Vitor Pasquini Scarpelli

Social Communication and CommunityAssociations:

The opinion leaders’ performance in Balsas City (MaranhaoState)

Methodist University of Sao Paulo - Social CommunicationMaster Degree Program - City of Sao Bernardo do Campo – Sao

Paulo State, 2010Vitor Pasquini Scarpelli

Social communication and community associations:

The opinion leaders’ performance in BalsasCity, Maranhao State

This paper was presented to partial fulfillment to therequirements of Social Communication Master Degree

Program of UMESP – Methodist University of Sao Paulo,for attainment of the Master Degree.

Primary Adviser: Professor Sandra Reimão

Methodist University of Sao Paulo - Social Communication Masters Degree Program

City of Sao Bernardo do Campo – Sao Paulo State, 2010

The Master Degree paper, Social Communication and community

associations: the opinion leaders’ performance in Balsas City,

Maranhao State, had been elaborated by Vitor Pasquini Scarpelli

and was presented and approved in March, 16, 2010 before a

Thesis Defense Committee composed by professors Sandra

Reimao (UMESP’s President), Maria Aparecida Ruiz (UMESP’s

Full Professor) e Jane Marques (USP’s Full Professor).

Sandra Reimao, PhD. - Primary Advisor and Thesis Defense Committee President

Sebastião Squirra, PhD - Master Degree Program Coordinator

Program: Master Degree in Social Communication

Area of Concentration: Communications Process

Research Lines: Books and other Medias

Acknowledgments

To my parents, Roseane Pasquini and Sergio Scarpelli, who always encouraged

me and who made the

accomplishment of my life projects possible.

To Bruno Menegatti, for his several favors that had collaborated for the

accomplishment of

this paper.

To Luis e Ana Elisa Salvatore who made possible for me to know an other side of

Brazil

To all the employees of Agostinho Neves City School, especially Eliane,

Cláudia, Antonieta and Edjane.

To the people of Bacaba district and the members of Bacaba district residents

association, who cordially received me in their city.

To Aluísio for the contribution in researching and organizing documents and to

his family that received me inside their home when I was so distant from mine.

To all people who were with me during that time at home or outside on the backlands,

specially to Murilo, Júnior, Gilmar, Elver, Claiton, Marina, Otávio, Guto, Leandro, Rafael, Valter e

Wolber.

Table list:

Lista de Imagens

Figure 1 - Child at the Bacaba's district soccer field p.125

Figure 2 - The Warriors of the Children capoeira presentation p.125

Figure 3 - Library donated computer p.125

Figure 4 - Local musician presentation during visit at IBS p.126

Figure 5 - Bacaba district residents p.126

Figure 6 - Resident children of Bacaba district. p.126

Table 1 - First Stage Chronogram - Day one - Morning p.41

Table 2 - First Stage Chronogram - Day one Afternoon p.42

Table 3 - First Stage Chronogram - Day two - Morning p.43

Table 4 - First Stage Chronogram - Day two -Afternoon p.43

Table 5 - Second Stage Chronogram - - Day one -

- Morning p.46

Table 6 - Second Stage Chronogram - - Day one -

- Afternoon p.46

Table 7 - Third Stage Chronogram - Day one - Morning p.48

Table 8 - Third Stage Chronogram - Day one - Afternoon p.49

Table 9 - Third Stage Chronogram - Day two - Morning p.50

Table 10 Fourth Stage Chronogram - Day one - Morning p.52

Table 11 Fourth Stage Chronogram - Day one Afternoon p.53

Table 12 Fourth Stage Chronogram - Day two - Morning p.53

Table 13 Fourth Stage Chronogram - Day two - Afternoon p.54

Table 14 Fourth Stage Chronogram Day three - Morning p.54

Table 15 Fourth Stage Chronogram Day three Afternoon p.55

Lista de Tabelas

Index:

List of figures p.3

List of Tables p.4

Introduction p.ll

1 - About the leader of opinion concept. p.12

2 - Balsas City p.23

2.1 – The city of Balsas p.23

2.2 – The Bacaba district p.28

2.3 - The medias in Balsas City p.31

3 - Brasil Solidário Institute p.34

3.1 – The beginning of Brasil Solidário Institute p.34

3.2 - The School's Sustainable Development Program (PDSE) p.40

4 – The Bacaba district residents’ performance p.58

4.1 – The Bacaba distric neighborhood association p.58

4.2 – The community leaders’ performance in Bacada distric on PDSE p.64

5 – Final Considerations p.68

6 - References p.70

Attachment 1 p.72

Sumário

Interview with Antonieta Neves da Silva Matos p.72

Interview with Isomar de Sousa Neves p.76

Interview with Norina Neves Quiximtera p.76

Interview with Edjane Nunes Santos p.77

Interview with Wadson Oliveira Silva p.81

Interview with Carmegildo Xavier da Silva p.83

Interview with Xavier Fiali de Souza p.84

Interview with Luis Barbosa de Sousa p.85

Interview with Reni Jorge Grampes p.86

Interview with Gilson Pereira Botelho p.89

Interview with Naura de Sousa p.92

Interview with Juarez Júnior da Silva Oliveira p.93

Interview with Raimundo Nonato Cardoso Nogueira p.95

Interview with Clarindo de Sousa Gomes p.97

Interview with Josivam Pereira de Sá p.99

Interview with Talita Moura p.99

Interview with Fabricio Andrade p.101

Interview with João Batista Rodrigues Araújo p.102

Interview with Luis Fernando Fogaça Neto p.108

Interview with José Maria da Silva p.109

Interview with Antônia Almeida Nunes p.110Attachment 2

Interview with Luis Salvatore p.lll

p.125

Resumo

Esta dissertação visa examinar o bairro Bacaba, um bairro periférico do município de Balsas-MA, durante

a implantação de um projeto social implantado por uma ONG. O objetivo desse estudo é compreender como os

líderes de opinião da comunidade do bairro Bacaba, atuaram junto a comunidade e aos meios de comunicação da

cidade durante a realização de um projeto social em um colégio localizado no bairro Bacaba. A atuação desses

líderes foi observada durante quatro etapas que formaram o projeto implantado na escola e duas visitas posteriores

onde foi observada a continuação desse projeto.

Palavras-Chave: Líder de opinião, Comunicação em comunidades periféricas, Projetos Sociais

Capítulo I - Sobre o conceito de líder de opinião

Esta tesis tiene como objetivo examinar el barrio Bacaba, un barrio en las afueras de la ciudad de

Balsas-MA, durante la ejecución de un proyecto social ejecutado por una ONG. El objetivo de este

estúdio es comprender cómo los líderes de opinión en el distrito de la comunidad Bacaba, actuo en la

comunidad y los médios de comunicación de la ciudad durante la ejecución de un proyecto social en

una escuela situada en el Bacaba. El trabajo de estos dirigentes se observo durante cuatro etapas que

forman el proyecto ejecutado en la escuela y dos visitas posteriores, donde se observo la continuación

de este proyecto.

Palabras-Clave: Líder de opinión, Comunicación en comunidads afueras de la ciudad, Proyecto

Social

This paper intend to make an exam on the Bacaba district, a peripheral distric located in the city of Balsas-

MA, during the introduction of a social project made by an ONG. The objective of this estudy is to

understand how the opinion leaders from the Bacaba community, act with this community and with the

local media during the realization of a social project in a school located in the Bacaba district. The

performance of these leaders was observed during the four stages of the project implantation, and during

two afterwards travels where the continuation of these projects were observed.

Keywords: Opinion Leader, Peripheral communication, Social projects

13

Introduction

The idea for this research came to me in 2007 when I did a volunteer social work at the Brasil

Solidario Institute. The acquaintanceship with the Brazilian backlands communities and the way that

each one of them organized itself to participate in this work intrigued me. In the next year, I came back

there as a volunteer, but this time I was participating in all stages of work, as a camera operator. I believe

that work as camera operator had facilitated the accomplishment of the research once the basic principle

of this job is to observe. While the others volunteers were restricted to the room where they were

exercising their functions, I was allowed to walk by the school and observe the progress of actions and the

residents’ behavior during all social actions.

During the time that I was working on this Project, a specific place caught my attention: the town

of Balsas in Maranhao State specifically the Bacaba District, where I had the opportunity to work as a

volunteer on four occasions. That community stood out by the appearance in large numbers during the

works and because it organized itself in a different way from other places that I had visited. That kind of

organization inspired me to try to comprehend how the people who were been recognized as leaders by

the community had worked during the social project that had been done on the town.

The qualitative research presented in this thesis was done during four trips to Balsas County for

the School’s Sustainable Development Project conducted by the Brasil Solidario Institute, and by two

trips done after the work implementation. The main objectives of those trips were to observe if or how the

Bacaba District’s community continued the work undertaken by School’s Sustainable Development

Project and conducting interviews with the Bacaba residents, employees at the Agostinho Neves City

School and with people recognized as leaders by the majority of the community residents.

While I was performing the volunteer work in the town and on two other occasions when I was in

Balsas City to do my research, the residents warmly received me, and were extremely helpful and thus

facilitated the research’s accomplishment.

The research presented bellow describes Balsas City, the Bacaba District and the Brasil Solidario

Institute’s social project. Next, there is a description of Bacaba District residents association and the way

that community representatives had worked along the social project developed on the community. By

identifying some community leaders, it was possible to observe the manners in which they worked with

the residents and how they interacted with the city media.

14

Chapter One – About the Opinion Leaders Concept

In this chapter, we will seek to outline the central elements in the opinion leader

concept. We will make a summary focused on this issue using quotations from authors that (I

believe) are relevant to this concept development. The first study cited in this chapter explains the

basic ideas about the concept of opinion leaders and serves as basis for understanding of further studies,

which will deepen and extend knowledge on the subject.

Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet did a study called The People Choice: how the voter makes

up his mind in a presidential campaign about the presidential campaign in 1940 in the United States. In

their study, they observed that some people from the community played an important role in the

information’s selection and dissemination of the influence exerted by the messages conveyed by mass

media.

These authors noted that messages transmitted by radio and printed media had no major effects

on changing the voting decision. From that point Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet sought to understand

how people make their decisions and what factor leads to change them.

To understand this phenomenon Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet focused their study on people

who changed their voting intentions during the campaign. The authors found that the main causes for the

voting changes intentions were not directly the messages sent by the mass media, but rather other people.

The personal influence acts over those who are more susceptible to chancesand serves as a bridge in which the formal means of communications extend itsinfluence, Furthermore, personal relationships have some psychologicaladvantages that make then specially effective in the pursuit of molecularpressure, leading to political homogeneity of social groups.1

The authors believe that the personal contacts do not have the purpose of changing the political

opinion of the other person involved on a conversation. However, when the mass media deals with this

subject there is an effort to change the view of the message receiver.

The Power of the personal interactions lies, paradoxically in the incidental andlack of purpose on political matters. When we read or hear a speech, usuallywe do so with a purpose and we have a position on our minds that willinfluence our receptivity.2

From that point, the authors observed that the people tended to vote like the others with whom

they were familiar or intimate. Therefore, the wives voted like their husbands, club members like others at

same club, workers like their fellows workers.

1 LAZARSFELD; BERELSON; GAUDET, 1968, p.151 2Ibidem, p. 153

11

15

Whenever propaganda by another person is experienced as an expression of theprevailing group tendencies, it has greater chances of being successful thanformal media because of social rewards.3

In the groups where the voting intentions had homogeneity, the authors observed that some people

had major influence on other people’s voting intension inside the group. The authors called the people

who exerted this influence, opinion leaders.

Trust in another person’s point of view may be due to his prestige as well as tothe plausibility of what he has to say or its relevancy to one’s interests. It isobvious that in all influences prestige plays a considerable role. The degree ofconformity is greater the higher the prestige of person in our group who seeksto influence us. The plausibility of consequences he presents will seen greater ifhe is important.4

Contradicting the previous belief, the opinion leaders were involved on different groups of

activity and different socioeconomic levels. Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet began to find out what had

influenced the opinion leaders. Unlike other people, the opinion leaders’ responses revealed that, for them,

the messages conveyed by mass media were crucial to decide which candidate they would vote.

This information led to an idea communication in two stages:

1- The information from mass media were received and/or absorbed by opinion leaders and

2- Relayed by opinion leaders to other people of the same group

The Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet’s study revealed the importance of considering the opinion

leaders as important intervention parts’ of the messages broadcasted by mass media for the rest of the

group meaning that for a mass media message be assimilated, the intervention of a prominent member of

the group is essential.

The opinion leader is a member of a group of people that stands out in a particular subject and for

that matter, considered a source of reference for other members.

All groups of humans have an element that stands out in a certain area, whomthe others who give credit and consult when necessary. Each opinion leaderinfluence in a particular subject. Thus, for example, the pharmacist from asmall town may be the opinion leader for political issues. A certain class ofstudents will inevitably and always chosen to represent their colleagues and soon. New information often comes to be accepted by the group only when it isreinforced by the opinion leader.5

In his book The Uses of Literacy, Hoggart discusses the massages conveyed by mass media,

absorbed by the opinion leaders according to Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet. Hoggart believes that the

mass media influence became bigger in the recent times considering that they are much more active than

3Ibidem, p. 154 (Tradução nossa)4Ibidem, p. 158 (Tradução nossa)5 LUYTEN, 1988, p.10

16

before, calling attention to the fact that this influence sometimes can have a negative effect on

popular culture.(…)the influence of mass publishing has become, nowadays, for many reasons,more insistent and active, these publications have acquired a so far unknownextent, we are driving towards the creation of a mass culture, thatreminiscences of old urban culture, the people are being destroyed, and in somerespects, the new mass culture is less healthy than the culture, often crude,which it is replacing.6

Despite the author’s beliefs of the mass media in occasion can be harmful to popular culture,

Hoggart believes that this process does not affect the traditional culture because traditional culture is oral

and come from the day-to-day living.

(…) If we listen to working-class people at work or at home we are likely to bestruck first, not so much by the evidence of fifty years of popular papers andcinema, as by the slight effect these things have upon the common speech, bythe degree to which the working-people still draw, in speech and inassumptions to which speech is a guide, in oral and local tradition.7

In 1955, Paul Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz published the book Personal Influence: the part played

by people in the flow of mass communication. In that book, as it title indicates, the authors go deep build

upon previous studies on the role of opinion leader in mass communication.

These studies all tend to bear out the validity of the opinion leader Idea, in oneway or another, and to make quite explicit that traditional images of the masspersuasion process must make ‘room’ for people as intervening factor betweenthe stimuli of the media and results opinions, decisions and actions.8

A major author’s concern was to analyze the way the leaders interact with the group they coexist.

What we shall call opinion leadership, if we may call it leadership at all, isleadership at its simplest: it is casually exercised, sometimes unwitting andunbeknown, within the smaller grouping of friends, family members, andneighbors. It is not leadership of a high level like a Churchill nor a localpolitico, nor even like a local social elite. It is at quite the opposite extreme: itis the almost invisible, certainly inconspicuous, form of leadership at theperson-to-person level of ordinary, intimate, informal, every day contact. 9

The authors pointed out that the desire of accordance is one of the reasons to people on a same

group adopts the same opinions. A person who wishes to be accepted in a group is encouraged to

incorporate the group’s opinions even if, he is not aware of it. Moreover, this does not apply only to new

6Hoggart, 1973, p.297Ibidem, p.338KATZ; LAZARSFELD, 2006, p.32 (Tradução nossa)9Ibidem, p. 138 (Tradução nossa)

17

group’s member. They noted that the older members who have a very different opinion from the others

could lose their status inside the group and even let the group. In the other hand, the individuals who

incorporate the group’s opinion receive acceptance and friendship.

(…) if an individual desires to attain, or maintain, an intimate relationship whitothers or if he wants to “get somewhere” either within a group or via a group,he must identify himself with the opinions and values of these others. That doesnot necessary mean that this identification is therefore rationally calculated. Itmay be quite unwitting. But conscious or not, the consequences of conformityor non conformity which we have noted will remain the same.10

By the fact that to form an opinion, there is a confluence of set of experiences not lived for each

group member individually, the information brought by the opinion leader acts as a substitute mediator for

the direct experience. They authors point out the Sherif (1952) studies that suggest the people seek out and

depend on others to make their decisions on uncertainty. Those studies show, also, that individuals

interacting with each other’s when facing a problem, tend to create a common opinion or decision.

This is the way the stereotypes develop; and it is one of the reasons why ideasabout what is real in religion or in politics vary from group to group. So manythongs in the world are inaccessible to direct empirical observation thatindividuals must continuing rely on each other for making sense out of things..11

Another element considered to characterize the opinion leader’s role is the people tendency to

find other individuals with the same views and values. Lazarsfeld and Katz argue that the group members

do not like to see their fellows having different opinions from the group majority. Furthermore, the groups

want to have their own identity and one way to keep it is to request, in some aspects, a similar behavior

from all members.

(...) we should point to one other factor which will also helps us to explain howit happens that an individual’s opinions are likely to be liked with the opinionsof those around him. The phenomenon to which we refer now is the tendency ofpeople with like opinions and values to seek each other out as companions.12

Just like the individuals, groups have goals that in some cases only can be reach if there is a

consensus among the group members.

First of all, individuals do not like to find their associates departing from atraditional way of “seeing” something. It is a very discomfiting experience forindividuals to discovery that one of their number proposes to “see” somethingin a new way. Consider, for example, the consequences of believing that witchesdo not exist, in the context of a witch-hunting Puritan community.Secondly, groups like to preserve their identities, and one of the chief ways agroup can make its boundary lines clear is by the requirement of uniformbehavior on the parts of its members.

10Ibidem, p.52 (Tradução nossa)11Ibidem, p.54 (Tradução nossa)12Ibidem, p.59 (Tradução nossa)

18

Third and most important perhaps, is the fact that groups, like individuals, havegoals and group goals often cannot be achieved without consensus.13

Lazarsfeld and Katz say that in the popular imagination there are different kinds of leaders, such

as officials and unofficial, from small groups or big nations, organizers, agitators, enlightened, skilled

leaders and others that act on many areas. Institutions formally designate the official leaders; a CEO is an

example of an official leader. The unofficial leaders were the ones not appointed by any formally

organized institution, such as gang leaders for example. The organizer and agitator type leaders gather

people in large movement, the enlightened transform the mind of their followers. The spheres that are

more specific will consult skilled leaders such as nuclear physicists, and political leaders as dictators

interfere with several aspects of people’s life.

The so-called opinion leaders treated by Lazarsfeld and Katz are mainly informal leaders and

their communication is the face-to-face kind.

From the influenced people point of view, the opinion leader is a person who has an expertise in a

specific subject or a person with great general knowledge, so someone who is reliable.

The authors had done a research to analyze the opinion leader influence. For almost one-half of

the questioned people, the competent and reliable persons were inside their familiar circle. For the rest of

them pointed neighbors, friends or coworkers. After several months, on a new questionnaire, forty per

cent of the respondents said that they had changed their opinions because of some conversations with a

specific person. Almost half of the respondents said that they prefer to discuss their views with people

they have daily contact.

The Lazarsfeld and Katz study shows that it is possible to identify and analyze the opinion

leader’s influence in the messages broadcasted by mass media.

According to Hoggart, the small or remote communities do not have their day-to-day events

reported or portrayed very often in mass media. About these communities Hoggart (1973, p 41) write that

(…) “the new media directed to them have failed in to affect the proletarian classes, especially

considering the vastness and expansion of the new media.”

In his book “Folkcomunicacao: Teoria e Metodologia”*, Luiz Beltrao points that

communication is the modern society’s fundamental problem due to the huge cultural diversity, ethnicity,

social differences and the distance among the individuals.

According to Beltrao, beyond the immediate interest of each group lies a common purpose: To

acquire knowledge and experience to improve the species and the society in which they operates. To reach

this process, the communication is essential.

13 Ibidem, p.62 (Tradução nossa)(TN) Folkcommunication: Theory and Methodology

19

Unlike some History periods when people gathered to listen to massages and make their

decisions, the direct communication became limited. In contemporary society, the mass media’s

instruments provide messages according to the identities of the groups’ values, to which they intended.

Only analyze the statistics data is not enough to know the effects of the messages conveyed by

mass media outlets. Beltrao believes that in order to optimize the effects of the messages, first, it is

necessary to know the personality of organized groups, the socio-economic and cultural life of society as a

whole, the political guidelines, the elites influence and the psychological framework of the current days.

The communication’s effects can lead the collective communicator to change the shape of his messages.

This is a vital process in the collective communication or the communicator organism can become

alienated.

A similar process of isolation and alienation occurs in society’s organizes groups which do not

analyze the elements of mass media. It happens mainly when these groups act on a large territorial

extension that has heterogeneous culture and economy.

The flow of the communication process in two stages was studied on different occasions and

environments. The main conclusions pointed that: Other people influence is more effective than the

influence of the mass media. The opinion leaders and the people they influence, in most cases, have close

ties; the individuals who have a close relationship share, in most cases, opinions and attitudes; and that

there must be sufficient interest to make the influence pass to people more interested, to those one less

interested.

