Building Momentum

A few people back home heard me griping last week about the powerful force of inertia here in Pirajá. I was complaining that nothing seemed to be getting done. Mind you, this wasn’t necessarily any one person’s fault, but rather was a combination of circumstances, bureaucracy, procrastination, and vagaries of the calendar. I had moved out here on May 29th, and the power and water were supposed to be installed by the end of the weekend, May 31. Here it was, the middle of June, and still the Quilombo didn’t have power or water, and to top it off, the whole community was partying on Thursday because it was a holiday (Corpus Christi), Friday, because it was a holiday (Lover’s Day), and Saturday, because it was Antônia’s birthday. To tell the truth, I was starting to get a little bit frustrated, and went to work at the Quilombo by myself on Friday.

When I returned to the house, Antônia’s oldest daughter, Theresa, had arrived for a surprise visit from Juazeiro. She’s a history teacher there, and seems to have a lot of experience in dealing with administration. She was sitting on the back porch with several of her sisters (Paulinha, Christina, Georgina, and others) drinking beer and chatting. I came in and someone asked where I had been. I said I was working at the Quilombo, and they immediately looked shocked—it seemed unfathomable to them that someone would work alone. This prompted them to invite me to sit down and join them, and I guess I vented a little bit about my frustration with things.

What followed was a 5 hour conversation about the Quilombo and what it could and should do, how it should be run, what needed to be done to jump-start work on it, and how the community might be able to maintain it in perpetuity. Jocelita came in about an hour into the conversation and vented a little of her own, but soon we were all in agreement: it was time to take the bull by the horns and get something done!

Since then, things have moved forward by leaps and bounds. Even during the HUGE 13 hour party on Saturday with 50 family members present (15 of them under 18) consuming about 8-10 cases of beer, lots of the conversation was about the Quilombo. Isabel seemed to be energized to volunteer more, and had a conversation with Leonide (an in-law) about plastering. Christina said she wanted to get involved and promised to organize a meeting. Theresa was facilitating things with her knowledge of administrative structures. I was pleased that despite the fact that this was a party and that everyone was drinking (heavily), they still had the Quilombo on their minds.

On Monday, the water system was miraculously installed, including moving the water tank to the roof, and installing the supply line to the street (but not connected to the supply yet). Nadson worked all day chiseling a furrow in cinderblock for plumbing in the second bathroom. Fabricio and I went for a meeting with Marlene, Eli, and Marilene at ITEBA in the evening. Afterward, on the bus, Fabricio and I had an amazing discussion about ideology versus practicality with regard to feminism. This, of course, was stimulated by Marlene’s strong feminist ideals.

Tuesday, a bunch of people showed up to break furrows in the bricks for the wiring conduits in the upper floor, including Isabel and Jamele!! This was not an easy job. It required lots of pounding with hammer and chisel to break through the mortor, and was dirty and dusty. Casilda’s boys, Tio and Morillo, helped out more than they usually do. Fabricio was in high gear. He constructed the rebar frame for the power post out front. (I had given him a hard time the day before, because he had been promising to do this for two weeks.)

Wednesday, Sergio Sr. and Fabricio worked all day on the post, while Naia worked on cleaning out the water tank. Joselita, Casilda, Nilzete, and Isabel had a conversation early in the morning, basically initiating a coup d’état attempt to get control of the Quilombo out of Marlene's hands once and for all. I’m still unclear on the details of all this, but am glad that they haven’t involved me. It would be awkward because it would put me in a position of opposition to Marlene. I fully support the efforts of the women of this community to have control over what is rightfully theirs, but also support Marlene in all her work with ITEBA, YAMI, and, historically, Quilombo Zerferina.

I typed up a to-do list for Fabricio, which scared him a little because it was so long. He is just like me in that he says “yes” to everything and is always offering ideas or help, but forgets to follow through. He is now diligently working his way through the list. He just told me a couple of hours ago how anxious he is for the Mutirão to be begin and for the American’s to arrive. Everyone is really excited about the soccer game AND the American football game. They’ve contracted a policeman to be present so no one gives us trouble. (I jokingly accused him of expecting violence from the Americans when they lose!)

Momentum is really building, which is good because a huge holiday (São João) arrives next week, and we need to have everything in line before that begins. I have no doubt that the Mutirão is going to be a great experience for both the North Americans and the Brazilians, and that the Brazilians will use it as the springboard to a fully functional Quilombo.