Brazil last report

Dear friends,

we are at the final stage of our Global Campus month in Brazil.

Last week, the Oasis game has started, and with it came a group of around 20 people, mainly from Holland and Brazil. Together, we built a core group of 30 people, more or less, and we spent all week mobilizing the local community around us to find a dream that we could realize together. It's a big action. This weekend, including the Global Grace Day on the 9th, we will work together to make this dream a reality. It was great to have the chance to get to know the people of the surrounding community a bit more, going through a common process of vision, community building and manifestation. The Oasis game was brought to us by the Elos Institute, and there is more information about it at: www.institutoelos.org/en

Behind us lie already many moving encounters and events. There are incredible stories behind almost every face. It's really a lot to process and sometimes it is challenging to have such full days, since it feels like a single story would deserve at least a whole day to go deeper into it. There is so much that we could tell... but one thing we want to share, that is moving us for some time already, is an information that we heard shortly after our arrival in Brazil (which was quite vague at first, and because of that we chose not to share it immediately). Nevertheless, now it's the time to do it.

Today, after a meeting in the subprefecture (administrative agency of Brazil), we had the confirmation: The government has plans to build a bus&subway station here in the favela. It would impact everyone living on this street. The house of Poesia Samba Soul, home for the music studio, Favela da Paz, Claudio and his whole family (Claudio's father came here as one of the first inhabitants of this slum, more than 40 years ago), is included in the demolition plan. It's not only about them and their project – it's about the displacement of thousands of people and about the disintegration of the local community and a whole social network. “People living on their own private land will receive nice compensations”, said the man from the subprefecture. The others won't be so lucky. There are rumors that say this is meant to start on January 2014. The meaning of this information goes beyond our abilities of imagination. As the news spread, a loud apathy spreads along through the people of this house, leaving us impatient to do something about it. We will do everything in our capacity to stop this. We can not imagine that this will be carried out, and we are holding a strong picture of being able to stop the construction plan. Soon, we will start working on the development of an appropriate strategy, mobilizing the local and the international community; working to make an example out of Favela da Paz and their work in the surrounding, so that it earns the deserved protection. Maybe it is not by chance that the Oasis game is happening at this moment, and we hope to use it in the best possible way, so that it brings this community into a new level of empowerment and coherence.

Meanwhile, our practical work at Favela da Paz continues and becomes increasingly tangible. The biogas system is finished and slowly comes into life, as we start setting up thriving conditions for its' bacteria colony; the low-maintenance urban-permaculture beds are close to finish; Simon and Janka spread their art through the walls of the house; and both Mustafa and Janos are working non-stop to improve the infrastructure of the whole house.

Last Saturday, the 1st of November, we organized the first Open Day of Favela da Paz. Approximately 25 people came, mainly from the local surrounding. At the center of the event, Janos held a presentation about the biogas system and the bigger frame in which this particular solution is integrated – regaining the lost autonomy of local communities; stepping out of the current paradigm of exploitation and destruction of the Earth. In that sense, Claudio took the chance to speak strongly about the vision of Favela da Paz – a center for the implementation and trial of these new solutions; a model and education place for the replication of successful alternatives.

Through the coming of Claudia Correa, director of an inspiring school in São Paulo and partner of José Pacheco (a big name in the realm of new education models), a lot was mentioned concerning the educational aspect of this work, namely for the youth – promoting school trips to Favela da Paz and promoting school projects for the construction of biogas systems in schools, for example. We are happy that these connections are being made and we are looking forward for their outcome. During the question&answer session, many people showed a lot of interest and we spent a very fruitful and comprehensive time together.

As planned, last week we received a group of young Bolivians coming from La Paz – most of them were studying this year in Tamera; some did the Basic Education and others took part in the Water Retention Landscapes education. They came with the wish to connect with the Global Campus and Favela da Paz and to deepen in their community research. In that sense, we spent the week studying and working together, and strengthening these connections. We also used a whole day with them and with the people of Favela da Paz to visit some interesting projects that were suggested to us. We visited Casa dos Holons, an urban permaculture center, which gave us inspiration for permaculture design in the slum area; afterwards we went to Casa Nexo, a project that aims to become an independent university; and lastly we visited a recycling/upcycling project called Coração Familia, in a slum nearby. The rest of the day, we spent it on traffic jams, in between one place and the other, turning the whole journey into a real experience of how daily life looks like for most people in São Paulo (most people spend at least 5 hours in traffic jams every day, go to work in the city center and come back).

Last Sunday was dedicated to the creation of a song that could become a hymn for the Global Grace Day. It was quite an event to see so many nationalities gathered in the recording studio. Claudio invited some musicians, friends of him, which read the Global Grace Day manifesto and, together with Poesia Samba Soul and us, started composing on that line. It's definitely an adventure to enter a creative process with so many people. As a result, we are still not through with the song. Hopefully, latest by tomorrow evening, we will have it finished and published online.

We are planning a big event here, for the Global Grace Day tomorrow. We will set up a stage, bring many musicians, read the Global Grace Day manifesto, and connect with the emerging planetary community. It will happen here at our doorstep. The people from Favela da Paz have such an ability to mobilize the local community that we are already anticipating a full success.

We wish you a powerful time in all the other station around the world who gather under the work for a healed Earth.

Greetings from Brazil.