program sent us (in pairs, mostly) out of Fortaleza to do mini-research projects in one week’s time. Lydia (student from Univ. of Vermont) and I were sent to a Christian Children´s Fund Project/school in Russas (pop. 57,000), 150 km south east of Fortaleza and about 50 km inland. (The CCF does some really amazing things, and it's one of the best organized humanitarian/educational/health-based foundations in Brazil!)
The setting?... Rural. High daytime temperatures (95-100 degrees F). Very dry climate. Cool, breezy nights (80-85) with EVERY star in sight. Gorgeous sunsets. Wide-open skies. Red dusty roads. Very few cars; mostly bikes and motos . Some mud houses, some brick. Some painted, some not. All with ceramic-tiled roofs and open ceilings. Thousands of scattered palm trees (used to make wax). Some small-scale agriculture: corn; onions; and orange, acerola, graviola and banana trees. A couple independent ceramic-roof-tile manufacturing co-ops. What used to be the largest dry river bed in the Northeast. (Rain is their main source of water.) A new highway being built straight through the area--for better and for worse. Literate population = 75% men, 85% women.
The Project/school is located about 9 km outside of town and serves nearly 450 students (ages 3 to 16) from the surrounding rural community. Our hosts fixed up an old office space in the school for us to stay; so, you can imagine the students’ frustrated curiosity in wanting to sneak a peak at us or watch our every move. Unfortunately, if we wanted privacy, we’d have to lock ourselves in, latch the shutter-windows, and suffer the heat. Nevertheless, we only did this when we want to do work or nap. Other than that, we’d hang with the kids (most of whom have CCF sponsors) during their breaks, visit their classrooms (or other parts of the community), and play ping-pong with some of them after school but before the bus came—at sunset (5:30)—to take them home… Good times.
For my research project there, I looked at the community service work that 43 women did for the Project. As animardores comunitários (community leaders/“animators”), they each visit 10 families (enlisted with the CCF), check on their living situations (from housing to health and child development), “orient” the family around improving these situations, “accompany” their learning, and report everything (esp. the “red flags”) to the CCF (for the Project to take steps in helping their situations)… I was particularly interested in looking specifically at the women animadores that work outside the home, maintain their homes and families (a socially-constructed gender role, ingrained in every part of Latin American culture, that involves doing every household chore by hand and from scratch), AND manage to volunteer.
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Last week, I spent most of the time writing up this mini-research project and finishing the write-up about Canindé (the religious movement I mentioned in my previous entry). I rewarded myself by going out with friends and going to the beach with my host-siblings. Now, I’m supposed to be doing independent research for my ISP (research project). I’ve finally narrowed it down to a specific topic, but I still need major help in figuring out how to conduct the research (i.e. what questions to ask, etc.) and how to pull it together (i.e. the writing). The topic/ “problem” asks, What are the internal (personal experiences) and external (societal and cultural influences) forces that drive and empower young Afro-Brazilian women activists (specifically 3 to 5 of them, ages 15 to 25)? What obstacles have they overcome to be vocally strong women? How can/do they serve as an inspiration for other young Afro-Brazilian women?
On Thursday, we fly to the state of Bahia (to Cachoeira and then to Salvador), and we’ll be together as a group for 2 weeks before we’re released into the wild to do our independent research projects (ISPs)—for only 3 weeks! Some will return to Fortaleza, but half (including me) will stay in Salvador to do ISPs. On 7 Dec., everyone returns to Fortaleza to turn in and present the ISP projects… I’m already dreading that part.
So, that’s it, I guess, for now. Don’t forget to send me quick email (hopedeifell@hotmail.com) to let me know you’re alive and interested in hearing more…
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