All things considered, the nuns put together a great meal. We are staying at the St. Francisco convent in Salvador. I can see the beach from my window, and a courtyard of lawn herons from the front door. Breakfast of bread and soup and water is seasoned with our own personal table and the old couple at the table across watching us: they now do not even try to hide their stares now.
Tucked away in a valley, the school and foundation at Terra Mirim works to provide protection to some of the last remaining rainforest of Brazil. The land had been reclaimed from excessive farming and overused grazing areas have been transformed. The Terra Mirim team has planted all the trees on the grounds. The school that is on the preservation serves the community of Danda. The people of Danda are descendents of ex-slaves and have no official recognition from the government as a group. In fact the classes in conjunction with CDI at Terra Mirim teach about fundamental rights guaranteed to everyone. Women are taught about self-confidence and ways to resist men in the community from rape and abuse.
The replanted jungle has taken well to the area. I saw a monkey swinging among the trees, and beehives are not uncommon. One of Terra Mirim’s main goals is to teach the people of Danda that they can make money and a career preserving the land. The problem of deforestation has been on the United Nations docket since its infant years. One of the main concerns about putting bans on cutting down or slashing and burning the rainforest is that people would no longer have jobs. Terra Mirim teaches its students about the honey that can be collected while raising bees. The South American bee does not sting and is unfortunately nearing extinction since people generally destroy any hives that they find.
There are crops planted by the students of the school in a sectioned-off area. The land is used responsibly and for only what the school needs. Because the money they receive only feeds thirty children a day out of 120, there is a rotation of kids who come each day. The Danda community is very poor and while there are some basic food and resources available, many of the kids only meals come from the meals they eat at Terra Mirim.
A river cuts through the jungle at Terra Mirim. This river has been the source of much sorrow and hope for the people living in Danda. When Terra Mirim first came to the Danda valley in 1999, the river water was extremely polluted from villages upstream. Forty percent of Danda villagers get their fresh water from the river: without it there are serious consequences. Terra Mirim launched an initiative to teach the teenagers of the village about maintaining a clean water supply through cleaning out any weeds in the river and using sandbags to reinforce the banks. Now the water is facing pollution again from a buffalo farm. Over grazing on the land loosens the soil so that it falls in and congests the river.
Sixty percent of the people of Danda are under the age of 24. With such a young community seeking ways to make a living, Terra Mirim’s work is crucial to teaching self confidence and initiative. The lady who was giving us the tour around the Terra Mirim jungle and school is named Mynushka. Mynushka is not her real name; it found her on her spiritual journey. Because the government provides no support for Terra Mirim, the land has various structures built out of bamboo and in symbiotic relationship with the land. People come from the outside to stay in small huts and can meditate in one of the four earth, wind, fire, and water sanctuaries. In this way Terra Mirim promotes self-examination and discovery.
At the end of the day we all joined index fingers in a circle and sang the Tibetan Friendship song and did the dance (or at least the Duke team tried to hum what we thought were the words…). Tomorrow is a Bahia holiday, all the schools are closed, and we are heading to a turtle preserve on the coast. Weather forecast is perfect, sand conditions finest in the world, and I can’t help but remembering that a day off for us means a day without food for the kids of Danda.
-Dani