The northeast of Brazil is a mysterious and magical place. The land is arid and hot and wind whips through the dunes ten of the twelve months. Development is sparse. Apart from Fortaleza and scattered villages among groves of cashew trees, rich in aroma, there are only shacks made of sun-weathered boards and driftwood. Yet, music plays all day long. Children wander around safely and their folks don’t worry. People smile and laugh and get together for a family meal.
“So Deus e eu. Only God and I,” 25-year-old fisherman, Leandro Oliveira, describes a day of work in the north coast of Brazil. He fingers a crystal hanging from twine around his neck and explains that it brings him luck and strength.
Each day, as a warm orange glow shimmers over the water, he sets two round logs over flat boards in the sand and pushes his jangada, a wooden sailing raft, toward the sea. The jangada is an ancient boat the dates back to the Ancient Greeks.
It is important to retain this culture as foreigners are beginning to find this paradise on the tip of South America, and at the same time prepare the children for the world that will enter as hydraulic wind plants and tourism enter their turf.
The goal of Canoa Naturals is to provide financial means for small schools in the northeast, particularly in the state of Ceará, in order provide more incentives to learning and maintain local traditions. Prostitution among young women is an increasing problem in the area. Motivating young girls to stay in school could empower them and provide more choices.
It is important that the children grow up knowing their worth as fishing people. President Lula, in one of his speeches told the following story about a fisherman that took a doctor out onto his boat.
| The doctor asked the fisherman what philosophy was and the fisherman said he had no idea. Then the doctor asked him the square root of 36. Again the fisherman didn’t know. The doctor continued to grill him with difficult questions that the fisherman didn’t know any of the answers to. The doctor said, “You are an imbecile and you’ll never go anywhere in this world.” The fisherman picked up a little fish and asked, “What is the name of this fish? The doctor didn’t know. The fisherman pointed to the ocean and asked the doctor where the fish were. “I don’t know, it all looks the same,” the doctor replied. The fisherman asked the doctor when the tide would come in. Again, the doctor didn’t know. The fisherman replied, “Then why am I ignorant and you are so excellent?” |
The teaching approach will be hands-on learning in Portuguese, English and Spanish. They will study general subject areas through applications that apply to them and their everyday life. Teachers will be a mix of both Brazilian and open-minded foreign volunteers. |