For Beltrao (2004, p.77), “(...) the conventional means of collective communication do not work to

achieve positive effects for the intentions of political and cultural elite.” It happens because the groups do

not assimilate their messages. To prevent it, those who control the mass media must not use only the

communication means to send their messages, but also use the popular opinion leaders.

In his book, Cruz das Almas, Donald Pierson points the meeting of organized groups within the

community to perform their daily activities as a space where the community leadership emerges and

grows.

The community leadership happens at the sidewalks and fishing, on the Mass,processions and other religious ceremony, in planning and conductingcelebrations, in shaping public opinion especially in politics and when there isa personal, familiar or community crises.14

Beltrao tries to adapt the role of opinion leaders for the Brazilian reality; a reality composed of

contrasting groups: One with a great cultural and economic development, and another, marginalized. Each

group responds differently to the calls of mass media. While one group makes changes its patterns of

behavior, absorbing new ideas and techniques divulged by journalistic vehicles, the other group keeps its

uses and habits, ignoring and/or rejecting even logical argumentations.

14 PIERSON, 1966, p.424

20

To understand the process by which the less educated and poorer sections of society get informed

and transform their opinions into actions, Beltrao noted that to form the beliefs and decisions the

journalistic communication is necessary. Then, in the case of the group that is slower in absorb the mass

media messages, their traditional habits and uses play the part of journalistic vehicles.

Beltrao, aiming to understand the communication process where some communicator agents have

no clue that they are acting as journalists, where the editorial writes can be illiterate and good editors do

not have a penny, seeks understanding how the native Brazilians had communicated with each other

before the Portuguese arrival and how the social contact had changed over the centuries.

The author did the research on collections of newspapers and magazines, books and records kept

in public or private institutions. Beltrao held talks with planters, farmers, political inland leaders, almost

centenary old ladies, slaves’ children and grandchildren, shamans, people from African nation and Indian

tribes, road transport drivers, singers improvisers, Friars missionaries, refugees, retired police lieutenants

and captains, among others.

The question was, after the search, to select among them those who were theagents of popular communication, the “catimbozeiros”. Study their languageand situate it in their massage, apparently far from de informative-opinionativeproposal, because in most cases, it was specifically designed to fill leisurehours, promote entertainment or do business. To situate the rich meaning of itscontent that would produce to the listener, reader or assistant, the same effectthat the journalistic rhetoric does among recipients of other Brazil.15

Beltrao noted folk characteristics on the selected agents and in how they conveyed their

messages. Forms of expression coming from distant ancestors, in time and space, survived through oral

tradition and through what Beltrao calls “(…) an admirable instinct for preservation of oppressed and

neglected ethnic groups.” These kinds of expressions had changed and surveyed to the contact with

another culture. For Beltrao these folkloric “are covered of news, not memories”.

Beltrao believes that the people change, update and readapt in a constant reinterpretation of their

way to act, think and feel according to changes in society and culture. Means of communications used in

earlier periods of History like the poetry of the medieval minstrels and rimes of the hawkers have evolved

ways to use more sophisticated, and continued to convey the popular messages, as the news brought by

truck drivers and rimes they conveyed as symbolic standards of conduct.

Dancing, painting, sculpture and craft are folk elements and, for Beltrao, these kinds of art are

transmitting journalistic messages to a group that does not go to the movies and has low education. This

process of transmitting messages is more effective in this group than traditional journalism.

Folkcomunicacao (Folkcommunication) is, for the mass, the process f exchanging information andexpress opinions, ideas and attitudes through agents e resources connected direct on indirectly tofolklore.16

15 BELTRÃO, 2004, p.44

21

2.1-The County of Balsas

The city of Balsas is located on Southern Maranhao State meso-region and on Gerais of

Balsas micro-region. Balsas has a population of 69.662 (2000 census) distributed over a land

area of 13.141,64 Km, with 59.113 residents on urban region and 10.549 on rural region. Balsas

City is 800 km from Sao Luiz (capital of the State of Maranhao), 650 km from Terezina (capital

of the State of Piauí), 400 Km from the city of Imperatriz (the second largest city of State of

Maranhao) and 270 Km from the city of Araguaína (second largest city of State of Tocantins).

There are two majors federal roads that provide access to Balsas City: Br 230 and BR 163, known

as Belém-Brasília road.

The region has predominately savannah and tropical evergreen and on the banks of rivers

and streams there is a field of flood plain and riparian vegetation.

Under the Köppen climate classification, the city of Balsas has a tropical rain climate

(AW), which is typical of central Brazil. Rainfall occurs between the months of October and

April, ranging around 1.300mm/year and 65% of the annual’s total rainfall occurs between the

months December and March. The temperature remains between 24° C and 28°C during the year

with some fluctuation. The nebulosity’s values vary from 3.7 to 5.0 hours/day, most of the year.

The winds reach 1,5m (average speed) during the year with very little variation. The Balsas River

valley is heterogeneous from the hydrological zoning point of view. There is no reservoir on the

basin and the water quality on the Balsas River valley is good for crop growth, what encourages

the local farming.16

The Maranhao Southern meso-region vegetation is predominantly the cerrado. This type

of vegetation stimulates the region’s traditional activity the cattle in extensive mode. This activity

played an important role in the peopling on this area. From the second half of the 1970s the

dispersed occupation and the low population density, begin a transformation process especially

with the arrival of immigrants, proprietors and tenants from the south. This transformation

process gives priority to agriculture, in special to rice and soybeans cultivations and it

characterized by having a large number of small farms although there are farms with 1,000 or

more acres.

The decline of traditional crops and the mechanized rice-growing expansion are the main

elements for decreasing the livestock production although still very significant on this region is

less intensive than the one at the capital.

16Ibidem4 Ibidem

22

The city of Balsas has increased its economic activities in southern Maranhao from the 1980s, mainly by

the services sector growth and new industrial plants implantation. The high number of “gauchos” (people who

leave the state of Rio Grande do Sul) who bought lands and implanted medium or large rural enterprises in the

Maranhao’s meso-region was a fundamental element to the population growing as to the development of rice and

soybeans productions in the state of Maranhao. In that same decade the grains production substantially increased

due to the fertilizers and farmlands mechanization.

The Balsas County history begins in mid-1815, when Sergeant Alencar, a traveler buyer of furs was

carrying his wares by horses and donkeys. During the trip, his animals had an infection and died. Alencar needed

to return to city where he was living and to do so he built a raft (balsa in Portuguese) to transport his goods to the

cities of Floriano and Teresina. From that moment on there was an increased of fluvial transportation on Balsas

River. The rafts were use for a long time as transportation to people and goods, mostly for cereals, coconut,

babassu, cowhide, pigs, rice fruits and skins of wild animals. The trips to the cities of Floriano and Teresina used

to take 15 to 20 days.

In the late nineteen century, many farmers owned lands on the right edge of Balsas River. The most

accessible point on the river to get to the farms was the Port of Caraíbas, due to the movement of farmers,

cowboys and travelers. The first region inhabited was the boatman, who did the crossing upon the river and who

ran a small grocery store offering flour, brown sugar, kerosene, medicine and “cachaça” (liquor). Subsequently, a

musician and tobacco merchant called Antonio Ferreira Jacobina arrived there. The records point out several

musicians and bohemian characters in this period of Balsas’ history, quite often captivating the people of the

region4. Thereafter new huts were trooping out at the river edges.

Antônio Ferreira Jacobina organized parties and “pagodeiras” (parties where they play a kind of music

called pagode) and because of that, Antônio won the sympathy from the people and became the first chief of the

village, which was called Vila Nova (New Village). In 1879, there were two streets on Vila Nova. On that time,

the village had a chapel and some small trades that brought most the goods from Teresina and many times used

barter using skins of wild animals, stretched ox hide, dried meats and cereals as payment. Many families from

State of Ceará lived in Vila Nova during that time. In 1882 a chair of first letters was created in Santo Antonio de

Balsas (Saint Antony of Balsas)

Ten years later, in 1892, Father Balduíno Pereira Maya, a state representative took the political leadership

on the region then called Santo Antonio de Balsas. The village was elevated to town on August 9 of that year. The

commercial demand was increasing and it was necessary a higher number of vessels at the Port of Balsas.

On May 11, 1896, the Maranhao State Government publishes the state annual budget of 840, 00 réis for a

mix school. At that time, also through the state government, a public school starts to function. This school would

23

become, in short, the Escola Agrupada Arthur de Azevedo (Grouped School Arthur de Azevedo) and later it

became the Grupo Escolar Luiz Rêgo (Scholar Group Luiz Rêgo), which received support from the Parish of

Balsas.

On April 26, 1911, the company Oliveira, Pearce and Co., directed by Colonel Pedro Oliveira Thomas

Pierce, comes to Santo Antonio de Balsas and using a steam winch, they removed stumps of wood that blocked

the Balsas River. From July 11, 1911, the navigation on the Balsas River was established, attracting to the region

the axis of trade in the hinterland.

From this period, the movement of barges and steam ferries across the river points out and the village

quickly developed. In 1918, the backlands zone representative the deputy Thucydides Barbosa presented a Project

that became Law on March 22, same year, and raised Santo Antonio de Balsas to city. The same law allowed

calling the city by the name Balsas.

With the constant growth of the city and a large volume of commercial transactions with the city of St.

Louis and the state of Piaui, in the city installs the telegraph line. In the same year was created the first football

association, which was designated Associação Esportiva Balsense (Balsense Sports Association) under the

leadership of Thucydides Barbosa.

Due to the large influx of travelers, the majority from the states of Piauí and Goiás, raises the Board of

Trade, which, some years later, would become a medium sized hotel, the Hotel Santo Antonio (Saint Antony

Hotel).

During 1925, the Coluna Prestes (Prestes Colum: political-military movement of Brazil between 1925 and

1927 and connected to the lieutenants, who had a current program rather vague, but some general guidelines can

be outlined: dissatisfaction with the Old Republic, a requirement of secret ballots, defense of public education and

the compulsory primary education for all people.) passed by the city of Balsas, under the command of Colonels

Siqueira Campos, Luis Carlos Prestes, João Alberto and Cordeiro de Farias. At that time, Thucydides Barbosa was

the mayor of the city and he housed the troops in the old city hall building, and supplied the men with provisions

and ammunition. The following year, on Feb. 21, military police became aware of two remaining men from the

Maranhao's troop and shot them down on public square.

Also in 1925, Thucydides Barbosa creates the first Journal printed on Balsas, called A Evolução (The

Evolution), directed by former reporter for the Province of Para, Ascendino Pinto. In the late 1931, Thucydides

Barbosa organizes the Typographic Company of Balsas, which becomes the Journal of Balsas. The first edition of

the newspaper was published on 27 January 1932 and was sold in the most of the backland area. The telegraph

service facilitated the receipt of news from Sao Luiz and Rio de Janeiro.

In 1926, several Syrian and Lebanese families moved to Balsas, motivated by this period of economic

prosperity experienced by the city. The Syrian-Lebanese colony invites Professor Joao Joca Rego to found the

24

Brazilian-Syrian Institute. Joao Joca Rego was also co-founder of the Gil Pires Institute and of the Educandario

(Primary School) Coelho Neto.

The 1930 economic growth was stagnant for the City of Basas. Steam navigation has virtually

disappeared due to social obligations and strict supervision of the Port of Parnaiba. Other aggravating was the

emergence of the first roads, administered by the department of works against drought, and the ease of acquiring

trucks imported from the United States. With economic stagnation, many families went to mining Diamond and

Crystal Rock, located in the state of Goias. In this same decade, was installed the 13th Sanitary District in the

town of Balsas. At the end of the decade, there had been several surveys and drilling with the goal of finding oil,

but the wells found in the city do not outweighed the investment.

In the 1950s, they began to plane the creation of the Ginásio Balsense (Balsense Secondary School). The

project started on February 28, 1953 with the objective of providing educational and cultural. After that, they

created the first establishment of free high school in the town of Balsas and backlands region.

The Prelature of Santo Antônio de Balsas began in the 1950s based on the experience of evangelization in

Africa and Portugal, on June 12, 1952, the day of the Patron Saint, Saint Anthony. The order of the Combonianos

arrives at Balsas, coming from Rio de Janeiro. That religious mission had how places of acting the city of Balsas

and other towns in the backland area.

During the 50s, trading main product in Balsas city was the salt, which arrived by vessels coming from

Parnaiba. Merchants from southern municipalities from Goias, Tocantins today, bought salt and medicines and

sold horse’s mane, skin of wild animals and cattle leather.

The Associação Recreativa Balsense (Balsense Recreational Association) builds in 1952 a space for

holding balls that was a copy of the Ideal Club Fortaleza called Clube Recreativo Balsense (Balsense Recreation

Club), which went through several changes until 2005. Today, the club remains in operation.

Between the years, 1954 and 1958, the city built the Ponte de Madeira (Bridge of Wood), a project to

facilitate access for residents of Tresidela distric and to people from neighboring farm. The bridge is 75 meters

long, 4, 5 meters wide and about 12 meters from the water level.

In 1959, Bishop Diego Parodi becomes bishop of the Prelature of Balsas, appointed by Pope John XXIII.

Monsignor Diego Parodi heads the construction of the Hospital Sao Jose de Balsas (St. Joseph Hospital of

Balsas), Seminário Sao Pio X (St. Pius X Seminary) and Normal School Don Gabriel Comboini. During this

period, the city intensified the social work programs and social welfare.

The arrival of Movie Theater in 1960s marked the city of Balsas. The first cinema in town was the Cine

Santo Antonio, known as “priests’ cinema”. After it, arises the Cine Eden, with daily sessions. Besides showing

films, the place was used to communicate local news, thanks to a system of amplifiers that informed passers-by

and made announcements from local traders.

25

In the 1970 decade, there was a large migration influx from several places of Brazil; mainly from the state

of Rio Grande do Sul. Those migrants settled, mostly, on a region called Chapada dos Gerais de Balsas, on the

southern of the town of Balsas, near to the border of the State of Tocantins. The migrants come to the region

through a company responsible to selecting settlers’ families from the states of Mato Grosso, Goias and Maranhao

and properly seat them in the town of Balsas. The propagation of the information about fertile lands for soybeans

cultivation brought more people that also settled in the town. They came, mostly, from the states of Parana, Mato

Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo, Pernambuco, Tocantins and Goias. Also in the 1970s, a

process of mechanization in agriculture begins in the city of Balsas. The plantations on the farms are, from this

moment on, mainly rice.

The television begins in the town of Balsas in 1979. The first television station in the city was the TV Rio

Balsas, retransmitting the. In the initial period of operation, the rebroadcast TV station had a small transmitter and

a VT, which enabled the rebroadcast of novels and the National Journal, which was broadcast on Balsas a week

after the tapes arrived from São Luiz, transported by bus.

The first satellite dishes arrive at Balsas in 1982, promoting the popularizing of television among city

residents. In 1989, they inaugurated the Rio Balsas TV as the first generating station in the city, affiliated to

Globo Television Network

The theatrical movement becomes more intense in the 1980s. In the next decade, the town created the

first theater festival of state.

The Bacaba District

The first resident at Bacaba district was Agostinho Neves, son of Tiburcio Neves and Maria Neves.

Agostinho Neves was born in Serra da Limpeza, micro-region of Gerais of Balsas, in August 28, 1909. He was

nine when his father died and he and his mother moved to the city of Balsas.

In 1928, aged 19, Agostinho Neves studied and worked. The same year he went to live with Thucydides

Barbosa, and thanks to this fact, got a job as a bailiff.

On November 4, 1934, Agostinho Neves, who was 25 years old, got married with Arcangela de Sousa

and built a straw house far from Balsas downtown. In 1935, Arcangela de Souza Neves and Agostinho Neves had

their first daughter. The couple had 13 more children. With the arrival of their child, expenses rose and Agostinho

Neves took a second job, helping one farmer to take care of the cattle in exchange for a liter of milk. Over the

years, Anthony, the Agostinho Neves’ employer, presented him with a heifer, and he could have milk at home.

26

Agostinho had the nickname of Canario (canary) among his fellows bailiffs and due to the large amount

of Bacaba trees (Bacaba is a palm native to Amazon Rainforest vegetation in Brazil) nearby his place, the region

became known as Bacaba do Canario (Canary’s Bacaba) district.

The Agostinho Neves and Arcangela de Souza Neves’ older daughter, Zenite, got married with José Alves

da Silva. They built their home on Bacaba do Canario and had seven children.

Isomar de Souza Neves, son of Zenite da Silva and Jose Alves da Silva says that from the second half of

the 1950s the number of residents at Bacaba District increases significantly: “Boy, here was just a little road from

downtown, you know? In 57, then the neighbors started to came and it kept coming and coming and today it is

part of the city, we live in the city”

Antonieta Neves da Silva Matos is the eldest daughter of the couple José Alves da Silva and Zenite da

Silva. Antonieta used to be a teacher of catechism and, after that experience when she was between 15 and 16; her

father and her grandfather built a small school inside the family home, which attended from first to fourth grade.

Our little school here began in my mother’s house. I used to work as a catechist overthere, in the Nazareth district, on the little church, the little chapel, as they called it, thelittle chapel. I was the first teacher of catechism there. Then, because there was a needfrom the students of the street ,Tito Coelho avenue in the district of Nazareth which hadonly one street , and I was only 15 to 16 years old, dad and my grandfather made asmall school, that was rough and artless. The bell was a rattle and there was multilevelclass, which is the first to the fourth grade that I taught.17

Some years later, a team from Edurural18 visited the town of Balsas to capacitate teachers who have not

studied for that. Antonieta Neves da Silva Matos had an encounter with the Edurural team, and they defrayed the

construction of a school at Bacaba District.

After a long time, some people from Sao Luiz came here, they saw me on this suffering,and they asked me if I wish to have a school. We went out from my home that was alittle thatched hut and then we came and entered on these woods, because here wasonly woods and then they built this school that is here as a tribute to my grandfatherAgostinho Neves, and me, Antonieta, as the first teacher.19

The new school of Bacaba district began in 1976 with had two classrooms, three bathrooms and an

auditorium. The families who lived in the growing neighborhood actively participated in the school in the first

year of operation.

17NEVES, Antonieta. 2009. Interviewed by V.P. Scarpelli18Expansion and Improvement Education ‘s Program for Brazilian northeaster’s rural areas19NEVES, Antonieta. 2009. Interviewed by a V.P. Scarpelli

27Ah, when it started, it was too good; the parents came to me because I have started thisschool, school in rural area. Then, parents came for me to start and I taught this classwith all vigor, and parents, we did play, the parents were too participatory.20

In 1978, the Bacaba district ceases to be a district belonging to the Rural Zone begins to belong to the

Urban Zone. Currently, the school Agostinho Neves comprises 13 classrooms, a library, a staff room, an office

and three bathrooms.

The district is located on the outskirts of Balsas. There are few large homes in the district, and most the

streets are dirt. The access to the district by public transportation is limited to buses that circulate in a few hours

of the day. Mostly motorcycles make the transport of people in the district.

The shops are, many times, extension or the frontal part of the owner’s house. The calls made in these

establishments are in no hurry by the attendants and not infrequently, they stop or slow down the service to keep

casual conversations with people who at that time are not buying a product or requesting their service. According

to Hoggart, workers from economically disadvantaged communities do not have much sense of competition,

because there are no chances of ascension. In his opinion, these workers:

(...) they know they have no chances of promotion or a career. The duties available arein a horizontal range and not a vertical hierarchy, life is not conceived in terms of onerise, and the work is not the main concern. Respect for the good work continues, butman that is in place on the side is not considered in terms of competition.21

Due to the lack of prospects for professional growth, for them the career appears in the background and

the ties are stronger with the place where they live than the place where they work. Hoggart (1973, p.76) states

that a member of the proletarian "(...) changes more easily his workplace than his residence: He pertains more to

the neighborhood than to the factory.

The media of the City of Balsas.

There are five TV rebroadcasting, two radio stations and two newspapers in the city of Balsas. There is

also a huge amount of non-legalized radio stations and it is very difficult to know their exact number, because

they change frequencies, names and places constantly. The goal of this paper is the description of accessible

media for the Bacaba district residents, and for that, we can say that the non-legalized radio stations used in this

paper are located in Bacaba district and in a near district. They show how this kind of radio stations works.

20Ibidem21 HOGGART, 1973, p. 100

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The TV rebroadcasting represent the TV stations as follow: Globo TV, Rede TV!, SBT, Rede Record and

Rede Vida. These rebroadcasting have few employees if compared to the stations they represent. At the stations of

Balsas, the accumulation of tasks is common.

The Açucena TV, affiliated to Rede Record, shows two hours/day of local programming, consisting of a

news program aired Monday through Friday, and TV shows directed, mainly, to people who came from the state

of Rio Grande do Sul or who have this ancestry. The Açucena TV has seven employees.

