Happiness. Joy. These two words are synonymous yet differ quite drastically. Happiness can be transitive or fleeting. Joy is continuous happiness that accumulates over time. I felt both of these today. One of my church leaders wrote the following: "We must be sensitive to our spiritual bits. Even with the...
The morning breaks and the shadows begin to flee. All around me there is an orchestra of sound. Humming birds, crickets, hens and various birds chirp, tweet and call out for each other. Today our group is in the Center of the 6 Itapeva Settlements, a place bordering the state...
Alexandra Kollontai Settlement Named after a Soviet female writer the settlement of Alexandra Kollontai (Alexandra Koluntai) has existed for 14 years. Prior to becoming a permanent settlement the 80 families who now call the area home were encamped for five years. In 2000 when the state expropriated the land from...
Ribeirão Preto (Heebeirawn Prëto) is a municipality in the heart of São Paulo State. Situated 6 hours northwest of Sao Paulo city it is in the heartland of Brazil's sugar cane production for ethanol and biofuels. In this fertile land volcanic basalt rock, still rich with minerals, nourishes the soils...
The MST has 8 core values that it fosters among its members. 1. Collective direction (administration) 2. Division of tasks 3. Professionalism 4. Discipline 5. Planning 6. Study 7. Link to the masses 8. Critique and Auto Critique This last principle of Critique and Auto Critique is central to the...
A March in Hounour of 106 Year-old MST Member Luiz Beltrame is a poet and MST activist from the state of Sao Paulo. He is 106 years old. Born in Paramirim in the state of Bahia on October 11, 1908, he worked from a young age in the fields, in mining,...
The course assistant Melinda and I sit inside a 61-seat bus on its way back to Sao Paulo. The participants of the
I sit back and lay on a hammock five floors up from the ground. It's midnight in Sao Paulo but it's 9pm at home. I talk with my family over Skype and I'm ecstatic about seeing their faces--especially the kids. My oldest nephew takes one look at the screen, smiles...
For the past four years I have studied Latin American political and social issues and now have an amazing opportunity through Bishop's University of learning how a social movement in Brazil is helping the poor overcome this issue of not having a place to call home.
