No longer the “Island of hell”

«The Gospel message, lived out by persons who have shared everything with us and together, they have searched for us every means of support, has opened a new horizon, that has helped turn our life into a “holy journey”, and it has made us “subjects” of the transformation carried out in our social environment.”
I was born and I presently live on an island which is now called St. Terezinha, on the outskirts of Recife, a city located in North East of Brazil. More than thirty years ago, this island was called the “Island of hell”, because of its serious degraded condition. Since then, the Focolare Movement carries out activities to promote the social situation of this community as well as its spiritual and cultural aspects. From this experience which we have lived out together, an Association of the inhabitants of the island of St. Terezinha has come to life and I have been the president of five consecutive mandates. The target has been to bring the inhabitants to live this communitarian experience, thus becoming protagonists of their own development.

We have chosen one Gospel sentence as a motto: “First of all, look for the Kingdom of God and its justice…”. Entrusting our strength to God, the Gospel became like a compass in our life because at that time we were living in a country run by a capitalist system and still under a military regime. Therefore, almost all the communities were oriented toward parties which had opted to struggle, as the only way to overcome these social inequalities. We, instead, were always open to dialogue with the public administrators, notwithstanding the current practices, exposing clearly our positions as a community. 

Conquests and steps ahead followed: land reclamation of an area which was previously always flooded due to the rain and the high tide; the construction of houses, also with the support of the State, thus solving the problem of lack of habitation; the institution of a primary school, with a strength of over 600 pupils, to combat illiteracy. In order to stop the infant mortality rate we have opened a clinic in collaboration with the Recife Municipality and the support of German organizations. We have also opened a centre for under nourished children. In order to combat unemployment, we have setup an enterprise dealing in concrete construction material, thus employing 7 fathers. Through the initiative of “adoptions at a distance”, a support association also emerged, through which, infants and adolescents are occupied during their free off-school hours, in human formation and civil education.

Respect and acknowledgment from competent authorities reached us without delay: they did not know of the evangelical experience that lied “behind the scenes”, instead, they considered us as an organized community and capable of struggling. It is love that spurs us on and invites us to grow and improve. We cannot be contented with what we have lived the day before.

With the advent of democracy new systems have emerged, such as the “Balance Sheet & Budget-Participation.” The community, represented by its own elected members, discusses with the Municipality, the use of certain financial resources that are decided by the Mayor and committee. The city is divided into 6 areas, or “Political-Administrative Regions”, and representatives are elected  as delegates for the “Balance Sheet & Budget-Participation”: all in all, they are 470. In the course of an assembly, I have been elected region delegate for these negotiations, not only as a representative of my community but also of various villages in the zone.

Even throughout the exercise of this mandate, I had the opportunity to force myself in seeing Jesus in the other person, in accordance with the words of the Gospel: “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me.” It is easy to put into practice with persons who belong to my community, however far more difficult, with someone who does not always act according to the aspirations of the less fortunate. My duty was to work for my community, but at the same time, I had to maintain a rapport with them, and not only out of diplomacy.

One day we were at a reunion and we were discussing the allocation of funds. The delegates present at this meeting wanted to include only those localities of the participating delegates present at the reunion. Keeping in mind that we have “to love another person’s homeland as our own”, which in this case means, to love the other person’s community like our own, I said that it was not right to sacrifice a community just because its representatives were not present. I added that we should not only look at our needs but also at the needs of others, and they accepted my proposal.

On another occasion, for which I happened to be absent due to my work, it was brought to the attention that the funds allocated to a square in the Island of St. Terezinha, were not sufficient. Even though I was not present, the other delegates allocated a part of their resources to our square. This work has reaped various fruit: we have managed to asphalt the main roads of the Island, besides the construction of a square; we have obtained equipment for our Health Centre and sponsorships for our cultural shows. Then, in other villages and communities of the zone of Recife, we have succeeded in launching various works of construction, together with other delegates of “Balance Sheet & Budget-Participation.”

(J. – Brazil)