The Rede TV!’s affiliated in Balsas is the Capital TV, which programming consists of a three hours local

news program, aired on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

On Tuesday, the station airs a program that assists one or more low-income families. On Saturdays, local

programming is comprised of a variety show, directed specifically to women, and a program featuring local

talent. On Sundays, they present a program to people from Rio Grande do Sul. Capital TV has a team of 13

employees.

The Rio Balsas TV rebroadcasts Rede Globo programming. During the day, there is forty minutes local’s

news, aired Monday through Saturday, showing the local facts. At night, they have a twenty minutes shorter

version, summarizing the daily local news. The Rio Balsas TV is bigger than the other stations, employing 45

people.

The SBT affiliated in Balsas, is the Liberdade TV. The local programming Monday through Friday

consists of a newscast to an hour and fifteen minutes, followed by a variety show. On Saturdays are displayed

three local productions: one about sports, one about health one and another on agriculture.

Backed by the Diocese of Balsas, the Brazil of Balsas Foundation has a TV station affiliated to Rede

Vida!, the Boa Noticia TV. The foundation also has a radio station, the Radio Boa Notícia. The local

programming runs from Monday to Saturday. A forty-five minutes newscast air in the early afternoon and repeats

in the evening. Unlike what happens on Boa Noticia TV, the religious programming aired on Radio Boa Notícia

makes up only a small part of the program schedule, one hour and 45 minutes daily. The rest of the lineup has

mainly a social nature. The Radio and TV Boa Noticia have 14 employees.

The Radio Cultura FM is on air 18 hours daily. The program begins at 6 am and closed at 12 pm. The

listeners request music on the phone.

The two other radio stations of Balsas, Nativa and Cidade, have their schedules made up mostly of songs

and ads local businesses. The morning programming mixes events over the neighborhood and the city along with

commercial. They call themselves community radios, but they do not fit this concept or have any kind of

legalization. These radios have an extremely small number of employees. In some cases, the speaker performs

other functions such as audio technician, reporter and does maintenance on the radio’s equipment.

29

An effective means of communication easily found on Balsas are the speaker cars. They use these cars to

convey ads of local businesses and events such as festivals and concerts. The car drivers have an agreement with

a local studio where they record the messages to convey.

In Balsas, they have two newspapers: The Correio of Balsas and the Popular Balsense Journal. The first is

a weekly publication with 12 pages. The news about the town rarely include Bacaba district.

The other local newspaper, the Popular Balsense Journal, has 20 pages per issue and has monthly

frequency. The newspaper covers, mainly, political issues.

The Bacaba district community has very limited access to the internet. In an administered questionnaire

to 100 district residents, 62 claimed had never used the internet and, although 55 recognize the internet as a

source of knowledge, only 11 use it for some activity not related to instant messaging and social media.

30

Chapter III – Brasil Solidario Insti tute (IBS)

3.1-The beginning of Brasil Solidario Insti tute.

We will analyze the opinion leaders’ performance in Balsas, based on the activities of an

NGO called Brasil Solidario Institute.

The idea to form the Brasil Solidario Institute (IBS) came during a two and a half months’

trip that Luis Eduardo Salvatore, now CEO of the Institute, did with two friends to the coast of

state of Bahia, in order to live with the coaster’s state communities. On the following year, when

they traveled to Peru and Bolivia with the same objective, the project came under the name

Juventude Solidaria (Solidary Youth), intending to rescue the oral history of the country. In late

1998, Salvatore and his sister, Ana Elisa Salvatore, wished to learn more about Brazil, so they

began conducting a series of researches to identify locations with interesting features to visit.

According to Luis Salvatore, the goal was:

(...)to bring back the oral history of the country, visiting many placeswhere something important regarding to history had happened and tofind the relatives of people who lived this story and to listen to theirversion of events, not just rely on the books. I began to approachingmyself on other research and documentation that eventually someonewas doing, I approached other expeditions going on, to eventually get aride and to learn the tricks, just to get some experience. I approachedto people who have some similar story, like this kind of expedition, ormaybe had photograph experience; some project to know the Brazilianpeople…then I do started to do the project idea.22

In 2000, Luis Salvatore and two more people spending eight mounts on traveling by car

for 30,000 Km in the Brazilian backlands, mainly on the central-west, north and northeast. They

closely observed social problems in some areas, like education and health.

(...) it was something more related to anthropology. We knew thecommunity, we knew people and we rescued the story through oralhistory of these people, and began to arouse an intense feeling ofwanting to work with them.

22 SALVATORE, Luis. 2008. Interviwed by V.P. Scarpelli

31

According to Luis Salvatore, after visiting schools and health centers in conditions, he

thought, far below the ideal, he wished to come back there, in the future, with some help.

In 2001, the Salvatores used remained sum from the sponsorships of their previous trip to

design a project that could bring some support to central-west, north and northeast regions.

Since they did not have a fixed source of income, and failed to renew the sponsorship, the

brothers, who had expertise in both photography and graphic design, banded together and created

a graphic design agency to generate an income to their sustenance and to support the project. In

the same year, they receive an invitation from a competitor team to participate on Rally of Sertoes

(Backlands Rally). The team had no experience and needed experienced people on that kind of

route.

In private companies, you have no idea if what you are planning willcontinue; your project receive founds because someone likes youwithin the firm. It is not good, but unfortunately, it is the reality of thecountry. Coincidentally, a team called us, to participate on the Rally ofthe Sertoes. I have three sisters, a friend of my other sister, who knew alittle about our history, needed to build a structure to help him in theRally of Sertoes.2

The brothers Luis and Ana Elisa Salvatore realized it was a good opportunity to come

back to some communities they had visited, but they did not accept to participate as competitors.

In this moment, takes place the brothers’ first social action. The team had a sponsor who gave the

goods for the social action. They called this new project Livro na Estrada (Book on the Road) and

Pe na Tabua. (Step on Gas)

We set up a distribution project. Actually, it had a different design thanit has today; we distributed books to the schools with complete schoolsupplies for all students in those schools. Therefore, it was it in 2001,and the thing began to happen.3

Using the mapping they did on their previous trips, they visited 14 cities on the Rally of Sertoes’

route, distributing about 200 books to each school in those towns and to some more along the way.

(…) talking with Ana Elisa, we came to the conclusion that it was ouropportunity to came back to many communities we visited, but we didnot want to come back only for competitive goals, we did not want tocome back inside a competition car. The team proposal was that, but we

32

did want come back bringing help. In this moment, the first big socialaction took place. Until then, we had done only smaller social work. Werealized the possibility of exchange with the Brazilian people, exchangein order to do something for them and they do something for youwhether through photography, whether through knowledge. On thismoment, came the idea for actually work the education com visibility.4

At that time, the attempts to get donation from the publishers failed, so they made

collection campaigns in schools of São Paulo. They visited the schools giving lectures to students

and teachers, and each person donated a book and wrote a letter saying why she was donating that

particular book, what inside it had she liked. They collected approximately 12,000 books.

They returned positively, saying they had interest on it, and then, weput some conditions of material goods we needed, we had no financialaid, but there were material resources, which was what we needed tomake the dream come true, the dream of come back to eachcommunities. We set up a distribution project, in fact, it was a differentfrom what happens today, we deliverables books to schools along withcomplete school supplies to all these schools, and that's how we cameout in 2001 and the thing began to happen.5

In 2003, the organization of Rally of Sertoes began to participate in the project,

incorporating financial support.

From this participation, a transformation occurs; incorporating new areas, like some

actions related to environment and medical care’s with volunteer's physicians in the cities.

They brought the concept that where the event goes to, the project goesto, it may have a medical project together, and, from this we havedeveloped all actions, and you'll grow, begins with a dentist, a doctorand a pediatrician because they are working in school. From this, westart to develop a cardiology project and also begin to develop aproject for microsurgery, pathology, in fact, are consequences, which,year after year, we are bringing it.6

The difficulties they found to do medical care in a satisfactory way helped to develop a

system to use portable equipment in schools.

We end up expanding the medical field for developing the compactequipments, we have today and which have the same quality standardsof a clinic, and we can put together in 40 minutes inside the school.7

33

After the trip with Rally of Sertoes, Louis Salvatore noted that the books distribution was

not satisfactory as he wished, and the communities had little or no access to them. This led him to

develop a teachers training, capacitating them to work with the donated books.

The cataloguing is also part of the working models because we do notwant a library only for school uses, we want the community participatesmore in school life, including picking up borrowing books. And, inmany places that we go to, the school does not have a library soequipped, as ours. Therefore, we want those books we put there,circulating to other teachers, but we also want to see these bookscoming out and coming back.8

The dentistry project, today one of the major fronts of IBS, was built to complement the

health actions.The dentistry Project originated several developments, mostly in thepreventive area. We go from communitarian dentist, for to be, also, aneducator; we begin to do lesson plans, the school creates a “brushingplace” for teach the student how important is to brush his teeth, toshow him he can have a healthy smile for all life, and how important isthat.9

Louis Salvatore, who constantly had his photos placed in specialized publications in the

genre, developed a photography workshop to interact with teens from attended schools.

Just like the video, photography is also a means of expression and westarted working not only with that younger student, we could also putthe teenager in the project, giving him a job option or an option toleisure through photography and video.10

The cities that will receive the social actions carried out by IBS, are chosen in

conjunction with the education departments of municipalities, during one month, they make

contact by e-mail, telephone, and letters to the school prepares itself to take the action.

In 2008, the project has the support of five publishers: Improvements, DCL, Readers Digest, April

and Education Foundation.We are talking about five publishers who are working with us and theysupply this need of about nine hundred books, something mixed withdonated books. This book donation story remains because people knowthat if they donate us a book, we will mix it with a new one and bringthem to a solid library.11

Publishers send out catalogs of books and they make a selection based on the region that

will receive those books and the annual theme of UNESCO.

34

We have a major action in the north and northeast, so, of course, wework the issue of the Amazon, the issue of water of Sao FranciscoRiver. We have, also, tried to fit the annual themes of UNESCO. Itchooses, each year, a given topic, and we try to fit the theme that willbe worked by the teaching project, in case, from the government's,which has an orientation of work, and then, with this, we form theselibraries. They also have what the people asks. During the impactassessments, they suggest some books and we see the viability of, in thenext year, bringing these books to the new libraries.23

Along with the books, Abril Publisher donates a Magazine Library for each city. The

library contains all one-year publications from the editor (excluding magazines for adults). This

demand for magazines appeared on the assessments of the work, and we observed a lack of such

publication in the communities visited

(...) The magazine has a more entertaining view, the book has the faceof something more serious, the book is not serious, but when the childgets it, she's afraid, afraid to crush it, fear of tearing it, you have tohave a lot of care with the book, but you do not have to be afraid ofhim..24

Luis Salvatore says that, after read several times, the students use them to school work,

like cut them. Salvatore points out the informatization of the libraries as one of the most important

actions of the project.

They are going to have access to a technology that, sometimes, they donot have by their own, but the human issue and the structural issue,must have to be done according to the people reality, so they will not beafraid, will not be intimidated with the work. We began to realize thatthe educational portion of books and materials’ distribution wasimportant, but not the better way to do so. Then, we started tocapacitate the teachers for working storytelling, to optimizing thescholar materials' content, for keeping those materials in use not onlywhen they received it, but for a long time after that.25

All the work happens inside the school, because, according to Luis Salvatore, it

makes the volunteers and the local community, get closer.

(...) the idea of the work is we to integrate ourselves to their reality andnot the contrary. So we have to go inside the local reality to accomplisha transformation, not the contrary. They are going to be access to a

23Ibidem24Ibidem25Ibidem

35

technology that, sometimes, they do not have. but the human issue andthe structural issue, must have to be done according to the peoplereality, so they will not be afraid, will not be intimidated with thework.26

The School's Sustainable Development Program (PDSE))

The School's Sustainable Development Program (PDSE) is a social action performed by

Brasil Solidario Institute in partnership with the Rally of Sertoes. PDSE focuses its work on towns

located on the rally’s route. In 2008, the Program had three phases: The first one aimed to present

and begin the work; the second, who occurred concurrently with the rally, went deeper in to initial

work and the third one aimed to finish the PDSE’s projects and to answer questions.

In 2008, The School's Sustainable Development Program worked, mainly, at nine cities:

Goiania and Uruacu in the State of Goias; Paranã and Palmas, both in the state of Tocantins;

Balsas and Nova Iorque, both in the state of Maranhao; Catreus, in the state of Ceara; Mossoro e

Natal, both in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

The PSDE first stage began on April 6 and ended on April 27. The schools received a

schedule of actions to prepare and divide the rooms according to the work of each area. They sent

the chronogram to schools and volunteers, and attached it in some place inside each the school,

allowing the community people to know when the actions will occur. Nine volunteers were on the

first stage: one coordinator, two people on the dental field, one camera operator, two people of

environment area, two people in the library area and one driver. The chronogram received by

schools is below.

26Ibidem

36

Target Public Description

Time

9 am All the guest teachers and healthagents, invited community (parents ofthe students and concerned people)

An overview of 2008 School's SustainableDevelopment Program in the city, and thenew visits/activities arising during the year.

9 am 15 randomly selected students in theclassrooms

Dental DMFT (identification of students forexaminations in dentistry).

10 am Students Dentistry Lecture - prevention (dental).

10 am Invited health agents* Guidance to staff on monitoring of bloodglucose (diabetes) program, patient selectionfor future visits and delivery of Accu-ChekGo equipment

10 am Interested teachers and administrators(environment mentor)

Lecture on the Environment, ride withselected teachers (mentors) for recognition ofthe compost area, local community garden,tree planting and selective collection of theschool.

10 am Chosen teachers and managers tolibrary organization.

Beginning of cataloging and delivering workof donate furniture and literary estate.

10 am Teachers/ prefect studentsphoto and video workshop

Classes beginning/ photo and videoworkshop

11 am Students and community visits to the dentist – start.

*To ask these agents to stay through the afternoon, to reach the blood glucose and pressure tests inthe invited population for the remainder of the day

37

Time Target Public Description9 am Teachers manages (environment

mentors) + students* Chat with students + * Planting of seedlings ofthe tree planting program in the school / district.Final clarifications, further implementation ofthe community garden, composting and otherenvironmental programs.

9 am Teachers/prefect students – photoand video workshop.

Continuation of the video and digitalphotography workshop.

9 am Teachers Training program for ophthalmology (eye test)for future exams on students and community.

9 am Students and Community Continuation of dental assistance.10 am Teachers, Secretary of Education,

and Secretary of Healthrepresentatives.

Dental Lecture (specific Brushing Plan to theschool, pupils and teachers).

Time Target Public Description2 pm Teachers/ prefect students

photo and video workshopWorkshop video and digital photography –continuation.

2 pm Students and community visits to the dentist – continuation

2 pm Chosen teachers and managers (environment mentor) Continuation of the environmental program with

chosen mentor, composting assembly, assemblyof the garden, recycling and selective collectionspaces at school.Further clarification of the program in general,and selective collection at school.

2 pm Teachers / Secretary of Education Lecture, presentation and delivery of the library,textbooks, incentive programs and readingtechniques. Continuity of the program and othergeneral directions.

7 pm All people Movies

* At that day, the students do not have classes, but must stay in school, to participate on the work(lecture, dental and workshop). In case the school does not have any student enrolled in the agegroups/grades required, it should/may call students from other school, who will be partner in theproject and actions.

38

11 am Teachers, students and community Exploration of issues regarding theenvironmental impact and finalization with thearea managers.

11 am Students and Community Continuation of dental assistance

Table 4 - First Stage Chronogram - Day Two - Afternoon

Time Target Public Descriçption2 Pm Teachers / Secretary of Education

and HealthEsclarecimentos finais e apresentação dosprocedimentos para a próxima visita.

*Before our visit to the school, they should choose 30 students from different grades with

interest in the afforest program who will be accompanying and conducting this activity all

day long by teachers and by the responsible person indicate in the first visit.

The actions taken in schools are extremely similar and there are virtually no

differences in lectures or material delivered in each city.

To assemble a small library, they deliver a collection of nearly 1,000 books to school together

with three shelves used to store the books after cataloging. The participating teachers must attend

a lecture that aims to prepare teachers to organize and catalog the literary estate donated to the

school. They present techniques to encourage students to read, and to assembly and arrange the

collection on the shelves, organizing the place, so the students can read within the library and the

use of the collection in the classroom. They request the school to identify and invite local writers

to participate with the volunteers of IBS, mobilizing teachers and students to have of reading

programs.

The lectures on photography and video aim, mainly, the teenagers. The classes have 20

people medium. In the lectures, they present some basic aspects, practical and theoretical, of

photography and video for students to present the progress of work done in schools when IBS is

not there. The schools receive six cameras for the students who attended lectures on

communication. They place the material produced by students on a blog developed for this

purpose.

The environmental program consists of lectures addressed to teachers about

environmental issues (general aspects of conservation, recycling and selective collection,

composting and community gardening), development of organic compound from the selective

collection at school for use in the maintenance of the project of community gardening and

maintenance of the afforest program. The students participate with the volunteers to carry out a

39

program of selective collection and reduction/recycling garbage from the school and from the

neighborhood, with lessons for mounting collectors (recyclable, organic and non-recyclable) at

the place. Later, the students participate in a program of forestation in the school and in the

community by planting seeds and seedlings, brought by the program in conjunction with the local

Secretary of the Green. The teachers and students who participated in the environmental issues

are invited to participate in a program for revitalizing the school's physical space (identifying and

cleaning), and installation of a community garden in the place, which will be used for planting

vegetables to boost school meals.

The health sector is composed of lectures and visits. It requested the presence of a

responsible person from Department of Health and four city health agents. They do a lecture

about tooth brushing, at school and at home, for teachers and students. The school, together with

the dentist who will conduct the sessions at this stage, organizes a plan of daily brushing in the

place and building of a space for students to perform this brushing. They realize 30 dental cares

medium, per city.

The city health agents, who must work in the Family Health Center nearest the visited

school, receive a device for measuring blood glucose and do test for diabetes and pressure to the

residents who attend the school.

Some teachers receive training to conduct an eye screening and pre-registering persons

who will receive eye care in the second stage.

After the end of the activities on the first day of work, they mount a screen in the

schoolyard and a play a cartoon to stakeholders.

The second stage of the School's Sustainable Development Program has a higher

concentration of volunteers, because this action takes place simultaneously with the rally,

reducing for a day the working time in each city. Twenty-one volunteers participated in the second

stage of PDSE: a coordinator, three people in the area of Arts, a camera operator, a person in the

area of dentistry, three people in the environmental area, seven people in the health area, two

people in the psychology area, a person in education, a driver and a person in overall support. The

second phase began on June 16 and ended on June 29. We display the chronogram from second

stage of the PDSE below.

40

Time Target Public Description7:30 am Working and supporting local

team.Expected arrival at school, and generalorganization of work materials.

8 am Community Beginning of the for free medical care ( Dental,Ophthalmic General Practitioner, Pediatrics,Gynecology, others)

9 am Students Workshops Painting + Paper - Class 1 / Morning9 am Environmental managers and

mentor/ stakeholdersVisit for the preservation of the environmentimplemented in the school and checkingprogress of the goals of the environmental area.Assembling of Nursery.

9 am Selected Teachers Applied Psychology: Class 1 - Selected Teachers.

9 am Library managers (teachers) Visit to the library, checking the progress of theproposed targets in the area and training forstorytelling in school.

10 am Students of photo and videoworkshop.

Presentation Module II of the program and analysis of work with video and photography.

10 am Teachers and students Workshop of puppets’ manipulation – class 1.

11 am Teachers and students Workshop of puppets’ manipulation – class 2.

12 h All people Lunch

Table 6 - Second Stage Chronogram - Day One – Afternoon

Time Target Public Description1 pm Community Health care’s continuation.2 pm Students Presentation of Puppet Theater, followed by story-

telling to students2pm Community / Students

parentsApplied Psychology: Class 2 - Community

2 pm Students PET workshop - Class 1 / Afternoon.2pm Students Workshops Painting + Paper - Class 2 / Afternoon3 pm Students who have attended

from workshop in Stage 1Communication Workshop (Module II) – exposition ofvideo edition with students works.

3:30 pm Teachers Talk about the development of activities in the period,delivery of school kits + study support / continuity /Discussion of targets fulfilled and presentation ofmaterial for Phase III from school management team.

4 pm Teachers Planned closure of all activities, signing of the protocoland data delivery and other medicines to localregulations.

4:30 pm All people Time for local school presentations / Approx.: 20minutes. Snack.

5 pm Team Time limit to leave the city / school.

The actions performed in the second stage focus, mainly, on medical and dental. The

preference of care is to people previously selected by health agents. The general practitioner

attended 35 people/medium, with diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension, per city

About 40 children accompanied by parents receive pediatric care in each city. The women

over 35 years, that had never done the Papanicolaou test, received gynecological care. We met

about 25 women per city. Eighty students and school neighborhoods’ residents saw an

ophthalmologist, who examined the necessity of wearing glasses. In an attempt to aid the health

area volunteers’ work they made a small pharmacy, consisting of donated drugs, inside the school.

