We leave you here a very interesting interview with Valdeci Ferreira, Brazilian CLM who has 39 years dedicated to recovering people who have failed in their lives and have been imprisoned.
He explains to us the APAC method where the recuperandos (prisoners) themselves hold the keys to the prison, help each other and where the person is recovered for society. “No one is impossible to recover” is one of the slogans of APACs and that make possible this dream of giving a new possibility to those who one day made a mistake.
PS. It is in Portuguese but subtitles can be added.
And the train goes on. Up and down these tracks. We stop in front of the station below. From Piquiá de Baixo. Land of suffering people, forgotten and mistreated. Land of exploitation, of confusion and resurrection. The dragons described in the book of the apocalypse are there. There are five of them. One of them has 12 heads that spit fire and iron, forming a river of blood that begins in the north and flows into the southeast. Where death is present, fighting for life is not a choice, it is an obligation. The obligation is not to fight for your own life, but to put yourself in the fight for the life of the poorest, the most fragile, the smallest in our society.
We are surprised by another train that passes by our side and accompanies us for a few good moments. With its strong machine, its well-structured cars and wheels capable of crossing the country’s borders, this train has a name and a surname: Justice on Rails. Justice is one of those words that allow many meanings and significance. But it needs to be accompanied by struggle, dedication, and wisdom. This justice is not like many we come across around, this one has a strong purpose: the “us”. Not for there or here. It is “us. It is where it needs to be present. That’s where it really needs to be: rails. Where we can come and go. The right and safe way. But this last name is determinant, it goes where justice is acclaimed and is necessary. It is these tracks that guide, that direct, that lead, the dedicated work of all those who put themselves on the train of life.
There were many stations that helped us get to know more of that piece of land and dream. The ground of people who work, who do, and who insist. A dream dreamt by those who feel the burning of the missionary call, the dream of many and the call of all. We got to know the school that is family, that is rural, but that the asphalt of the city leads us to. A family with many fathers and mothers. Planting knowledge, watering with doubts and harvesting lives. Young students who have a thirst for knowledge, who disconnect from their families to live connected to learning. Educators who are not teachers. They are beyond. If we have a word that represents the one who teaches, who is dedicated, who overcomes limits, who puts body and soul into the art of teaching, who does not measure efforts and does not count resources. These are the missionaries of education, or educators in mission.
From afar we can already see the next station. Full of welcoming people. They are the ones who form the communities: of the Rosário and Santa Luzia. They are women, men and children. They are elderly, bedridden and barefoot. They are everyone who makes us learn about life and living. It’s a quick conversation, a broad smile, but always, a gesture of affection that always accompanies them.
It was at this station that we shared the food, drank juice, lots of juice, shared our anguishes and doubts. It was there, in that little piece of Brazil, that we met to learn, with each other, with those who welcomed us, and with everyone else who joined us on this trip, under the tracks of humility and unconditional love.
The perfume takes over our entire train. They are the ones who come to take us by the hand and guide us, as the conductors of this train. They are the ones who smile at us, as a gesture of their welcome. They are the ones who feed us and toast us. Yes, all women. Joyful, marked by the years of life and struggle, beautiful and smiling. Young and experienced. Short, long, and gray hair. The women who have passed us on this journey have shown that they are capable of embracing and fighting. To face great dragons and to stroke our heads when we turn on our feet. Eunice is one of these women. The first to welcome us to the priests’ home. Always attentive and welcoming. She marks our first contact with the women of that place. Also Dina and Maynara were in our wagon during this whole itinerary. They were the ones who prepared our way, organizing and cleaning the house of the CLM. They are the ones who welcomed us, taught us about the things of that place. They are the continuators of the struggles and celebrations of such a welcoming people. Suddenly, we were all together. The girls run among us in a game of getting closer, the young women who stare at the strangers are curious about those who come from afar, the women who open their arms and hearts to welcome us, and the ladies, the leaders who have already done, are doing, and, if necessary, will be able to do it all again.
Knowledge is something that only grows when we share it. And so it was on our mornings, sipping coffee or a mug of juice, many juices, that we shared our knowledge with Marcelo, Father Carlos, João Carlos, Valdênia, Renato, Yonná, Morgana and Father Joseph. And everything ends with a taste of wanting more, of staying in that station for a few more hours, days, lives. Learning is something unique and contagious. Those who learn begin to live with the desire to teach, to transmit, to share what they have received. But there is also teaching without words. With gestures, conversations, but mainly with attitudes. Father Silvério is one of these. He looks at the smallest, the little ones, with a sparkle in his eyes, stories to tell and a whole life to dedicate to them.
We arrived at the highest station, the “Piquiá da Conquista” station. When I saw in the distance, hidden among the açaí palm trees, mango trees and babaçu trees, those little white houses, all well organized, a distant story of a place known as the Promised Land came to mind. It was while talking to Dona Tida, in the facilities of the restaurant Sabor da Conquista, that we learned about the history and the conquest that was taking place there, in front of us, present in the lives of the people of Piquiá de Baixo. Just like the Promised Land, this story has its Moses. One of the leaders of the community who was present in all the moments and struggles of this people. But it was on the day the first brick was laid, the day Piquiá da Conquista was sighted, that Mr. Edvar passed away from respiratory complications. Yes, he was one of those who died from the pollution brought by the steel mills to Piquiá de Baixo. Dona Tida (Francisca), like Josué, leads the people through the Piquiá River, promotes meetings, discusses, listens, and organizes the people. There are 312 houses. There will be 312 families with a new place to live, far from the dragons, but not far from their flames and smoke.
