On December 8th, 2021 I arrived in Campina Grande, Paraiba, Brazil. It was a significant date to arrive there as it was the thirty-ninth anniversary of the arrival of the first four Mercies who set up a mission in Brazil on December 8th 1982. I went to visit Celine Conway, the last remaining Sister who keeps the Mercy flag flying in Brazil. I also planned to revisit the places where I had lived and worked for thirty two years, to call on neighbours and friends and to meet the various women’s projects in which I was involved.
The pandemic has hit Brazil very hard with over 635,000 deaths. Now with the Omicron variant, numbers are soaring up again, averaging over a thousand deaths a day. Every state in the country is on red alert!
The economic situation of the masses of poor is at an all-time low, with huge unemployment. It is so hard to see the evident hunger on the faces of so many looking for food.
Celine’s projects include adult literacy and recycling. I went with her to a centre called “A Touch of Hope” which is situated in a most abandoned part of the city, close to where the city dump was once located. There we joined in wrapping hundreds of bars of washing soap, made from recycled cooking oil. The money from the sale of the soap helps put food on the tables of the needy.
Touch of Hope Soap
We also met a group of women from the area who, prior to the pandemic, were participating in literacy classes. We listened to their stories and their struggles, and were happy to have a hamper of basic foods for each one to help them and their families. There was delight on their faces as they sang, all so very happy and so grateful.
From Campina Grande, I went to Joao Pessoa, a city about two hours away. There I visited the women’s groups that I accompanied for many years, in shantytowns (favelas) and rural areas. They are continuing to struggle with their projects – making washing soap, crafts, herbal medicines, organic vegetable and herb growing. It was good to spend time with them, hearing their stories and seeing their efforts in the projects, good too to be able to support them with some funding and with materials.
I was delighted to be present at the opening of a ‘Casa de Farinha’, a small building where they are now milling manioc flour. They sell this at the market and also sell produce they make with the flour.
Before leaving my ‘second home’, I was delighted to have celebratory get-togethers with the groups, singing, and sharing a meal. I must say Brazilians have a wonderful resilience and sense of hope.
They have a saying: “Faz escuro, mas eu canto”. (It’s a dark situation but still sing!).
We had laughs and tears all mixed up.
It was hard to leave my Brazil ‘family’ again but thank God for the gift of Brazil and the mission of Mercy in my life.
Gay Kieran rsm
South Central Province