Tabela 3 - Cronograma primeira etapa - Dia dois - Manhã

They distribute the medicines according to the prescriptions written by doctors who are working in school. After

the visit of IBS, they sent the medications surpluses to the health post nearest school. As in the first step, they

performed dental care (about 15 per city) and examinations of blood sugar and pressure.

Aiming to optimize the work to promote reading and oral health, the students of the visited schools

receive a small kit with books, pencils, eraser, pen, brush and toothpaste.

A volunteer monitors the progress from cataloging of donated literary estate, assembly and

organization of the library.

At this stage, teachers attend a lecture where we present a puppet theater; volunteers explain some

basic techniques for manipulation and construction of puppets. A presentation of Puppet Theater occurs at the end

of work, discussing topics from areas of the School Development Project. In the area of Arts, there is also a small

painting workshop, where students can paint the objects created with recycled material.

The students, who participated in lectures about photography and video, on the first project’s stage,

show the material they did between the stages and attend two more lectures about the same subject.

The environmental area worked on two workshops for the reuse of recycled materials: The workshop

of recycled paper, addressed to students, presents the basic process of making recycled paper. The other workshop

also targeted to the students, was about the PET bottle, where students build a few tools and toys using empty pet

bottles. The schools receive some seeds, and build a small nursery.

Teachers and parents participated in discussions and dynamics conducted by psychologists

attempting to highlight some of the school's needs.

The project final stage began on October 8 and ended on November 1. The volunteer team had 15

persons: two musicians, four people in the environmental area, three people in health, two in the library area, a

camera operator, a person for general support, a coordinator and a driver. The timing of this step is presented

below

Table 7 –Third Stage Chronogram – Day One - Morningtime Target Public Description8 am PPT A Women from previous medical

care ,interested on new papsmears + interested public.

General lecture on the subject and theexamination (procedures, results andsignificance).

8 am Community Diabetes and pressure: beginning of testing ofthe Campaign for Control of Blood Glucose.

Tabela 3 - Cronograma primeira etapa - Dia dois - Manhã8 am Managers and monitors of the

library / interested public.Library: Start of new observation libraries(catalogs), talks about the computerization ofthe control of the collection and proposal ofstorytelling - advanced.

8:30 am PPT B

Selected teachers Psychology applied to education: teachers -Module II (part 1).

9h Community and students Dentist: beginning of the treatment9h Interested Public Exhibition of Works from School and Student

Opening (kits and library) and the Fair of Artsand Crafts / Recycled & Paper

9h Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested

Environment: visiting and answering questions about the garden, forestation and nursery.

9h All interested /school cooks Workshop on Reuse of food - beginning

9:30 amPPT B

Patients examined at Stage II whichglasses prescription.

Glasses: lecture to all who will receive then.Beginning of glasses delivery to the people fromthe listing.

9:30 am Community Gynecology: beginning of the new the Pap tests.

10 am PPT A

Students in Workshop of Digitalphoto and video

Workshop of Photo & Video - Module III - editingvideos at home.

12:00 ALL PEOPLE LUNCHTime Target Public Description2 am All People Arts: Official Opening of the Photo Exhibition of

students from digital inclusion2 am All people concerned about the

EnvironmentCrafts workshop, using seeds of local biome(seeds collected in the region).

2 am PPT B Teenagers from school and fromcommunity

Lecture about sexuality and drugs.

2 am PPT A Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested people

Environment: Advanced lecture on environment and on sustainable use of natural resources.

2 am Managers and monitors of thelibrary / interested people

Library: observation of new libraries(cataloging), talks about the collection controlcomputerization and proposal of storytelling -advanced.

2 am Community and Students Dentist & procedure for health scavenger hunt:DMFT of one or two students in each classroom,And DMFT triaged students in phase 1 forcomparison.

2 am Parents of selected students Psychology applied to education: students'parents - module II.

2:30 am Students of Digital photo and videoworkshop

Photographic hike, in groups, around town witha photography and video teacher.

3:30 am Community Gynecology: Pap tests

Tabela 3 - Cronograma primeira etapa - Dia dois - Manhã4:30 am All People

- Area to students and city artistspresentations – Day 1:

-Performances of students - results from competition for poetry and writing / other;

- School play presentation andtechniques with Puppet;

- Results of sport projects undertakenwith donated material.

7 pm All people Community Cinema

44

TIME Target Public Description8 am Community Diabetes and pressure: continuance of tests of

the Campaign for Control of Blood Glucose8 am PPT A Teachers and Interested public Final presentation of the work and results, and

discussion with managers of IBS on all proposalsdeveloped with representatives from each area

8 am Managers and monitors of thelibrary / students and interested

Music Workshop with instruments from recycledand others.

8 am Community Gynecology: continuance of the Pap smear tests.

8 am Community Dentist: continuation of care .8:30 amPPT B

Teachers Psychology applied to education: teachers -Module II (part 2)

8 am All interested /school cooks Workshop for reuse of food - continuance andresults.

9 am Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested

Environment: final clarification of doubts andfinalization of projects with comments andcorrections of some areas.

10 amPPT B

Students in Workshop of Digitalphoto and video

Workshop of Photography and Video - ModuleIII – finalization and blowing-up from school onprevious day.

10 amPPT A

Community Pressure and Diabetes Lecture: Food education – the importance on health.

12:00 ALL PEOPLE LUNCH2 pm ALL PEOPLE - Students, teachers

and others involved / interested - Final Events enclosure Day 2I

- Official opening of Brushing place;

- Awards and certification of teachers and students;

- Presentation of the results of thecontest's health;

- Presentation of the winners of digitalcameras;

- Delivery of awards to schools andadministrators, and final cofraternization with IBS manager time.

45

3 pm ALL PEOPLE - Students, teachersand others involved / interested

Open space for new cultural presentations ofstudents and artists from the town for finishingthe project, and farewell at the school

4 pm IBS Team Exit time.

The activities performed in the third step aimed, mainly, to elucidate the teachers and

students questions from visited schools.

At this stage, the health agents perform again glucose and blood pressure. As a

complement to that work, there is a lecture on diabetes, hypertension and nutrition education.

About 20 students continue dental treatment started in the previous steps. They conduct a

competition called “health scavenger hunt” among representatives from each classroom. The

student who has the smallest number of residues in the mouth, revealed through a tablet, wins.

About 15 women make the Pap smear.

The results of the tests on this and other steps came through Sao Paulo Mail Service to the

schools. The women who had medical care attend a lecture on prevention on cervical cancer. At

this stage, there is a lecture on sexuality and DST prevention targeted on teenagers.

The people diagnosed with corrective lenses needs receive glasses and have a lecture

about the importance of their constant use and conservation.

At this stage, they install two computers each library of participating schools in the PSDE

The goal is to computerize the library collection and to encourage teachers and students

to have a contact with the basic software most used.

The teachers and the students who attended the lecture of Puppet Theater, in the second

step, perform some presentations to the IBS volunteers and to the school’s community.

A photographic exhibition mounted inside the school shows the best photos taken by the

city students. The people in charge for the communication sector choose five students they

consider the bests and give then one of the cameras used in the project.

There is a screen mounted in the schoolyard to show cartoons for students and people

from community just like in the first step of PSDE.

As in the second stage of the PDSE, psychologists perform dynamic with teachers and

talk with parents, for guidance.

There is a lecture for the teachers to go deeper in to environmental subjects discussed on

the other two PDSE’s stages. They delivered tools for use in the community garden and there are

two workshops in the environmental area: one on making crafts with local seeds and the other on

reuse of shells and vegetables for the production of jellies and jams.

The schools receive sports material (balls, nets, uniforms) to use in gym classes.

46

After the planned three stages on PSDE’s roadmap on 2008, they organized a new visit in three

among the nine cities the project were, and one city visited in 2007. The IBS representatives

chose places that have welcomed and actively participated in the Project. The cities selected for

the fourth visit had easiness for logistic movement. They chose Balsas and Nova Iorque in the

state of Maranhao and Crateus in the state of Ceara among the cities that participated on 2008’s

PSDE roadmap, and Sao Raimundo Nonato in the state of Piaui on 2007’s PSDE roadmap.

The fourth stage in these cities happened on February 5 to 22. The period of work in

each city was three days, the longest between the steps. The IBS team conducting the study had

six persons: one engineer, one person in the field of dentistry, a person in the area of

environment, a person in the library, a camera operator and a person for general support. Below is

the work chronogram.

Table 10 – Fourth Stage Chronogram – Day One - MorningTime Target Public Description8 am Community and Students Beginning of dental care8 am Managers and monitors of the

library/interested peopleLibrary: Beginning of new training andobservation (catalogs), using software andcomputer programs in the area.

8 am Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested people

Start of work on Water Management in Schools -infrastructure in the school – 15 Days

9 am Students at Digital photo and videoworkshop.

Start of activities: School Radio - theory andassembly of equipments with students andteachers

11 am Interested People Opening of Exhibition of School and StudentMaterial (kits and library) and the Fair of Artsand Crafts / Recycled and Paper / OTHERSHOWS.

12:00 ALL PEOPLE LUNCH

Time Target Public Description2 pm Community and Students Dentist: continuation of care.2 pm Managers and monitors of the

library/interested peopleLibrary: continuation of training and observationof new libraries (catalogs), using software andcomputer programs in the area .

2 pm Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested people

Continuing the work of Water Management in Schools - Infrastructure works at school – Day 1.

2 pm Students of Digital photo and videoworkshop.

Radio School – theory, mounting and opening ofthe radio with students – continuing theactivities.

2 pm Interested People Opening of Thematic Photography Exhibition didby school students.

4 pm Interested People

Student presentations on the theme ORALHEALTH;

Other presentations scheduled for the day 1

6 pm ALL PEOPLE CINEMA - Space for showing the students’ workin photography and video.

Table 12 – Fourth Stage chronogram – Day Two - Morning

Time Target Public Description8 am Health agents and Teacher in

chargeDentist: Training to Smile Project.

8 am Students and interested people Music workshop with materials developed bythe school: instruments made from recyclable.

8 am Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested people

Continuing the work of Water Management inSchools - Infrastructure works at school – Day 2.

9 am Students at Digital photo and videoworkshop.

Module video clip: testing of small assemblies ofphoto-video files

10 am Community and students Dentist: DMFT with selected students.12:00 ALL PEOPLE LUNCH.

Time Target Public Description2 pm Community and Students Dentist: continuation of care.

Tabela 11 - Cronograma quarta etapa - Dia um - Tarde 47

Tabela 13 - Cronograma quarta etapa - Dia dois - Tarde

2 pm Students and Interested People Library: practical activity of storytelling andpromotion of reading in the library withstudents.

2 pm Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested people

Continuing the work of Water Management inSchools - Infrastructure works at school – Day 2.

2 pm Students of Digital photo and videoworkshop.

Photographic and video hike: studies on a giventopic to be working with students and interestedpeople

4 pm Interested People Student presentations on the theme MUSICWORKSHOP with instruments made and lessonslearned the lesson given in the morning;Other presentations scheduled for Day 2.

5 pm Interested People Tournament with IBS team and school students- friendly match with students and members.

6 pm ALL PEOPLE CINEMA - Space for showing students work inphotography and video.

Table 14 – Fourth Stage Chronogram - Day Three - Morning

Time Target Public Description8 am Community and Students Dentist: continuation of care.8 am Managers and monitors of the

Library / interested peopleLibrary: COMPLETION AND OBSERVATIONtraining and observation of the new library(catalogs), using the software and computerprograms in the area.

8 am Managers and monitors of theEnvironment / interested people Environmental Lecture: pest control in the

school garden and observation of environmentalprojects developed and in progress;

Environmental Lecture: use of organicdetergents for project implementation of waterrecycling.

9 am Students of Digital photo and videoworkshop.

Module advanced photo: Photoshop. Trial ofphoto-video files in Photoshop. Completion andwork on photos from the day before.

12:00 ALL PEOPLE LUNCH.

Tabela 15 - Cronograma quarta etapa - Dia três - Tarde

Time Target Public Description2 pm Teachers and Coordinators /

Representatives of the Secretary.Formal presentation of the schoosl proposal forcontinuity in each area and plans formaintaining them in school.

3 pm ALL PEOPLE – Students, Teachersand community

Area to students and city artists presentations –Day 3:

- Students’ presentation – learningresults/others.

- Delivery of 2009 / 2010 IBSCertification to school.

- Open space for new culturalpresentations by students and artists intown, to finish the project and Farewellat the school.

4:30 pm IBS Team Exit time.

In the fourth stage of PDSE, about 20 people per city made dental examination. The

volunteer of IBS in the area of dentistry conducted a lecture to teachers and staff of the Family

Health Center who participated in previous stages of the PDSE. This lecture aimed to expand the

program of brushing deployed in schools for the neighborhood. Two representatives from each

class did a competition of brushing teeth held by a revelator of residues.

The digital cataloging of books is completed on this visit, if not previously. There is a

storytelling workshop addressed to teachers, aiming to encourage library use in alternative ways.

The students who attended lectures on communication, made in the previous steps, attend

a lecture that introduces the basics of editing video and photos. These students participate in

another lecture, which explains the basic operation of a radio station. This lecture aims to prepare

students for setting up a programming and operating a technically sound system, consisting of

four speakers spread throughout the school and basic equipment for audio production.

50

As did at the first and third IBS visits to the schools on 2008, a screen is structured in the

central courtyard of schools and a cartoon is displayed to the students and community people.

For further treatment of the school garden, in the environmental area, they made a lecture

on pest control in crops, and installed a water reuse system in schools. The aim of this system is

to use the water in cleaning and maintaining the school garden structured in the previous steps. A

lecture explaining the homemade detergent, raw material using non-aggressive to the

environment, was directed mainly for school staff in charge of cleaning it.

To integrate the IBS team and the school employees, they organized volleyball and

football games, using the sport material previously donated.

The method of evaluation used by IBS, in 2008 and in February 2009, consists of

evaluating each volunteer's impressions about the performance of the area in which he worked, to

check the work posted on the blog by participating schools and by a questionnaire that will be

answer by the school, six months after the completion of assignments. It is very difficult to

measure the effectiveness of projects implemented by PDSE. The evaluation of results is vague

and a real number about projects results é difficult to obtain. The number of people influenced,

for example, lies in the hundreds of thousands, but it is very questionable, since the schools

belong, mostly, to the small communities very far from, the large cities and only a small portion

of these communities effectively participated in the actions of the PDSE. According to the PDSE

representatives, the results of each specific project vary significantly according to each city. They

do not use a research method on planning the Project, to identify the cultural differences among

the communities that allow implanting the PDSE projects respecting the differences of each one

of the communities.

Between the periods covering visits to participating cities, there are few changes in how the

schools work with the projects. In most cases, they just worked out in almost identical ways,

regardless of the different performances of each school in each project. The main differences are

the PDSE extra projects implemented in schools or communities that showed interest and

dedication in the proposals. In some cities, community residents, students and school employees

who received the PDSE in prior years, quote projects that have long-term results and continue to

be developed. Due to the lack of a more precise evaluation of results, it is hard work to take

measurements of these results. The interaction with local communities is encouraged by the

project coordinator, who believes it is a key factor for successful realization of the PDSE. This

interaction brings together volunteers from IBS with participants of the school action and creates

an intimate atmosphere, reducing the formality between them. Although this informal working

51

creates some facilities for the achievement of the PDSE, sometimes, some situations compromise

the professionalism of the work. For example, the project leader led his dog with the team in the

first, third and fourth stages of the project, according to him “aiming to entertain children”. In

most cities visited by the PDSE, in 2008, the children played a few hours with the dog, but, at the

end, they had to divert from its function to take care of the dog.

The PDSE actions at schools began on April 6, 2008 and ended on February 22, 2009

52

Chapter VI – Bacaba District Residents Performance.

4.1 – Bacaba District Neighborhood Association

The neighborhood association of Bacaba District began in 1993 and worked until 2002, when the

president of the association sold the land and the construction material, which they will use to build the

neighborhood association office. In 2008, the residents made an election to choose a new president for the

association, trying to reactivate it.

(...) the president took charge of everything and then, he ended up with everythingthere, we already had bricks we already have everything and then ended, he soldthe land, he sold the bricks, everything, and it just ended! Then, here we did nothave anyone, but they decided to renovate the association, they want to bring backwhat it was, but it was not possible, then it did not have proceedings, nothingmore…then with much hard work I brought a minute book from the olderassociation and we did a small election. Then we voted Gilson and then we arefighting, you know, to see what happens, what we can do.27

They do a monthly meeting on the second Saturday of each mouth. At these meetings, neighborhood

residents discuss issues of interest to the local community. There is an effort by the current president to

involve religious leaders, merchants, ranging from beauty salon owners to bar owners. They also invite to

these meetings, people who do not belong in the neighborhood, but may be relevant in resolving the issues

they have.

At the meeting I attended, the topics were the implementation of selective collection in the neighborhood and

the streets that should be part of a formal request for paving, which they will send to the mayor. A local

council member was present, heard the claims and answered questions from residents. Besides the monthly

meetings, they arrange special meetings if the residents understand that the subject to be treated has urgency.

To Antônio Cândido, these organizations not only have the function to discuss issues of interest to the

community, but also integrate the residents who begin to see themselves as members of the group.

“It is a member of the neighborhood who calls and is called for such activities. It is a bilateral obligation and

for that an integration element of the group sociability, by which it acquires unity conscientiousness and

functioning.” (CANDIDO, 1979, p.67).

For the president of the neighborhood association of Bacaba district, the residents could have a more

active role in tackling the problems that afflict the neighborhood.

The association has one year, one year that we reactivated it, and they do not callme a lot, they do not came to me to complain; I saw them in the neighborhood,almost every day I'm visiting, I'm working on trees, I'm watering with them, I amfollowing the boys that are playing ball. Sometimes they came to us to tell that thestreet is without lighting, needs to improve infrastructure, to cover the roles; themayor does nothing and the council do nothing , you know, that claim about the

27 Sousa, Luis, 2009. Interviewed by V.P. Scarpelli

58

53

politicians. I try to educate them that there is an association, an associationconcerned, that there are caring people, people who want to offer, it has somethingto offer and that they need to participate in our meetings, because together we canchance the reality in our district, and in our town as a whole.28

Sound cars that travel through the neighborhood for an hour announce the dates and time of meeting,

they set crafts in locations with high traffic of people, such as school and health center, and the association

contacts the local television stations that sometimes advertise the meeting on his schedule.

It is not important if I or any other member from association, go in person. We doa letter in association’s name, we have an entire organization and doing this, wealways have a fantastic support from TV Rio Balsas e from all media here in thecity. We use a sound car, we pay R$ 25,00 for one hour drive, all the meetings wedo with the authorities and the residents as it was today.29

They carry out several kinds of community work with the neighborhood association of Bacaba

district residents. The capoeira group Guerreiros da Crianca (Warriors of the Child) is very close to the

association who supports the group presentations. They organize training and football games for the

community’s children, and the police are doing along the association a project to a communitarian police in

the neighborhood.

Here with Jorge, almost every day we have a contact here with his cultural group,of the child, that they are playing capoeira or the dance of the ribbon, with themaculele or with other cultural presentations. We also have a very large contactwith children and young people from the district because of the football, which is athing that is going so right; we have a large number of children participating onwhat we need, maybe, is support, financial support, which is very difficultsometimes.30

There is a partnership with the Agostinho Neves Municipal School, which aims to get the district

residents closer to the community school, and to collaborate on the projects implanted by the school

Agostinho Neves or on the neighborhood association. The representatives of the neighborhood association

participated in actions during the visits of IBS for PDSE implantation, and helped the Agostinho Neves

Municipal School employees. When the association needs a bigger space than its own to do its activities, the

school offers it to the association. This kind of exchange is common between the organizations.

(...) Just now we are organizing the garden, the communitarian garden was aBrasil Solidario initiative, and we went for it, come on, let’s help, what is missingwe Will try to help together, let’s help in their needs. And, for example, we did acultural evening, the first one in Bacaba District, and we had the support ofAgostinho Neves school, the facilities, the power, the power, the school directorwas there. In short, everything we need, they are there for us, and vice versa.31

28Botelho, Gilson, 2009. Interviewed by V.P. Scarpelli29Ibidem30Ibidem31Ibidem

54

The place they use to the association meetings is a small building near to Agostinho Neves School.

The construction looks like a catholic church but this fact does not seem to slow down or discourage the

devotee people of other religions on the association meetings. Frequently the activities that bring together

community residents have in their beginning or end, prayers sung by all its participants.

There are countless situations considered inaccessible to the rational control or,when it admits the existence of rational resources, they do not attribute to it effectscomparable to what the intervention of supernatural power, always seems ashigher, would produce. It would be difficult to point out one area of life that wasnot imbued with faith in the supernatural that does not employ means deemedappropriate to ensure the aid of supernatural powers. "(p.134)32

To Hoggart, organizations among members of less privileged classes, such as the neighborhood

association of Bacaba District residents, give them the feeling of be integrated to the group and have a

commitment of mutual aid, once the members of these classes frequently need help from the neighbors.