Perhaps you ask why this journey. Maybe these are not your tracks. Maybe none of it makes sense to you. But I can assure you of one thing, you have a way that is uniquely yours. But I have met a man, frail in appearance, intense in look, with a life well lived. To summarize this man, Ms. Tida revealed to us a secret that only experienced people, able to hear the whisper of God, are able to tell us. She asked us: Do you know that man who has the way of God? Our glances met as if asking: we still don’t know the way of God and how will we recognize such a person. She then asks us: do you know Father Dario? Our eyes open and everyone confirms: Yes, we know Father Dario. Each one with his or her own story about the one who has “God’s way”.
The Comboni Lay Missionaries of Brazil began the year 2023 with the organization of the face-to-face meeting of the CLM Formative Itinerary that took place from January 15 to 23, at Piquiá in Açailândia/MA. This region is one of the oldest and most continuous presence of the CLM and is a reference point for the work as Comboni Family in the Cause of Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC).
Leonel from Curitiba/PR, Dhenny from Balsas/MA, Diana from Fortaleza/CE and Tranquillo from Serra/ES participated in this beautiful moment of formation, sharing and visits.
This period of living together aims to be a special moment in the discernment process that is already entering its second year, in view of the call of the CLM to serve the Kingdom. It is an opportunity to deepen on Vocation as a call from God, the option and the lifestyle and mission. During these days, the theme of the Social Teaching of the Church was emphasized, with a focus on JPIC – Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, with theoretical formations and visits made to various existing initiatives in the region.
An important moment to reread life and faith and, as baptized people, to rediscover the missionary dimension. “Am I baptized? Then I must be a missionary, otherwise I am not a Christian” (Pedro Casaldáliga).
On the rails of love and friendship our train travels through life.
They were days of learning, living together, and getting cozy. Our itinerary, just like a train trip, takes us to visit places, enjoy the landscape, and enjoy the conviviality of those who share the same faith and walk the same path.
Coming from the four corners, gathered in the small and stunning Piquiá, four people (Diana, Dhenny, Leonel and Tranqüillo) who seek to know and to get to know each other, to learn and to teach, to experience and to dream, together for one more step towards the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) station. This will not be the final station, but the first one, the one that will allow us to follow even more distant trails and tracks.
In our backpack, only what is necessary: the Word of God, a few clothes, many doubts and fears, some small change, and an enormous desire to live it all. We are counting only on our spirituality and on dedicated and abdicated people: Cristina, Marcelo, Adriana, Alexander, Father Carlos, João Carlos, Dida, Father Joseph, Flávio, Liliana and Father Silvério. People who have traveled these paths in the most varied ways and means. People who have opened roads and laid tracks.
Our train set off and on its way received people. People who had fun, people who suffered. People who taught us a lot, not only with their words, but with their actions, their attitudes, and with their lives. To believe that we are transforming agents. That we transform harsh realities of exploitation, deceit, and death into a kingdom of life, sharing, and faith.
Behind bars, we are able to recognize those people who are unwanted, mistreated and excluded from life. People who are able to smile and live again, all it takes is for a young person to feel uncomfortable with the suffering of others, to put together their knowledge and their will, and to serve on the frontiers of imprisonment. Marcelo, thank you for teaching us that stubbornness makes us remove bars and walls in our lives and in the lives of many others.
We got off the train to meet the people of Piquiá. We visited, we walked through hot and dusty streets. But we didn’t walk alone. We counted on the company and the joy of serving Mr. José Albino, Mr. Celso, Dona Margarida and so many other people who come together to celebrate faith and share life. And off we went. In the midst of the people. The sun that illuminates the path and leaves a mark on our skin. We are marked by the words and smiles received. By eyes that don’t see, by hands that don’t touch, by people who are bedridden and badly treated, but resilient and strong. People of faith.
On these paths of life, we are required to make choices. Faced with a reality we have the road to the left and the road to the right. Our answer will always be yes. We will always make the decision to take the road that leads to the Kingdom of God and the poor. Alexander is one of those few who had the courage and the willingness to say the Yes to vocation. A vocation to place himself in the midst of the poor, to serve the most needy, and to help the socially invisible. Alexander teaches us, with his Spanish Portuguese, to learn hard lessons of detachment, to leave the comfortable place in which we were born and forged. With his doubts and questionings, his will to get things done, Alex (as we call him) boards our train and travels with us all along this trail.
We leave you a video published by Justiça nos Trilhos where we can see the progress of the struggle of a simple community against a large extractive company.
A struggle that the Comboni family has been accompanying for years.
You can also read and watch a video subtitled in Spanish in “El País”.
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