It is first the fruit of knowledge based on experience, which teaches that theindividual is inevitably part of the group, the individual knows who is part of agroup because they experience the warmth and sense of security that are providedby the very fact of belonging Because the group always remains equal to itself, andbecause it is often seen obliged to seek the help of neighbors, since they usuallycannot afford the services of others. The members of the proletariat feel the needto form a group, because life is hard and they always drops them luck ineverything that is bad.33

The cooperation among neighbors in Bacaba District is usual and treated casually. During the time I

made the interviews to this dissertation, I saw the interviewers ask, several times, to their neighbors to take

carry the work they stopped to talk with me. The neighbors’ cooperation was almost immediate, and seen as

something casual.

The existence of any social group requires reaching a relative balance between itsneeds and the resources of the physical environment, demanding from part of thegroup more or less adequate and complete solution from which depends on, theeffectiveness and own nature of that balance. The solutions, in turn, depend on thequantity and quality of the needs to be met. (p.23f

The work and favors that the neighbors provide are not limited by that ones that require little efforts

or time; often when a resident is in a situation which demands more dedication to be resolved, he is supported

by the neighbors with whom he has more intimacy.

There are a number of sacred and secular activities, whose implementationdepends on vicinal cooperation. Besides the occasional services that occasionalneighbors provide to each other, there are events that affect more deeply the livesof individuals and families that usually require the assistance of a limited numberof neighbors.34

32WILLENS, 1961. p.13433HOGGART, 1973. p.9934WILLENS, 1961. p.49

55

The residents of Bacaba district recognize the president of the neighborhood association, Gilson

Pereira Botelho, as a person that works in name of the district best interests. Gilson Pereira Botelho works as

an assessor of a city councilwoman, which does not seem to matter to the residents, this fact was not

mentioned in the interviews. In the association meetings I attended, had also a presence of a council member

with no partisan association with the councilwoman for whom Gilson works. At any time, they talked about

the association between Gilson and the councilwoman although most of the discussions revolve around

policy decisions and Gilson Pereira Botelho was the mediator of the discussion.

As in all communities, political parties engaged in the vital junction of localleaders sift, through complicated processes of competition, conflict andaccommodation. Another vital function of parties is to monitor individuals,especially those of the opposite party, who occupy public positions in municipaladministration. Moreover, with the parties young people learn political standardsof the local culture.35

The Bacaba District is, most of time, negatively portrayed on media. In many occasions, they

broadcast crimes in the region.

“The neighborhood has its own peculiarities, as it is almost out of the urban areaand closer to a more advance periphery, this is a problem of day-to-day life, of thesociety itself, the poorest community, the humblest, suffering. There is there lack ofwater, health, drugs, the traffic, drug den. The local station cannot turn its back, ithas to participate in the day-to-day, be present, and be there. When the police doarrests, the television must show this reality. The Bacaba is part of this type ofnews, unfortunately unpleasant. It is prison; it is murder (…)”

Due to the negative image, the Agostinho Neves School, together with the neighborhood association

of residents in Bacaba District decided to act in the media to modify the neighborhood image.

(...) A coordinator that came and she wanted to change the school image. Theschool had difficult times, it was bad be part of that school, so she wanted tochange this image and began to do projects and all the projects and activitieshappened inside school; she invited the media and the TV stations to film.Therefore, in the beginning the Agostinho Neves School was, always, on TV. Andwith this, the image began to change, so, due to the use of this media. Also thepresident, he came last year and started to use the TV station to publicize themeetings, publicize also his work; he also created a web site to the neighborhoodassociation, so it is expanding itself due to the medias.36

35Ibidem, p.82.

36SANTOS, Edjane. 2009. Entrevista concedida a V.P. Scarpelli

56

The majority of the researched media representatives, points Gilson Pereira Botelho like been a

person present among them to publicize the events of Bacaba district and that they interview him in some

occasions. The Radio Cultura interview the president of the neighborhood association monthly.

(...) we have a large participation from Bacaba, including Gilson, theneighborhood association’s president who participate in our programming inmonthly basis, bringing the projects he has for the Bacaba community. Manylisteners call us daily, to participate live with us.13

Talita Moura, who is a news-reporting producer in Rio Balsas TV, tells us that the neighborhood

association’s representatives often interact with the TV station.

(...) I can say that the Bacaba District is an active region in the city due of theresidents association. The association and the residents, they are alwaysgathering, demanding improvements to the neighborhood and it is a neighborhoodthat is still a bit away from downtown, we also prioritize this, because it is newsand also a way to encourage other districts to claim their rights, the issue ofsanitation, lighting, which are the basic rights of any person. They have this desireto promote lectures, information for residents in partnership with theenvironmental secretary, secretary of health; finally, the Bacaba district is veryactive in this sense. Then, when they appear here on the station, the President orany member of the association says that we are already bored of their face, butthey will do something in this day and wanted our presence. Obviously, since weare always looking for new and that is of relevance to society, we will.37

In TV Liberdade, SBT rebroadcasting in the city of Balsas, the Bacaba district community

participate, mainly, through the neighborhood association. The station representative, Fabricio Andrade, sees

the Bacaba district as an active district in TV Liberdade.

There are few people interested in this kind of matter, and always, when there aresubjects that are important to Bacaba district, they come here and participate.Bacaba is one of the district that always call us to make a report, to participate, tocover. The district is always participating with us.38

The hole of The Bacaba District neighborhood association’s president happens, also, in the print

media, despite the Correio de Balsas Journal sporadic submit articles about events in the neighborhood The

Popular Journal de Balsas, who has a viewpoint toward political issues, conducted an interview with Gilson

Pereira Botelho on one occasion.

I received the president of the neighborhood association of Bacaba residents, hemade us a story and this whole matter will now come out in February. It was notaddressed to anyone in Bacaba; he just came to an interview to talk about thesituation in the neighborhood, which was despised by the public authority,according to what he told to JPB.16

37MOURA, Talita. 2009. Entrevista concedida a V.P. Scarpelli

38ANDRADE, Fabrício. 2009. Entrevista concedida a V.P. Scarpelli

57

The lower intensity with which the president of the association works with the print media and

internet is due to the fact these Media be less used by neighborhood residents. There is no selling point to

newspapers in the district and the access to internet at home is almost zero; it is practically limited to cyber

cafes.

In addition to the president of the association, Gilson Pereira Botelho, the community recognizes

other residents as local leaderships. Reni Jorge Grampes coordinate a capoeira group in Bacaba and he is a

member of the association; along with a local artist, he plans to initiate a new association to work primarily

with children in the Bacaba neighborhood.

Another association is been opened, which will be the cultural and socialassociation warrior of child, whose coordination will be on my account togetherwith an local artist called the Alni. Honest people will make the corporation andthe association, you know, lawyers, economists, planning something that will betransparent for the community. We are pleading, we already have a vote for thewall and we will begin the construction of our long-awaited office. You know, inthe future, when you come here from Sao Paulo… I even want to build one or tworooms inside the association to receive artists, people who come from otherplaces, you know, to stay closer to the community, inside de community… if youcome to study the community, you stay inside the community (...)39

Naura de Souza accomplishes many kind of volunteer work in the district. To her the reactivation of

the neighborhood association was of great importance for the effectiveness of these works.

It was a big change, when I met Gilson it was over a year I did volunteer workwith women, children and teenagers by myself, then he invited me to join theassociation, he said: you will be my assistant. So all the work that we did, thecampaign for cleaning, planting trees, trash cans, all this work, the courses thatcame here, the lectures, all I helped to organize. They called me to be the childrenfootball team’s secretary; today we already have a team, two balls and I am alsohelping Jorge with the boys, the children and teenagers in the Warrior of Childrengroup.40"

Clarindo de Souza Gomes, a soldier from Military Police of State of Maranhao, also does activities

with the youth in the Agostinho Neves School and volunteer works in his gospel church.

We do, mainly, a citizenship work, we live there, we believe in the potential of thedistrict we live on and we work in the way to our youth become aware. Becausewe era very close to Agostinho Neves School, we work inside the classes with thefourth and sixth grades. We do an extra work with lectures, games, workshops,anything that contributes to the citizenship of our community, mainly with theyoung people of Bacaba.41

39GRAMPES, Reni. 2009. Entrevista concedida a V.P. Scarpelli

40SOUSA, Naura. 2009. Entrevista concedida a V.P. Scarpelli

41GOMES, Clarindo. 2009. Entrevista concedida a V.P. Scarpelli

66

4.2 - The Community Leaders’ Performance in Bacada District on PDSE

During the time IBS worked with PDSE in Balsas, the Agostinho Neves Municipal School received

support from several Bacaba residents. The people of the community point some of them as local leaderships.

The PDSE actions happened on April 16 and 17, June 23, October 19 and 20, February 9, 10 and 11. In

PDSE first stage, the number of participants was visible smaller than in the next stages. According to

Antonieta Neves da Silva Matos, the community did not know what to expect from the project. According to

some school employees, from the second stage of the project, the community leaders and the community

presence became bigger.

We have the association president, and the Brasil Solidario Institute invited him totheir visit, because he was very interested, because he is person who works onseeking benefit for community in the environmental area, in cultural development,so he accept the invitation immediately. He could not attend in the first visitbecause he worked in some company and could not come, but in the other visits hewas not, working there anymore and he participated more actively in the meetings.And there were other persons who also received the invitation from school andcame to know the Institute. We also have the Municipal Secretary ofEnvironmental, we also have Jorge who is responsible for the cultural area and heaccepted the invitation and helped too. Even the boys that participated in thevegetable garden, they made some money selling the vegetables. So, Jorge was avolunteer in the school, he teaches capoeira free, and that’s the way he is, he is avolunteer and a leader in the culture area.20

The PDSE implantation in the Agostinho Neves Municipal School was far more effective than in the

other cities that participated on the PDSE in the same time. A large number of residents attended to the IBS

visits, the voluntaries of each area felt satisfied with the results of the actions, the school carried on an

expressive part of projects e some of them were extended to the community of Bacaba district.

They named the library Edilza Virginia Pereira, in honor to a local writer and authoress of the

municipal hymn, who was present at the school during the first stage of the PDSE. Teachers, residents and

local leaders pointed out the library as one of the most important actions either to community or to school.

The access to the book is very difficult in Bacaba district; there are no bookshops nearby e the low

purchasing power of majority of the residents make it difficult to purchase books. There are three libraries in

the city of Balsas: one is downtown, one is inside a school and the other is in a farm. Neither one is close to

Bacaba district. According to the book Retratos da Leitura no Brasil (Portraits of Reading in Brazil)42, books

borrowed from public and school libraries make up the main form of access to books for young people. 49%

of the population of five to 10 years, 53% of the population 11 to 13 years and 47% of the population

between 14 and 17 years consider libraries as a way to access to books.

After they knew PDSE, the members of community organized themselves to expand some projects

implanted in Agostinho Neves School for the whole Bacaba district. The forestation project reached other

42AMORIN, Galeno (Org.), 2008

67

streets of the district. Beyond that, the neighborhood association expanded another project in the

environmental area. They asked IBS to donate trashcans for the neighborhood. They had their solicitations

attended and they received 10 trashcans. At the end of the neighborhood association meeting, I was present

some members talked about find a way to begin a selective garbage collection in the neighborhood, which

does not exist in the city of Balsas. The actions on environmental area are easier to do than on other areas,

because they have logistics facility and a low cost.

I attended some workshops and lectures where we have classes with people whoportray situations such as the environment, recycling, even to put into practice arecycling I've learned to make a kind of liquid soap, so I was at school, not inevery day but every time they came I was in school.43

The neighborhood association and IBS are analyzing some projects they want to extend to community as

they did with forestation and trash can. They approved a communitarian kitchen and the association members

are deciding its place, as well as the installation of a communitarian radio for the Bacaba district.

(...)At the second time the IBS came here to Bacaba, I participated in it, andinvited by Eliane, the director, I get closer to the boys who work in BrasilSolidario, and so I started to talk with them about the possibility of, per example,the forestation, and how they could help us, We, from the neighborhoodassociation, did a list with some projects that we intend to develop here, for theresidents, e we give the list to them. And, for our surprise, Luis contact us,authorizing 10 trashcans and also a communitarian kitchen which depends, only,on the place we chose to install it. So, this was my participation.44

43GOMES, Clarindo. 2009. Interviewed by V.P. Scarpelli

44BOTELHO, Gilson. 2009. Interviewed by V.P. Scarpelli

The members of the neighborhood association did a large number of voluntary activities to prepare Agostinho

Neves Municipal School to receive the PDSE stages. The association members participated in the school

preparation and in some PDSE actions.

I asked if I could help with anything and they said I did, then they asked what Iwanted to do, I also work with decor, I work with my sister-in-law who makesornament, party, and I do the decorating. I also participated with the psychologist,I made an appointment with her, and I really enjoyed it.45

The association members called the Bacaba residents to take part of the actions through a sound car

that for one hour circulated by the neighborhood, informing the residents about time and place for the work.

They informed radio stations about the event as well as TV stations, and they broadcasted it during their

programming. Letters warning about the event were in places of great movement of people. Although it was

not possible to visit every home, neighborhood association members attended the majority of homes,

warning about the realization of PDSE.

Members of the neighborhood association informed and requested the presence of Balsas’ media

during the deployment of PDSE. During the visits of IBS, they noted the presence of radio and television

teams. The professionals in these teams treated the volunteers of IBS with familiarity, and in rare cases, they

participated in the PDSE. A man who recited a poem in the first day of first stage, returned on the next day

along with a filming team, reveling himself as a journalist from TV Liberdade, the SBT local rebroadcast

In the opinion of the Agostinho Neves School’s teachers, the performance of the community leaders

of Bacaba district worked in favor to a better integration between residents and school during the project.

So, what did happen with the IBS visit? A connection happened between family andschool even to develop some activities. For example, there was the dental, thecommunication, warning parents and everything, and they did a meeting to know ifthe parents accepted it, because this relationship is important. In addition, duringthe material delivery, they first contacted the parents, so when the first visithappened, the people from the neighborhood saw the movement here in school andthey get surprised and wished to know what was it (…)2s

45SOUSA, Naura. 2009. Interviewed by V.P. Scarpelli

69

V – Final considerations

In the first stage of PDSE in the Agostinho Neves Municipal School, there was a less intense

involvement of the community than in subsequent steps. The school has a partnership with the neighborhood

association of Bacaba residents. The neighborhood association collaborates with the events organized at the

school, and the school returns lending a place for association’s events, for example. From the second stage of

the PDSE, the neighborhood association worked on the preparations of actions they appeared in larger

numbers in the days that the actions were taking place in schools. From the second step, they have large

presence of neighborhood residents during the actions. In the periods of PDSE, they implemented actions at

the Agostinho Neves Municipal School; and the residents recognized as leaders by the community, attended

the school to help in organizing and participating in actions.

The association of residents of Bacaba District, besides having the function of gathers the residents to

discuss issues of concern for them and sometimes propose actions, creates a sense of community, the

participating members feel more integrated with the neighborhood and collaborate among each other to solve

personal problems.

The association meetings take place in a building borrowed by Catholic Church. Some association

members go to catholic and gospel churches and during the meetings, they pray together. Although religion is

an important subject for the community, the religious diversity is not a cause of conflict among members.

The employees of Agostinho Neves School believe that there is a bigger community resident’s

involvement in the events in school when the Bacaba neighborhood association publicize it and are present at

the event.

For the residents of Bacaba District, the return of the neighborhood association was an important

factor to mobilize the community and to bring improvements to the district.

The association members use very often the Medias of Balsas to publicize the events of the Bacaba

district. The president of the association is monthly on the radio and contacts several radio and TV station to

broadcast the neighborhood events.

The members of the neighborhood association of Bacaba residents constantly utilize the media of the

city of Balsas to publicize events in the neighborhood. The president of the association participates in a

monthly radio program and contacts other radio and television stations to announce new events in the

neighborhood. A sound truck hired by the neighborhood association runs for one hour in Bacaba district

announcing the event. There are, also, letters placed at points of large circulation in the district.

The staff of the media in the city of Balsas claims that there is a constant presence of the association

members there. Members of the neighborhood association attend, mainly, the radio and television stations.

The residents in Bacaba district believe that this action of the association with the media brought a positive

image to Bacaba, which previously only appeared portrayed in media due to crimes in the area.

70

The Bacaba district residents have a typically oral culture. Community leaders, to conduct the

dissemination of events in Bacaba district do not use any media that require reading, like newspapers and the

Internet, (the connection speed in the town of Balsas is too slow to use the resources of audio and video some

sites offer).

IBS and the neighborhood association jointed efforts and they extended some projects implanted by

PDSE to the whole community. During the period IBS carried out actions in Agostinho Neves School, they

implanted the tree-planting project in Bacaba district. The association received trashcans through IBS that

will be installing on several spots along the neighborhood. The neighborhood association plans to start the

first selective collection system of the municipality. A communal kitchen, donated by IBS, will be installed in

the neighborhood. The neighborhood association of Bacaba district is developing a project to send to IBS,

requesting a radio system, with the purpose of installing a community radio station in the neighborhood and

work directly with residents.

Considering the discussed above, we can conclude that the performance of opinion leaders in Bacaba

district affects the community, so that when these leaders work to influence it in actions pointed to the

neighborhood, these actions are more effective.

VI - References 70

AMORIN, Galeno (Org,). Retratos da leitura no Brasil. São Paulo: Imprensa Oficial, 2008.

BELTRÃO, Luiz. A imprensa informativa. São Paulo: Folco Massuci, 1969.

BELTRÃO, Luiz. Comunicação e folclore. São Paulo: Melhoramentos, 1971.

BELTRÃO, Luiz. Folkcomunicação: teoria e metodologia. São Bernardo do Campo: UME SP, 2004.

BELTRÃO, Luiz. Iniciação à filosofia do jornalismo. Rio de Janeiro: Agir, 1960.

BELTRÃO, Luiz. O índio, um mito brasileiro. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1977.

BELTRÃO, Luiz. Sociedade de massa: comunicação e literatura. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1972.

BELTRÃO, Teoria geral da comunicação. Brasília. Thesaurus, 1977.

CANDIDO, Antonio. Os parceiros do Rio Bonito. 5.ed. São Paulo: Duas Cidades, 1979.

CARNICEL, Amarildo (Org.).; FANTINATTI, Márcia (Org.). Comunicação e cidadania: possibilidades e interpretações. Campinas: CMU, 2008.

COHN, Gabriel (Org.). Comunicação e indústria cultural. 5.ed. São Paulo: T.A. Queiroz, 1987

ESCARPIT, Robert. A revolução do livro. Rio de Janeiro: FGV, 1976.

ESCARPIT, Robert. Sociologia da literatura. Lisboa: Arcádia, 1969.

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FARKAS, Thomaz. Cinema documentário: um método de trabalho. 1972.114p. Tese (Doutorado em Jornalismo e Editoração) - Escola de Comunicação e Artes, São Paulo.

HOGGART, Richard. The Uses of Literacy: aspectos da vida cultural da classe trabalhadora. Lisboa: Presença, 1973.

KATZ, Elihu.; LAZARSFELD, Paul F.. Personal influence: the part played by people in the flow of mass communications. 2.ed. New Brunswick: Transaction, 2006.

LAZARSFELD, Paul F.. A sociologia. Lisboa: Bertrand, 1970.

LAZARSFELD, Paul F.; BERELSON, Bernard.; GAUDET, Hazel. The people's choice: how the voter makes up his mind in a presidential campaign. 3.ed. New York: Columbia University, 1968.LUYTEN, Joseph M.. A notícia na literatura de cordel. São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, 1992.

LUYTEN, Joseph M. Sistemas de comunicação popular. São Paulo: Ática, 1988.

MARTÍN-BARBERO, Jesus. Dos meios às mediações: comunicação, cultura e hegemonia. 4.ed. Rio de Janeiro: UFRJ, 2006.

MARQUES DE MELO, José. Comunicação social: teoria e pesquisa. 6.ed. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1978.

MARQUES DE MELO, José.; GOBBI, Maria Cristina (Org.).; SATHLER, Luciano (Org.). Mídia cidadã: utopia brasileira. São Bernardo do Campo: UMESP, 2006.

MARQUES DE MELO, José (Org.).; QUEIROZ, Adolpho (Org.). Identidade da imprensa brasileira no final de século: das estratégias comunicacionais aos enraizamentos e às ancoragens culturais. São Bernardo do Campo: UMESP, 1997.

MILANESI, Luiz Augusto. O paraíso via embratel. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1978.

OYAMA, Thais. A arte de entrevistar bem. São Paulo: Contexto, 2008.

PERUZZO, Cicilia M. Krohling. Vozes cidadãs: Aspectos teóricos e análises de experiências de comunicação popular e sindical na América Latina. São Paulo: Angellara, 2004.

PIERSON, Donald. Cruz das Almas. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1966.

QUEIROZ, Maria Isaura Pereira de. Bairros rurais paulistas. São Paulo: Duas Cidades, 1973.

VARGAS, Herom. Hibridismos musicais de Chico Science & Nação Zumbi. Cotia: Ateliê Editorial, 2007.

RAMOS, Clara Leonel. As múltiplas vozes da Caravana Farkas e a crise do "modelo sociológico". 2007.164p. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências da Comunicação) - Escola de Comunicação e Artes, São Paulo.

WILLENS, Emílio. Uma vila brasileira: Tradição e Transição. São Paulo: Difusão Européia do Livro, 1961.

YIN, Robert K. Estudo de caso: planejamentos e métodos. 3.ed. São Paulo: Artmed, 2005.

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Attachment 1

Interview with Antonieta Neves da Silva Matos – Teacher at Agostinho Neves Municipal School

How did the Bacaba district begin?

The first resident here was my grandfather. He only had his small house and was 18 when lived here.

Then he found Ancanja, who was his wife and they lived at Gerais of Balsas, in a place called Serra da

Limpeza. He came here, married this lady and made his family here. Later he took the job of bailiff here in

Balsas; there was only him e three more. However, he continued living here in Bacaba that was his residence.

He had 14 children, he had cattle and it was a farm, the whole family was here, in Bacaba. Due to the large

number of bacaba trees here, they named it Bacaba, Bacaba of Canary District, because his nickname was

canary, but he was not yellow, he was very black. Later a boy came, actually my father, called Jose Alves da

Silva and he married my grandfather’s older daughter called Zenite da Silva, and then he built (a house) here.

My father says the came here in 1946 and married my mother in 1960 and I was their first kid. This lady,

Mrs. Zenite, had 7 children and I am the older one. We had no teachers here but the community, but then they

built a little house there and I went to (school). Here it had only bush, here, in the spot we are, it was the

place they used to hunt (small animals), to pick pequi fruit, cashew, and to collect firewood. They cooked in

wood stove and it was in the spot we are that they used to collect this things.

How did the school begin?

Our little school here began in my mother’s house. I used to work as a catechist over there, in the Nazareth

district, on the little church, the little chapel, as they called it, the little chapel. I was the first teacher of

catechism there. Then, because there was a need from the students of the street, Tito Coelho Avenue in the

district of Nazareth, which had only one street, and I was only 15 to 16 years old, my dad and my

grandfather made a small school, which was rough and artless. The bell was a rattle and there was multilevel

class, which is the first to the fourth grade that I taught. After a long time, some people from Sao Luiz came

here, they saw me on this suffering, and they asked me if I wished to have a school. We went out from my

home that was a little thatched hut and then we came and entered on these woods, because here was only

woods and then they built the school that is here as a tribute to my grandfather Agostinho Neves, and me,

Antonieta as the first teacher.

72

73

Since that time, what have changed in the school and neighborhood?

Oh, my friend, so much changed! It was only us; it was only our family and looks at it today, there so many

families. It is still Bacaba district, Bacaba of Canary district, but there is so much change, now it has trades

and many houses. Here it was only our house and the corral. Much thing had changed, our school was not

this one, and it was thatch. Our school changed a lot.

How was that change?

The school changes were like this: people knew this place as a rural area but after the improvement

that was to build the school, it turned in urban area. A people called Edurural came (here) from São Luiz, I do

not know if you know them. A team came here from Sao Luiz to give a class to teachers who did not have

mastership. I was one of the students that day; I used to teacher and have only the eighth grade when I

started. Today I have master degree and our school is here. We have more classrooms; we have more students

but on those days we had only 35 students and it was just literacy from first to fourth grades, with two classes

each. Today our school has about 1049 students and when we started, it was 35. Even when we leaved our

small house, the new school had only two classrooms, three bathrooms and one auditorium. Today we have

13 classrooms, a library, a teacher’s room and an office.

In the beginning of the school, how did the students’ parents and the community participate

in?

Ah, when it started, it was too good; the parents came to me because I have started this school,

school in rural area. Then, parents came for me to start and I taught this class with all vigor, and parents, we

did play, the parents were too participatory. Today I think it is different because the parents does not care

about and just drop their children with the teacher and when they came, they are so aggressive. I think it was

better when we started, I liked the way I taught, because I had my ferule and for children that did not want to

learn, I said go there and study the multiplication table. Then I used my ferule. Even my sister husband was

my pupil and today I say that he can even he mistreats her on these days, but when he was my student, he

was feruled a lot. Today we cannot do it anymore because of the evolution.

Is the community close to school?

Like I told you before, when it started I thought better that way, but now I think our school is gather

more attention and I always praise it and I tell to Eliane: Eliane, you have to bring these parents to

community and I think they also got better. I told in the sense of when I was a rural area but not now. They

are coming to school. We have some issues but we can handle it. However, they are participating; the director

calls them, we, the employees, also help to bring them here. We have several good projects to youth and

adults and the neighborhood association’s president is with us. I think it has evolved. Of course, there are

differences like the ferule, but I thought it is better. Today, the majority of the teachers have mastership and

we need to have a quality education.

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What did you think was right or wrong in the school project the Institute made?

I Liked it. I praised the project because it brought the community closer to our school. I liked the

projects in which I participated, but I liked all the projects. What I attended was the garden, I loved it, and I

still love it. I told Eliane that I am very excited and I congratulated her because she has brought news to our

school and it needed it.

Which was your participation in the vegetable garden during the Project and which is it now?

They explained how to use a PET in the garden and I did not know that we could do rows with PET,

so I did not touch it. I thought it was so beautiful! Today we have a garden because of IBS and I told Eliane I

wish them bring more projects to us, to our community, to our school. Everybody praises it.

How did the community participate on this Project?

In the beginning, the majority of community did not participate because their children did not told

them, but when people saw your projects, then they came and ask “Oh, was there this project?”

There were four stages in the project. Do you think there was an increase in community

participation among stages?

In the first stage not so much, but in the end there was much more. But it is only my opinion, you

know. Because in the first stage nobody knew what was happening, and you can blame it on the students and

the school.

In your opinion, are there, in the community, people who had influenced others to participate?

Yes, there are. In my opinion, they are my sister, Joanice, the neighborhood president, Jose Soares

Quixabeira, Agostinho Neves, the grandson of Agostinho Neto, who is in football, Erivelton, a police officer.

How those people had participated?

Well, they came here, in the school with us, they are in the meeting we have with the president to talk

about the project.

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Do you think that their presence at school during the Project stimulated the community participation?

Yes, because come together and then we go to. Even now, tomorrow, we will have a meeting, them

and me in the community.

Is there something else you want to say about the history of Bacaba, the school or the participation of

the community?

They founded the school in 1976, and until 1977-78, it was rural area. From 1978 till these days it is

urban area.

How was the transition from rural to urban area?

It was the city hall and the Edurural Project Who did it. A team came from Sao Luiz, came to us here

and then we moved from a small house of straw to a small house of bricks.

Interview with Isomar de Souza Neves - Agostinho Neves Grandson.

How does the Bacaba district history begin?

Since I remember here, we were only a little Road to downtown. In 1957, some neighbors came and

now it is part of the city. Then the parents and older brothers began to miss and only the youth stood here.

Now I am the older one.

How do you see the community participation at school?

It is good, but not perfect.

Interview with Norina Neves Quiximtera - Agostinho Neves Granddaughter.

How did the district Begin?

We had only one resident here that was my father and then Pedro Joao Antonio came here. He lived

on Bacaba, in the passage.

In your opinion, does the community participate in the school?

My children, when they were little, studied at Agostinho Neves and I attended in the school

meetings.

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Interview with Edjane Nunes Santos - Agostinho Neves Municipal School Teacher.

Tell me about the history of the district.

When I arrived here at Bacaba, I came with my grandparents in 1989, 20 years ago. Here looked like

the end of the city, with few residents, bushes and many farms e a very small population. I lived next to the

Agostinho Neves School, which a resident built.

What was your relation with the school?

I did my elementary course in this school. Earlier they had only the first four grade, so I did, I

studied on it from first to fourth grade and then there was not the largest elementary school, from fifth to

eighth, so I had to study at a school downtown. You can see the degree of development in the neighborhood.

Nevertheless, I was always participating in the neighborhood life, doing catechesis. I always have

participated.

What do you do in the school currently?

Now I am an Agostinho Neves School teacher. It is funny because I work with people who were my

teachers when I was a kid. I have a co-worker who was my teacher in kindergarten. I work with the second

grade of elementary school in the morning, and in the afternoon with fifth of the eighth grades.

How does the community participate in the school?

I cannot tell the way it does, but you can see that it does participate. When there is some

manifestation, you can see that the community is already inserting on it. Even in the decisions, we make in

school you think in how the community will react. So, if you have to do an event you will think about the

community participation. An interesting fact that is happening now in the neighborhood is a partnership

between the community, represented by the neighborhood association that started last year, and the school.

This partnership is incentivizing the community to participate in the school and vice versa. for example, you

have, as we had, an association meeting, because they will chose our neighborhood to the collective

selection, the first district of the city as a model for the initiation of this collection. This meeting was on

Saturday and the teachers and the school direction were there, along with the community and other public

agencies. So you can observed that the activities are developed in society here in the neighborhood, they

involve both the school and the community at large.

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How did the community participate of PDSE, implanted by Brasil Solidario Institute?

Well, in the year of 2008 the IBS visited the school. First, the director made a general meeting with

all teachers and staff, and presented a DVD to explain what this Institute was. Our first impression was if we

could handle it, because there was too much work to do, but at the same time, we felt joy to see so many

benefits coming to our community, we were the chosen community. So, the first impact was the challenge:

could we do this? It was the first time this kind of work happened here, in our town. Then, the first visit

happened and the parents, students and school staff welcomed it. The activities began and in the end of the

day, we thought about how many thing we had done! The community and students accepted the work

willingly. You can observe the students behavior in relation to this work. We use to say “the before and the

after of this visit”. When you observe a neighborhood school, and we have many poor neighborhoods nearby,

it is very difficult to promote a quality education, with all it needs. It is very difficult, starting by the family

participation. When we did school meetings, they did not support it. They thought that it was not their

responsibility. I even heard some parents say that they put their children in school to the teachers watch them.

You can observe a high lack of appreciation of culture and education, in addition to financial shortage. Due

to their financial situation, they have to work and then, they cannot accompany their children in school. So,

what did happen with the IBS visit? A connection happened between family and school even to develop some

activities. For example, there was the dental, the communication, warning parents and everything, and they

did a meeting to know if the parents accepted it, because this relationship is important. In addition, during the

material delivery, they first contacted the parents, so when the first visit happened, the people from the

neighborhood saw the movement here in school and they feel surprised and wished to know what it was.

They saw the rally cars and the ATV, what were a novelty and bring attention both visual and to obtain

resources. The vehicles brought the community attention for the school. What we see is that their perception

changed in many ways. Many projects were developed in the school, like the environmental. Before IBS we

planted many trees around school, but they did not grow, they destroyed almost immediately and there were

no shadows for the school. Then IBS came and implanted this idea bringing seeds and now you can see the

plants growing and, as they grow, you see that consciousness is growing too, both students and family.

In your opinion, are there, in the community, people who had influenced others to participate?

Yes, there are. It starts by the association itself. In the beginning, nobody believed in it and it began

due to the persistency of some community’s leaders like Joanice. She was a teacher and principal at school

and people respect her a lot. When she needed to leave her job as principal, there was a revolution because

the students wanted her to stay. So, yes, we have some leaders in the neighborhood who people listen to.

How were these leaders participation?

We have the association president, and the Brasil Solidario Institute invited him to their visit,

because he was very interested, because he is a person who works on seeking benefit for community in the

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environmental area, in cultural development, so he accepted the invitation immediately. He could not attend

in the first visit because he worked in some company and could not come, but in their other visits, he was

not, working there anymore and he participated more actively in the meetings. In addition, there was another

person who also received the invitation from school and came to know the Institute. We also have the

Municipal Secretary of Environmental, we also have Jorge who is responsible for the cultural area and he

accepted the invitation and helped too. Even the boys that participated in the vegetable garden, they made

some money selling the vegetables. Jorge was a volunteer in the school, he teaches capoeira free, and he is

like that, he is a volunteer and a leader in the culture area.

What are the Medias here, in the city?

Legally, we have TV Boa Notícia. We have another radio stations that work for some periods. When

the police come, they shut them off and after sometime, the radios return. Legally we have Radio and TV Rio

Balsas, Radio and TV Boa Noticia, TV Liberdade and O Correio, that is a printed newspaper.

How do this media portrait the Bacaba community?

Well, first, they change the school’s principal. Then a coordinator came, and she wanted to change

the school image. The school passed through bad times, when to study there was a bad thing. She really

wanted to change this and she started doing projects and activities inside the school, and she invited the

media to film them. This action helped in change the image, mostly because of the TVs. The president (of

neighborhood association) also helped because he used the media to divulge the meetings and his work. He

created a website to the neighborhood association, what helps to expand the work here.

How do these media and opinion leaders act along the community?

We can say that the community “slept” for some time. To “wake it up” he used a sound car to inform about

the meetings. He also made invitations and sent messages, but the sound car was what he used more. When

the meeting was at night, he drove the sound car in the afternoon through the neighborhood to reinforce the

invitation.

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Do you want to add something about what we talked?

The Agostinho Neves Municipal School developed the projects that the Brasil Solidario Institute

proposed, in a very good way due to the unity among the teachers. Each teacher took care of one distinct

group: the environment group, the digital workshop group, the dental group about brushing. The division of

these activities brought better results to us. At the photography group, we had students that got a job due to

the workshop. As you can see, sometimes the school is not only a place to get information but also a place to

prepare the students for life and the project showed this school role. Sometimes when you teach, you only

teach and there is nothing further. Moreover, with these projects, I can say by myself, you get closer to the

students; you have a better interaction with then. The students in the afternoon classes, they want to talk

about the projects and they male questions, they are involved, so there is a bigger communication than the

traditional work, it is not only content, exams. Even their in behavior you can see changes. Let us get better,

how can we have a better behavior? The school grew with this partnership with IBS, had improvements and

much more work to do both the teacher, as for the coordination and by students.

Interview with Wadson Oliveira Silva - Rádio Nativa speaker.

What do you do here, on the radio? Are you paid?

I work on the radio a long time. I work as speaker and I know something about computer too…

How does the radio work?

There is an executive, a person who deals with concerts, local festivals, and local events in the city,

that supports the radio. It has, also, the support of a young entrepreneur who has a company called Clube da

Viola (Guitar Club). The radio represents this company.

Is the radio legalized?

No. When the police come, we need to hide it.

How does the community participate in the radio?

They have a good participation, the radio is well accepted, and the people like it. People here love

radio.

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How is the participation of Bacaba district?

People like, they listen to us a lot, and they participate by phone. They call asking songs and they like

to send messages to their fellows and to the listeners.

What is the radio programming?

Our prime time happens in the morning, which is essential for news and stuff. For those who are at

home, they enjoy listening to stories, these things of day-to-day lives.

Where does the news come from?

They are from the town. We go to the stores, to trades, to enterprises and we broadcast the sales. And

there is something about the local police, we go to police headquarters to see what is happening there…

How many workers are here, in the radio?

The radio has three workers because it is still new.

What does each one do here?

I am the speaker and I do the equipment maintaining. The others do the programming, deals with the

sponsorship area. He is the commercial seller.

Is there a programming focusing the Bacaba district?

No, there is not, because we did not do it yet, but we are planning.

Do you announce the facts that occur in Bacaba?

Yes, that what is we do more here.

What kind of music is the most popular played on the radio?

Well we play forro and country music, people here really like country.

Do you divide the programming in different styles?

Well, the programming has more music and entertainment, and we talk about celebrities’ world.

Interview with Carmegildo Xavier da Silva - Rádio Cultura FM - 96,3

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What do you do in the station?

I am the speaker and the director of the station.

What are the hours of operation of the radio?

We are on air 18 hours daily, from 6:00 am till midnight, including on Saturdays and Sundays.

How often do you announce the facts that happen in Bacaba district?

We have daily participation from Bacaba. Just to you to know, I am building my house there, I am

moving to Bacaba.

How is the Bacaba residents’ participation?

They participate by calling, mostly on Sundays. We have a prime time from 08:00 am to noon and we

have too many listeners from the whole city.

How the listeners that call the station participate?

They ask for music, we do a public utility service, interviews, information, news, we do all.

Have you ever interviewed a Bacaba resident?

Yes. We have plenty participations from Bacaba. Even the president of the neighborhood association,

Gilson, participates monthly in our programming, talking about the projects he brought to the community and

we have many listeners daily in live participations. They already came to our studio to a live participation,

then we have a strong interaction with the people from Bacaba.

Interview with Xavier Fiali de Souza – Sound Car.

What do you do in your work?

We do the driving area of publicity; we convey advertising through sound car, on all the streets and

neighborhoods. I do the recording and I conduct it from my own car.

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How do you do the recordings?

I do the recordings in a Studio. We have a whole studio with desk, microphone, and locution cabin.

We have, also, the sound editing programs so we edit the commercial to play in the sound car.

What do you announce more?

We announce everything, from sales to events. It is it, sales and events.

Have you ever worked on Bacaba district?

We do not go very often to bacaba due to the streets poor conditions. You know, they are poorly

preserved; there is there a series of impassable streets. It complicates the access of people to the

neighborhood. However, we have already made some announcements and events there.

What is your work routine?

Our routine is divulgation. We went out during 8 hours daily to work. We do it from 08:00am to noon

and from 2:00pm to 6:00pm. It is what we can do. On the weekend, we work only on Saturday in the

morning and Sunday we do not work.

Interview with Luis Barbosa de Sousa – Member of the Neighborhood Association of Bacaba

district residents.

For how long have you been living in Bacaba district?

I have been living here for 15 years.

Where do you work, sir?

I work in construction. I am a mason.

What did change in the neighborhood, during this time?

In my opinion, the only thing that changed here was that the neighborhood grew. The single benefit

we have here in this district is the school.

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The organization that you have today with the residents' association, did it that already exist when

you moved here?

The thing is that I already was living here before the association. The president took charge of

everything and then, he ended up with everything there, we already had bricks we already have everything

and then ended, he sold the land, he sold the bricks, everything, and it just ended! Then, here we did not have

anyone, but they decided to renovate the association, they want to bring back what it was, but it was not

possible, then it did not have proceedings, nothing more…then with much hard work I brought a minute

book from the older association and we did a small election. Then we voted Gilson and then we are fighting,

you know, to see what happens, what we can do.

Interview with Reni Jorge Grampes - Member of the Neighborhood Association of Bacaba

district residents.

What is your profession?

Today I am a teacher and I am getting my full professor degree. I have, also, a position in the

Secretary of Environment as the selective collection project’s coordinator that they will implant here in

Balsas. We are one of the first cities to have it.

What do you teach?

I am a geographer, look, how curious it is. As I had spoken, I have 35 years. I had the seventh grade,

I worked as a farm manager, and monoculture here in southern Maranhao gives a lot of money. I gained a lot

of money when I started. I came to get knowledge, I had 35 years with the seventh grade, now I am 45 and I

am getting my degree to full professor. I went through many difficulties, including even some days I do not

have 10 cents to get a Xerox and people kept offering me service 2,500, 3,000 reais a month and I did not

want to go with then because I was here to study. Today I have higher education.

How does the neighborhood association work?

Here is the thing about the community: I came from Rio Grande do Sul to Maranhao 23 years ago.

The people here, as you can see, are very humble. As time passes by, they are growing and updating

themselves and we need more volunteers, people like the IBS team and the people from the association.

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The Bacaba district influences our city and causes great anxiety due to the actions it does, and the

claims it makes. Today the neighborhood association is a reality and we have a hard worker president, who

integrated a multi-sport association and a football team association. Another association is been opened,

which will be the cultural and social association warrior of child, whose coordination will be on my account

together with an local artist called the Alni. Honest people will make the corporation and the association, you

know, lawyers, economists, planning something that will be transparent for the community. We are pleading,

we already have a vote for the wall and we will begin the construction of our long-awaited office. You know,

in the future, when you come here from Sao Paulo… I even want to build one or two rooms inside the

association to receive artists, people who come from other places, you know, to stay closer to the community,

inside de community… if you come to study the community, you stay inside the community.

Which was your participation in the Brasil Solidario Institute actions in Agostinho Neves School?

I attended and I found it very interesting. The library deploying was a wonderful thing. At the

forestation part, people here also learned a lot from this project of Brasil Solidario and a few days ago, they

put these trashcans, since we are working in environmental education, it came at a good time, and this is

being highly praised by the people here in the community. All this reflected in the city as a whole, the change

in students' habit in school, due to the vegetable garden, vegetable garden, and the forestation. The school is

participating through an agreement with Brazil Solidario, in presentations, parades, spreading the name of the

project, giving to it and to the students, credibility; increasing the students’ self-esteem.

What was your role in this work?

My participation was as follows, they invited me, and I have a job in capoeira. The first time I took

part was when people from Brasil Solidario came here at Agostinho Neves School, my job was weak due to

the lack of condition I had at the time. I already had up to 180 students, 180 children and teenagers, and then

dropped to 30 students. I had stop working in other neighborhoods. I work in five districts of the city, but I

had to close and stay only in the Bacaba neighborhood, to focus on people in the Bacaba district. Then I

found the team of the Brasil Solidario, they gave me much encouragement and it seems that it gave me an

inner strength to work. The next time they came here with the project, I was stronger, I already had 60

students or so, even the Brasil Solidario commander congratulated me because I was presenting attractions, I

was showing attractions that was more sophisticated. Here there is no lack of artist child, there is not lacking

here in Maranhao. It is amazing the creativity that children have they just miss an opportunity. We often talk

about needy child. Needy child in quotes, it has several meanings, here in Maranhao, we have no child in

need of food we have children in need of knowledge, right? Everything that you pass to a child, she learns.

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Then, the group gained a cultural dimension with large cultural presentations’ diversity of and we started to

look for a pedagogue. Today the group has a pedagogue and an artistic coordinator, who is the Almir. Now

we do presentations of makulelê, samba, capoeira, ribbon dance, pulled of net, a multitude of cultural

performances. This means that the Cultural and Social Group Warrior of Child gained a dimension such that,

if someone invites the group to make a presentation, depending on the festivity, we already have the right

presentation to take, right? Moreover, we gained a lot of credibility, including last week we did a presentation

at a local college and next Tuesday we will do a presentation at APAE (Mentally Handcapped Parents and

Friends’ Association), seeking for integration. Everybody liked us, right? We are hoping Brazil Solidario to

invest in another neighborhood here in town, because Balsas is very large and there are few projects of this

nature. Here we have no projects of this nature, only the people who come from outside to do a project of

this nature.

Interview with Gilson Pereira Botelho. – President of the Neighborhood Association Bacaba District.

What is your job at the neighborhood association?

I am here in the neighborhood association, I am working as a Parliamentary Assistant to a council

member, and I am president of the Neighborhood association of residents of Bacaba district.

How do you organize the association meetings?

We meet every month on the second Saturday of each month. When we need to call the community,

we use the media, radio and television, we also use sound car. We use letter that we place at the health center

and at school, places where many people gather.

How do you use the media in town to promote the neighborhood events?

It is not important if I or any other member from association goes in person. We do a letter in

association’s name, we have an entire organization and doing this, we always have a fantastic support from

TV Rio Balsas e from all media here in the city. We use a sound car for which we pay R$ 25, 00 for one-hour

drive, all the meetings we do with the authorities and the residents are as it was in the today's meeting. Today

the main goal was the residents. We use the media or the sound car because it is very large district and we

cannot go to each house to inform about the meeting.

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Do you interact with the community besides the meetings?

Yes. For example, when we need to do a a need for a special meeting, we convene the residents, and

we operates in partnership with the Agostinho Neves School. Here with Jorge, almost every day we have a

contact with his cultural group of the child, that they are playing capoeira or the dance of the ribbon, with the

makulele or with other cultural presentations. We also have a very large contact with children and young

people from the district because of the football, which is a thing that is going so right; we have a large

number of children participating on what we need, maybe, is support, financial support, which is very

difficult sometimes. We have so many things we wish to develop! I try to make contact with churches,

evangelical church, Catholic Church, traders, bar owners; I try to involve them all. We are talk with the fourth

battalion of military police because we have a community police project and we want the Bacaba

neighborhood be contemplated. The battalion commander has already informed us that it is going to happen

when the neighborhood organized itself to receive it.

How does the partnership with the school work?

The partnership is the support between Agostinho Neves School and the association. Now we are

organizing the garden, the communitarian garden was a Brasil Solidario initiative, and we went for it, come

on, let’s help, we will try to help what is missing, let’s help them in their needs. For example, we did a

cultural evening, the first one in Bacaba District, and we had the support of Agostinho Neves School, the

facilities, the electric power, the support, the school director was there. In short, everything we need, they are

there for us, and vice versa.

How the residents Interact with you?

The association is one year old, one year that we reactivated it, and they do not use to call me, they

do not came to me to complain; I saw them in the neighborhood, almost every day I'm visiting, I'm working

on trees, I'm watering with them, I am following the boys that are playing ball. Sometimes they came to tell

us that the street is without lighting, about the need to improve infrastructure, to cover the roles; that the

mayor does nothing and the council do nothing, you know, that claim about the politicians. I try to educate

them that there is an association, an association concerned, that there are caring people, people who want to

offer, who has something to offer and that they need to participate in our meetings, because together we can

change the reality in our district, and in our town as a whole.

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What was your role in the Brasil Solidario projects?

I became acquainted with through the school’s principal. I liked the projects they submitted to us, to

the students of the school and to the community in general. I tried to approach, to help if they need me; it is a

very good thing. We had the Brasil Solidario Institute support who donated the trashcans and there is a

possibility that they donate a communitarian kitchen to Bacaba district. The team of Brasil Solidario told us

that they are interested in helping. This communitarian kitchen will benefit the needy women of our

neighborhood. They are going to have classes to get better in the cooking. Here in Balsas the community

actions are very precarious so this will really help us. We also have trees that were also a very good project of

Brasil Solidario. We found it interesting and extend into our neighborhood; the Bacaba district is all wooded.

What was your role in these projects?

Actually, I participated in the second time the IBS came here to Bacaba. Eliane, the principal, invited me

and I got closer to the boys who work in Brasil Solidario. I started talking with them about the

possibility of, per example, the forestation, and how they could help us; we from the neighborhood

association. I did a list with some projects that we intend to develop here, for the residents, e we give the

list to them. To our surprise, Luis contacted us, authorizing 10 trashcans and a communitarian kitchen,

which depends only on the place we chose to install it. This was my participation.

How was your election for President of the association?

The neighborhood association of Bacaba residents is here since 1993 and it worked until 2002. From

2002 until 2008, it stayed closed. It brought some concerns to the residents, because they thought the

association should be reactivated. They invited me to participate in some meetings and I, in the first moment,

did not wish to become president or run for it, but then I start to have second thoughts and I applied, and they

chose me, voted for me. It was one year ago and I still have two more years in the association. There were

200 residents voting and I had 150 votes.

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Interview with Naura Sousa - Member of the Neighborhood Association of Bacaba district

residents.

What is your profession?

Well, I have held various jobs, I have been an administrative assistant, secretary, telephone operator and

today I am a volunteer in the neighborhood and work with children aged seven to 15 working in

football. And with the Gilson too, I am his assistant, also working with teenage children and the elderly.

Whenever I try to bring classes here, I brought plastic bottle, two cooking classes, crocheting, trying to

help in any possible way.

How long have you been lived here?

It will make seven years that I am living in the neighborhood, but I came here when I was 16 years, I

am not from here, I am from Rio Grande do Sul, did 48 years on last I now Aug. 11, but I like the Maranhao,

I love Maranhao and I am always trying to help.

What was your participation in the Brasil Solidario projects?

I was walking on the neighborhood, helping an old lady who was sick, she asked me for help, and I

went to take her urgently to Balsas. When I came back, I saw a Casas Bahia’s (very popular store in Brazil)

car and I always wished this store came to here. Then I arrived at school and I saw that movement and as I

know Eliane and Claudia, I looked for them to know what was happening and they told me that it was the

Brasil Solidario Institute. I asked them if I could help with something and they asked me what I wanted to

do. I work with decor, I work with my sister-in-law who makes ornament, parties, and I do the decorating. I

participated with the psychologist, I had an appointment with her, and I really enjoyed it.

Are you still working in these projects today?

I attended the second time, I helped with the decoration work, including the work with plastic bottle

that we do here, I participated in the 13 days of celebration in the environment secretary, where I am also

developing volunteer work, asking for business stuff for people to recycle it and improve the life quality for

residents.

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Which changes have you noted in the neighborhood in the last years?

It was a big change, when I met Gilson it was over a year I did volunteer work with women, children

and teenagers by myself, then he invited me to join the association, he said to me ‘you will be my assistant’.

So all the work that we did, the campaign for cleaning, planting trees, trashcans, all this work, the classes that

came here, the lectures, all I helped to organize. They called me to be the children football team’s secretary;

today we already have a team, two balls and I am also helping Jorge with the boys, the children and teenagers

in the Warrior of Child.

Interview with Juarez Júnior da Silva Oliveira - TV Açucena Producer.

What shows do you do, here in Balsas?

We have a regional program, since Balsas is a city different from others in the country because here

we have immigrants, the soybean polymer, the savanna, and it brought people from south, southeast, central-

west. Those who practice top farming today in Brazil are in Balsas. Therefore, we focus our programming to

those people, Maranhao borne and immigrants who are coming. We have the news program, Balsas Now that

faces local reality and Seriously Speaking. We have programs designed to people from Rio Grande do Sul

such as Estancia Gaucha and Galpao da Estancia and our rebroadcasting has another one called Alma Gaucha

that is a program focused exclusively on the gauchos traditions.

How long is the regional daily schedule?

2 hours daily, available on the network at different times from Monday to Friday, on the weekend we have

shows as the Alma Gaucha.

What is the focus of the news?

The focus is on the facts of the day, law enforcement issues, administrative, the day-to-day life in the city.

Balsas is today a typical urban city, it has now about 100,000 inhabitants and 90 percent of them live within

the city. The news is about the center and its neighborhood, specifically directed to the city.

How do you portrait the Bacaba district in the regional programming?

The neighborhood has its own peculiarities, as it is almost out of the urban area and closer to a more

advance periphery, this is a problem of day-to-day life, of the society itself, the poorest community, the

humblest, suffering. There is there a lack of water and health, drugs, the traffic, drug den. The local station

cannot turn its back, it has to participate in the day-to-day, be present, and be there. When the police do

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arrests, the television must show this reality. The Bacaba is part of this type of news, unfortunately

unpleasant. It is prison; it is murder

Do the Bacaba residents use to participate in the programming in some other way?

The participation on telephone is strong and we have the physical presence of television on the

neighborhood. They always come here; the TV Açucena is a very popular station. The facility a person has in

reaching communication and information is important, the station has always been open to the public, both in

Bacaba as in other neighborhoods, has always had such support and the affection.

How many employees are there in the station?

There are seven. We had a reduction and now we have seven.

How old is the station?

We have been here, in Balsas, for 20 years. Before it, it was the SBT station. There were a change

when Councilor Lobao took over 10 years ago; he took the signal of who did not support him politically. The

TV Açucena lost its signal to go national. Then there was a communication between the TV Record and TV

Açucena and TV Record saw the opportunity to expand its signal. We are a retransmission station but are

also important for national Record.

How long have you been working here?

I worked here for 8 years and now I am coming back.

Interview with Raimundo Nonato Cardoso Nogueira - Host - TV Capital

What is your job in the station?

I am host, reporter and director of journalism.

What shows do you produce here in Balsas?

TV Capital is the youngest station of Balsas and we are an affiliated station to Rede TV Network. We

are a station of Rocha Group of Communication and we have many local programming. We are the station

with the large number of local shows in Balsas city.

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Rede TV is a wonderful place to work. It gives us space to create and we produce here the Balsas

Daily, which is daily news, done with communitarian journalism, 24 hours calling. It is very dynamic where

people can tell their stories. It begins at noon and runs until one fifteen, Monday through Friday, and on

Tuesday, we have a show called Citizen Tuesday, which is a space that helps people from low-income

families who have lack of access to health, for example, families of the humble neighborhoods, who have to

travel to be in a hospital. We can raise funds through the aid of people who are at home, we collects this

money to provide support for families to stay in, buy the drugs, take exams, because sometimes they arrive at

the capital and will face the SUS (United Health System) queue, and sometimes they cannot afford all this.

We have succeeded in save many lives here in Balsas, we have the community journalism through this

Tuesday Citizen, which is a fund of social support and Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we have

the Balsas Daily.

On Saturday, we have a show called Women that talks about fashion, the city, parties and festivals,

showing the social side of the city and talks about the women life. Next, we have the show Talentos (Talents)

that begins at 11 o´clock, gives opportunity to people shows their talents in dance, music, poetry, and

handcrafts. It is the most-watched TV program in Balsas. I use to play saying that if there were a national

prize, this would be, in scale, the most-watched show in Brazil, because for each ten televisions you see,

eight or 9 are in our show. You can visit the city, go to each home and the thing you will listen to will be my

and the performers’ voice because people identify themselves with the show. We have local performers,

accordion players and we bring great performers from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. I t is a reference of

cultural program, we emphasized theatrical too, and on Sunday, we have the Alma Gaucha program, which

airs from 11am to noon. A program that makes a cultural exchange with Rio Grande do Sul. I really admire

the gaucho people; they arrived on Balsas in the late 70s, came here to plant, cultivate, and have implemented

mechanized farming and through them, Balsas has grown. They brought their culture to here; I always say we

have to follow the example of Maranhao, because a people without culture are a people without roots, a

people without a home. Rio Grande do Sul have Gauchos Traditions Center, called Getulio Vargas Center,

where they cultivate their culture, and still have the program Alma Gaucha that displays the riograndense

culture, so on Sunday, the Gauchos are here to connect the TV to kill the nostalgia.

How old is TV Capital?

TV Capital is being here in Balsas for many years, but the local programming will make three years

on February 10, 2010.

How many people do work in TV Capital?

We are 13, we have two editors who are also filmmakers, we have two cameramen who are also

drivers, editors and reporters, I have to present, I do the writing and external, and we have Eduardo Passos

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who does external and is a host. Three people work in machine control, air the programming including

commercials, a person to airs local programming, and have three secretaries.

How does the Bacaba District participate in the programming?

The Bacaba district has a large participation in our shows. They have dance and music groups

presenting themselves at Talent show, the performers who we reveal through talent show, we have

community journalists that go to Bacaba to present the communitarian garden and people who do interesting

stuffs, as a girl they have there who works with crafts, we show all this. Bacaba is a neighborhood that we are

always in contact, because the TV Capital has a differential, we are a public concession and here we serve the

people. We do an accurate journalism, here we hear the people, and the people have opportunities here.

Sometimes they have a missing person, we are the first station they seek, because we will be recording,

showing and we will always have a return. Until the missing pets that we disclose here we find, then it is a

different kind of TV.

Interview with Clarindo de Sousa Gomes – Police Officer

What do you do for living?

I am a soldier in the Military Police; I have been a Police officer for 17 years and I do a drugs

prevention work that is international called PROERD, Educational program for drugs resistance.

Do you live in Bacaba district?

Yes, I do, I live in a neighborhood inside Bacaba district called New Cohab, but it is the same

community.

How do you act in the community?

We do mostly a citizenship work. We live here, we believe in the district potential and we work to

awareness our youth. Because we have a huge contact with Agostinho Neves School, we work inside the

fourth and sixth grades’ classrooms, doing an extra work with lectures, dynamics, and workshops. We do any

kind of activity to help the citizenship in our community, mostly for the youth in Bacaba.

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Do you do any another work in the community?

Yes. I am in a gospel church, which is a strong community in our city; they work with citizenship

too, but in a different way, with young adults and elders and I work in this area for the church. In addition to

this I work in another neighborhoods and in a small village called Geli. There, in Geli, we do a prevention

work and we try to act in the same way we do in Agostinho Neves School, with lectures, dynamics and in

any kind of activity involving the young.

How do you think the media portray the Bacaba district?

Here in Balsas we are a little suspicious to talk about that because we participate in the community

and in other areas, but everything we ask to media, when the school asks them because there are some

events, the media come. So, in my opinion, I see it in a good way.

What was your participation in the Brasil Solidario actions in Agostinho Neves School?

I was there during all action. I can even talk about the school before and after the IBS. I attended some

workshops, attended lectures where we had classes with people who portray situations such as the

environment, recycling, I put into practice a recycling I've learned to make a kind of liquid soap, so I was at

school, not been in every day but every time they came I was in school.

Interview with Josivam Pereira de Sá - Rádio Cidade Speaker

What do you do in the radio?

I am a speaker in a musical and public utility show. We play mainly country music, which

is what people like here. In the public utility part, we announce lost documents and regional news.

The radio here does not extend very far, is more for the city to the suburbs and some farms around

here.

How do you do the advertisement on the radio?

We do ads for people who want to send a hug or a hello to a farm or ranch such ... Bom

Jesus ranch, Nossa Senhora da Aparecida, Guiomar Rocha. We also do ads for stores.

Do the Bacaba residents participate on the radio?

Yes, they do. They call here to ask for music, to send a message from a area to another, to

some far neighborhood. We sent the messages, we dedicate songs; it is like a musical fun.

Is the radio community?

Yes, community. Only for us here.

Interview with Talita Moura - TV Rio Balsas Journalism Producer.

How does the regional programming works in TV Rio Balsas?

We have almost one hour of local programming. Balsas has something about 83,000

inhabitants; it is not a big city, where things happen all the times so we have to prepare the subjects

to airs them. We choose a subject and find a person, an expert in the matter. The major difficulty

we have is exactly about the produced matter because cannot count only with big factual because

they do not happen every day in the city. To make 40-45 of news report is very complicated for a

town like Balsas, but it works. Every day we accomplish to close the time; a frame of time is how

we call it. A split of second makes a difference. We seek alternatives to be filling this time, and

cover Balsas only with local programming, not having to put matters from another station on our

TV. What matters to people here, are the news from Balsas and the region. We produce shows, we

values the local performers with the frame Highlights of the Week. To do interviews with band

from outside is cool, but we also appreciate what is ours, there is the issue of career and everything

else, then it is a form of fill the time and appreciate what is from here.

What is the local programming?

We have two editions of RBTV. The second one is shorter, something between 17-20

minutes long. We can say that the RBTV second edition is a summary of the first edition. The main

matter of the first edition goes to the second edition. In the first block we have fresh news and

matters we produce during the day.

What are the days and times of the programs Rio Balsas produce?

Our programming is Monday through Saturday, noon to noon and a half and at night is from 7

hours to 07:17-07:20, twenty minutes or so of news on the second edition.

How many people do work here in TV Rio Balsas?

There are 45 employees; in journalism, I think they have a 20, cinematographers, editors,

reporters, presenters, producers and me, the coordinator.

How many times is the Bacaba district in the news?

We prioritize what happens in the neighborhood and I can say that the Bacaba District is

an active region in the city due of the residents association. The association and the residents, they

are always gathering, demanding improvements to the neighborhood and it is a place that is still a

bit away from downtown, we also prioritize this, because it is news and also a way to encourage

other districts to claim their rights, the issue of sanitation, lighting, which are the basic rights of

any person. They have this desire to promote lectures, information for residents in partnership with

the environmental secretary, secretary of health; finally, the Bacaba district is very active in this

sense. Then, when they appear here on the station, the President or any member of the association

says that we are already bored of their faces, but they will do something in this day and wanted our

presence. Obviously, since we are always looking for new and that is of relevance to society, we

will be there.

Do they come to announce the events?

In most cases yes, because there is a freedom for people give suggestions, come up here,

call, we also have a weekly and daily schedule to accomplish, for example, on Monday, what does

the production do? We do a search in hospitals, police stations, in the neighborhood association

and union to know what is happening in the city, and what will happen during the week, because

we will cover the events. Because they know the station is open for it to inform people and always

cover of events, they now announce it in advance, because our schedule is this: Tomorrow I

program today, so they have to be careful to always be telling us about the today events and about

events that they will promote, in advance. We put it in our programming and do the cover.

Interview with Fabrício Andrade - TV Liberdade Editor

How many people do work here in the station?

Our station is a small one; we have about 12 employees, from caretaker to the host.

How does the local programming work?

Our local programming, from Monday to Friday we have a local news, noon to 1:15, we

discusses several issues that happen in the community and also some notes that are relevant to the

national level, this is our programming on TV Liberdade. The broadcaster, we are a repeater of the

diffuser, we always accompanies the diffuser programming, from eight to noon we have

entertaining, and after the Liberdade News we have the Ze Cirilo show. Then we follow the normal

schedule of SBT. This is from Monday to Friday, because on Saturday we have a local sport show

that is with a host who works with us. After that, we have a program called Life and Health, from a

local producer. Next, we have the Rural Balsas from a producer that makes matters on rural theme

as farming, plantation, and livestock.

How old is the station?

We started with radio in 1998, Radio Liberdade, which lasted until 2005. The television

has come in 2002, and then since 2002 we are with the TV. We begin with TV Bandeirantes, then

we went to SBT. We stay about 2 years with TV Bandeirantes and after this time, we got the

concession to rebroadcast the SBT diffuser from the capital.

What is the focus of the programming?

We have a bit of everything in most cases we talk about the neighborhoods because today

is there in the suburbs where we find more violence, poverty and this is what we focus.

How does the Bacaba district participate in the TV Liberdade programming?

There are few people interested in this kind of matter, and always, when there are subjects

that are important to Bacaba district, they come here and participate. Bacaba is one of the districts

that always call us to make a report, to participate, to cover. The district is always participating

here.

Interview with Joao Batista Rodrigues Araujo – Radio and TV Boa Noticia Director

Which station do you rebroadcast?

The TV Rede Vida here is the channel 13 that we call TV Boa Noticia due to the radio

station that has the same name but it is TV Rede Vida. It is a religious station connected to

Catholic Church. Radio Boa Noticia is a fancy name, the company name is Brasil de Balsas

Foundation, which is an entity linked to the diocese of Balsas. Both TV and Radio have a close

link with the Diocese.

Is there some funding from the Italian government?

On the issue of financing of the Italian government, the priest who work, struggled,

dreamed of the ideal of creating a radio, get the concession for an AM radio for our Diocese, for

the church, he is Italian, so that needed resources and money. Through his friends in Italy, through

an entity, a nonprofit foundation, an organization called GAL, he got the Italian government to

finance the first three years of operation and the construction of the Radio Boa Noticia. The

Diocese of Balsas came in with a counterpart of 50 percent and the other part of the Italian

government we used to buy equipment, buildings and pay the employees for at least a year. We are

now completing five years of operation; this support was for the first three years. It has helped to

start and then we raised money through here. So was the Italian government, through a foundation,

who gave that money, that money to help the Diocese in the deployment of a radio. We are very

grateful to the Italian government and to that organization, GAL, because if they had not given us

the financial help we would not have achieved get into operation, or perhaps not had the

concession of the Radio Boa Nova.

Did Boa Noticia started as a Radio and then became a TV?

We had the concession for television long before, only that there was resistance to not

operating. I even told the bishop at the time, Don Franco Macerdoti, we should put into operation

even it was a little time, because we do not know about tomorrow, we could need a TV channel

and not have it so it was better to take the concession. The station started to work and with and

getting in touch with the national presidency of Rede Vida, we obtained two programs. We have

much more time, but we used only two times. We use about 45 minutes in the middle of the day

with religious training and local news, sometimes not only local news as some informative

material, in health, education, human rights, child, adolescent, medicine, we work hard this area of

education, because we care about the training of people, valuation of people, human dignity.

Another time is in late afternoon, about 6:00pm, we repeat what we have been at noon and have a

certain audience because our work is an independent work, we do not depend on funding from

politicians, executives and because of that, we do a job as we think we have to do because we are

independent. We are even known here in town like the only one channel that is independent of

external control and that cares about the human, the question of social, socio-political and also

religious, that we do not fear to say what should be said, do notices and complaints. Especially in

the social and political we are very criticized, but we have to understand that it is part of our

mission, because political critique and tell the truth is not always very well accepted

Tell me about the Radio Boa Noticia work.

The radio has five years, TV has one year less, and we are already preparing for the

festivities of September 11. We are in the fifth year and it is a radio with a very large audience, it is

not FM, it is AM, is educational and ran with 100 kW during the day. In the night, we put in a

much smaller device, only 25 kW that is what we have authorization from the ministry of

communications to use. The Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) supervises us. Our

audience is very large, not only in Balsas, but in all neighboring counties. We also reached at Piaui,

Tocantins, Para, and when the wave escapes, we reached at Bahia, at some regions of Minas Gerais

and Goias But our audience is very large in Maranhao, all of southern Maranhao, even coming out

from the south, the area of Imperatriz, Para, and Maraba and in Tocantins. We have a huge

responsibility, because we reach a very large area. We also work in the educational field, not just

the religious issues; the religious issues are perhaps smaller, because we work very early in the

morning for just 45 minutes and in the evening from 6pm to seven, just an hour. All other

programming we dedicated to popular culture, to the regional issue, the issue of human

development, we are concerned, as I said before, about health, education, the right of children,

teenagers, women issue and so on.

Is this Schedule Monday through Friday?

The religious part is only on Sunday morning, by one hour. We do not have it in the

evening, because we have in our grade several unions, unions that were born here with us, as the

union of public servers it was born on his radio show. We have, also, the singers from here that

grew on this radio show, they began to sing at our microphones and were gaining ground and they

began to leave the city and the region. We work in defense of ecology, the environment, we have

the daily programming on alternative medicine, and we work with psychologists, dentists, doctors.

We have daily interviews to inform the people. We do not work only with the microphones in the

radio, but also work out. Our Diocese has a set of 17 parishes, so we worked out around this

region, forming popular speakers who see the reality in their cities and send to us the news and the

situation. They have a little recorder and they record the matters and send it to us. We work in

partnership with some agencies and some dioceses in the training of agents to social

transformation, especially socio-political and we work with adult literacy. In the first two years of

operation of the Radio, we had 19 classes in youth and adult literacy spread throughout the south

of Maranhao. Today, with our limited financial situation, because before we had the Italian

government, but still we have four literacy classes and we are adding a little more than 100 youth

and adults who are studying in the classroom. The Radio Boa Nova and the Brasil de Balsas

Foundation pay the monitors, chaperones, and teachers. I do the monitoring because I have

expertise in the area. I follow, pedagogically speaking, the classrooms, I guide and hear the

opinions of young people and adults. As you can see, our work is very extensive, we are not stuck

only at the microphone, even as we are an educational radio and feel responsibility as a Catholic

Church and educational radio, to not get stuck in the microphones and go beyond the limits of the

station buildings. I always say that our microphones have become mobile phone, the phone of our

people. You may notice, Monday to Sunday, the number of letters we received from the

countryside and neighboring cities, the number of calls to send a message. When something

happens in Balsas, someone comes here to pass the message. At the same time, the person who is

in the countryside, or in the nearby town, and has been listening to, the response is almost

immediate. Because there in the interior, people are on the farm with a small radio hanging on a

stick, are working on the farm but are with the radio on, in streams and ponds washing clothes, in

the kitchen, the women are there with the radio on. In a region such as ours, not so developed, the

Radio Boa Noticia is a blessing, especially for people in rural areas, you hear a song, have fun a

little, and have the information programming. It is a medium that serves as their mobile phone.

Through the small radio receiver they have there, they know what is happening here in the region,

nation and receive the messages that people send to them. I am here from the beginning. I have

come to the buildings, also came to help provide the documentation, both here and in Brasilia and I

feel very happy to provide a service that I am sure is being useful to people, so much so we have

an official or two daily, paid to deal with the letters and answer the calls of those people. Another

difficulty we have is our educational radio. We have no profit or financial, we have a group of 14

employees, with a formal contract, bonus, vacation, so maintaining it is not easy. In addition, we

have to maintain the whole structure. We have two buildings and the foundation pays, only for

electric power, three thousand reais monthly. Do you know how much is this? Three thousand reais

every month, just to pay for electric power. It is three thousand, three thousand two hundred, and

three thousand three hundred, medium. For the ECAD, which is kind of association of musicians,

singers, composers, like a union for regulating copyright, I paid R $ 512.60 every month to have

the right to play any music here. At the end of the month that payment is large enough, four

telephone lines and so on, keeping water bills, maintaining equipment, the maintenance of

buildings, conservation. The big challenge we have here at Balsas is the large group of illegal FM

radios. They are pirates, the level of programming they do, almost does not affect us, but

financially they hinder us enough, they pay nothing, who meets the rules and laws are we who

were legalized, they are not and do not pay any tax, any contribution, do not pay to Anatel. They

do not have legalized employees so the radios have almost no expenses. We, who are formalized,

we handle an entire expense and it is not easy, but with the help from friends we can remain

independent of political forces, regardless of someone who wants to interfere with our

independence and our programming. We worked until today regardless of any influence, any

power political, any politician, and any person who says we cannot talk about some subject.

Regardless of any person that says that we cannot say something, we are independent, so people

considered us as radio and television that tells the truth, no matter who it hurts. Because we have

no conditions for a self-support, we keep asking for help to friends in Italy, asking for help to

friends in Germany, a Catholic organization in Germany that helps to finance the religious

programming. Italy sometimes helps to finance the other programming, because otherwise how

will you pay on average 14 employees a salary and a half up, with the bonus, vacations and all

these taxes? We are now in fifth year and the testimonies of professionals in the health, safety,

legal, also the farmers, the union, they all say that it was, and remains, a blessing the Radio Boa

Nova be in this region, not only in Balsas. And we are here to serve the gospel, to serve the people

and especially in service of human question, of environmental issues, ecology, everything that

gives to people, to living been, a life with dignity. That is our concern, help humans and the

environment, live with dignity. We believe that it is useless to speak of religion if we do not seek

the valuation of people. Evangelizing is not just teaching the Bible, but is getting people to

conquer their dignity and live with dignity, or it will not make sense, because it is alienation and

we do not agree with alienation, however.

Are you here from the beginning?

Yes, I am. I have made the buildings, which was not easy. I had worked on Mangabeiras, a

nearby city that also has a community radio and whose documentation I got. The radio is there and

the radio is working. Then I came here precisely to help to implement this radio and to work,

searching for a Catholic university, but with the time, I was getting to the radio, while the other

classmates did part of the university and I was in the area of communication. It was not easy

because when I came I did not realize the extent of the work, only when I was here I realized the

size of responsibility, commitment, the challenge ahead of us, but I say from my heart that I am

happy, happy, happy, I feel really comfortable for being here, for the work I have done. I do not

work alone but with 14 employees and the foundation members. However, it was not easy. It is one

thing to work with FM and it is another thing with AM, it is very different, the devices are

different, structures, buildings, towers. A community FM have a tower of up to 30 feet tall, one of

our towers are 105 meters, when I was learning all this it was not easy, but then I got used to and

now we know how things work.

How the Bacaba residents participate in the programming?

They participate by phone; letter or they come here in person. The Bacaba District has a

major rural influence and we come from rural area. Those people have family in rural area and

they come here to send messages, to dedicate songs, warnings, to bring letters. Sometimes they do

not come in person but call; sometimes we go to Bacaba with radio and TV to cover some issue, to

listen to people vindication, to see infrastructural issue, health issues. There is not, in the town of

Balsas, a sector that we are not connected. We have a very, very strong with the town. The

president of the association of Bacaba came here a few times, our microphones also go to there,

then there is this exchange with both the district Bacaba as with the other districts, we have this

very close relationship through claims of social, socio-political, infrastructure, health, education,

ecology and cleaning. Sometimes someone wants to ask a song, wants to dedicate a song for to a

birthday, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, for mom or dad, send a message to the countryside and so on.

There is a strong connection not only with Bacaba, but also with other neighborhoods.

Interview with Luis Fernando Fogaça Neto - Correio de Balsas Journal.

How old is the newspaper?

We began the newspaper on April 2002.

How many pages does it have?

It has twelve pages, since the beginning.

What is the periodicity of the newspaper?

It is weekly, every Friday we have a new edition.

Does it have color pages?

The front and back covers are colorful, the internal mirror, which are the pages six and

seven, is colored.

Does the Bacaba community participate in the newspaper somehow?

The news about the Bacaba neighborhood are very sporadic

Interview with José Maria da Silva - Popular Balsense Journal CEO

How old is the newspaper and how is it distributed?

It has almost 10 years and 20 pages per edition. The front and back covers are colorful

besides the pages 10 and 11. It is printed on Imperatriz Printing. I sent the journal to Sao Luiz,

Brasilia and Baixada do Miarim, to Cocais area, Tocantins area.

What is the periodicity of the newspaper?

It is monthly, because I do not get subjects on the internet, I travel and I will get

personally. I leave with a team, a photojournalist, a news reporter, a driver and me. We travel

throughout the state, interviewing the mayor, secretary, authorities, because this newspaper is a

mainly a political journal, is a journal that publishes the work of the legislature, the executive. I

also have two or three pages to publicize the actions of military police in the whole state, the civil

police, the judiciary and prosecutors.

Does the Bacaba community participate in the newspaper somehow?

I received the president of the neighborhood association of Bacaba residents, he made us a

story and this whole matter will now come out in February. We have no one in Bacaba; he just

came to an interview to talk about the situation in the neighborhood, which was despised by the

public authority, according to what he told to JPB.

Do the neighborhoods always participate?

No. When we publish this matter, I will distribute the paper in some neighborhoods to

encourage other people to come to JPB to explain what the needs of their neighborhoods are.

Interview with Antônia Almeida Nunes – Bacaba district resident.

Can you tell me about the history of the neighborhood?

I have being lived here for 17 years. When I arrived the neighborhood was very much

smaller than today, it was very different. It grew so much and the number of inhabitants has

increased enormously. When we arrived, the number of participating people was smaller than

today, although we have few people to help the leaderships, we have more people participating. In

the past when we arrived before the celebration, people looked for a priest and if there was none

the leaved, but today they do not care about it. With or without a priest, they participate anyway.

What do you think about the neighborhood association performance?

They are always fighting, wanting to do something, talking, the boys of the association

always go for it, go ask the politicians, but so far no concrete work, because they are not yet

established, their meetings happens here at the community hall, because they do not have their

office yet.

How o you participate in the work in the neighborhood?

I do a little of everything in the community, liturgy, the oral part of baptism, and anything

that has within the community, what I can do, I do.

Interview with Luis Salvatore - Brasil Solidario Institute President.

How did this Project start?

Actually, since I can remember all the opportunity I had to travel, even with friends,

I wanted not only to go for travel itself, I wanted to know the local cultures; I wanted to live with

the communities. I did not know at the time, but I did two travels, one in 1995 and other in 1997,

that have a perfect match with what we do today. So, one of them was a 2 month and a half travel I

did with two friends to the coast of Bahia state. Our idea was not to travel and stay in hotels, it was

to trip for live with the communities of Bahia coast as a whole. During 2 and a halt month we stay

and live with all the communities we visited. Until then it was a hobby, but in this particular trip, I

became aware of my passion for this kind of work. After that, I did the same thing in Peru and

Bolivia. Again, I stayed two and a half month only travelling only with this idea of how the

communities live, what are their transportations, the houses, the places. I even went to work with

the locals. After this trip to Peru came this thing about diabetes. Therefore, actually, I kind wanted

to work with a different thing, even having some people against it that talk “the dude is doing this,

but it is only vacations, only tourism”. Actually, inside my head I had a conflict, because I wanted

to do that for living, not only for vacations. But in 1998-99 I realized I had diabetes and looked this

fact and told: ‘I do not want to have any kind of bad surprise in my life; life is too fragile, things

are too fragile; today we are unhappy, tomorrow suddenly we wake up with some disease, have an

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accident, die and what did you do with our lives?’. Then the things started. I called my sister and

proposed to her this project. I told her: ‘Look, Lica, I want to develop a work, I want to know the

Brazilian reality. I feel that people talk about Brazil but only a few really know Brazil.’ We have

many doctors, many intellectuals, many people who for one reason or another has become a

reference, that is important, but I realize that what they talk is not what the reality says. There is

much talk about the misery, there is much talk of poverty, and there is much talk of drought and I

want to see this a little bit closer. I want to know not just the people, but i want to rescue the

country oral history, I want to visit many places where something important to the history of the

country happened and find the family members of people who actually lived the history and hear

from them what happened and not only base myself on books. My sister agreed immediately and

we started to design a project called Trilha Brasil (Brazil Track) and that moment on I started

researching for identify a series of interesting places in Brazil to where we could go. At that time I

quit my job, I was almost a year without working, just holding myself with resources that I had

saved. I began to seek the ways to make this project succeed. Then I started to get close to other

researches and documentations that someone was doing, I approached other expeditions that were

going on to get a ride and learn the tricks, just to get some experience from people who has similar

experiences, similar stories with this kind of project to know the Brazilian people. In 2000, we did

a big trip. For one year, we stayed out of Sao Paulo. We were in three people, we drove almost

30,000 km in the Brazil’s backlands, mostly in Midwest, North and Northeast, and in this trip, we

actually knew what kind of problems Brazil has: education, health… We had not have yet the idea

for a social project although what we were doing was a social project, but in another sense, an

Anthropologic sense because we went to the communities, we knew people there, we hear the

stories and then this began to bring a very strong feeling for to work with them. Coincidentally we

visited schools, visited hospitals, health clinics but not with the idea that I would return there in the

future with an educational project, but with the idea that at some point we could use this

background information that we were taking with students, teachers, and communities to go back

to those places with some help. In 2001 when we returned to Sao Paulo and it is natural you be a

little lost in the financial sense, so we returned with the little money that had left from the

sponsorships we had. And we had to structure our future with that little money because at that

point we had no salary, but I wanted to use the money to continue the project. My sister had a

strong knowledge in the field of graphic design, I had taken a bunch of cool pictures, and we

realized that we could use all that in a commercial sense to earn money for we could continue with

the project work. Our idea was to extend the research through the country we was not thinking

about a social project but we could not do this. We tried with the same sponsors but it did not

happen because sponsorship is not easy to renew. Unfortunately, on that moment, we realize that

the sponsor that looks in your eyes and likes you this year is not the same sponsor with who you

will talk in the next year and that the new one does not have the same point of view and that there

is no plan in continuing the projects. Actually, it is a bit like a political part in Brazil, unfortunately.

In private companies, you have no idea if what you are planning will continue; your project

receives founds because someone likes you within the firm. It is not good, but unfortunately, it is

the reality of the country. Coincidentally, a team from Rally dos Sertoes (Backlands Rally) called

us to participate with them. I have three sisters and a friend of my other sister, who knew a little

about our history, needed to ave support to help him in the Rally. They were in five pilots that has

never participated, never travelled through Brazil and had no idea of what was going on in the

North of the country. They said to us ‘Well, you have much experience, you were a year off, know

quite a lot, why do not you come work in our team?’ Then, talking with Ana Elisa, we concluded

that it was our opportunity to came back to many communities we visited, but we did not want to

come back only for competitive goals, we did not want to come back inside a competition car. The

team proposal was that, but we did want come back bringing help. In this moment, the first big

social action took place. Until then, we had done only smaller social work. We realized the

possibility of exchange with the Brazilian people, exchange in order to do something for them and

they do something for you whether through photography, whether through knowledge. On this

moment, came the idea for actually to match education and a project with visibility because the

team already had a sponsorship with TAM, which is a big company. So we said ‘Look, we do not

want to come back there as pilots, we are going to design a social project that will put you in the

media, are you interested?’ We did it because we knew we could do a very cool project and the

only thing we did not have was the money to develop it. They returned positively, saying that they

had interest and then, we put some conditions about the goods we needed, we had no financial aid,

but there were material resources, which was what we needed to make the dream come true, the

dream of come back to each communities. We set up a distribution project, in fact, it was different

from what happens today, we deliverables books to schools along with complete school supplies to

all these schools, and that's how we came out in 2001 and the thing began to happen.

In how many cities did you work during this trip?

In fact, at that time the Sertoes was bigger, it had 14 or 15 days, not 10 days like today. I

am not sure of the data, but if I am not mistaken, we visited 14 cities. At that time it was not as you

know it today, it was a city at a time, we gave 3, 4 libraries per day, so we would actually stopped

not only in the last city, but in one or two along the way too. We had already made the mapping of

these schools and they were waiting for us coming there. We did it based on the data we gather in

2000.

Do you have an idea of how many books per city you delivered?

Dude, I do not have it in my mind but today we delivery something about 900 books per

city. At that time, I think maybe 200. Actually, it was very cool because we were nobody and today

we already have done something but we are still very small. Maybe someday we will be bigger but

at that time, we were nothing. At that time, when you knocked on a publisher door asking for a

book, they shut the door in your face and we had many doors shut in our faces. Therefore, the

solution we found was to call the schools in Sao Paulo and make campaigns to collect books,

where each student should give a book that had impressed his childhood. We gave many lectures to

these students and their teachers, the students donated the book and wrote a letter saying why they

were donating that particular book and how it had impressed their childhoods. With this action, we

collected 12,000 books. For the scholar supplies, we talked to Faber Castel and like a miracle; they

opened their doors to us. They liked the idea and they gave all the supplies we needed in that year.

Along with this, we had some small supports, the graphical part, TAM who financed the fuel,

accommodations, so we had the minimum cost granted. There were an assistance on publicity and

media, we formatted a very good thing, so that year we managed to do Fantastico* (a television

show from Globo Network Television with a high audience in Brazil) to come along with us.

These things made the Rally looks at us and say ‘Look, these guys are not kidding here, they are

doing real thing’.

Today the project has several areas. How was this transformation?

It is a natural consequence. Walter, who you know, today is who takes care of the

environmental area, was our co-driver in 2001. Actually besides my sister and me, he was the first

guy who came in is this work. What is interesting is that Walter always liked the environmental

area. So, he helped us distributing books, talking with the teachers, but he involved himself in a

personal way, just like you, I think. From this work, he decided he was going to college for

environmental management and he decided that we could work the environmental issue on this

project. Walter brought this area with recycling workshops and today we have the vegetable

garden, the assembly of plant nurseries, forestation, lessons planning, it is a much bigger thing. The

health area came from the Rally. They had tried to do a medical project that did not work. It was a

dental project trying to match dentistry with a mobile office, but it did not work because the people

who they call were not engaged in a social project, they just wanted to be with the Rally. They

realized that to develop a good program you need to have committed people. Back in 2001, they

came and said ‘you can go there and do it’, and we made a big project, they saw and said ‘there is a

serious thing happening here’. In 2002, they tried to make the medical project but it did not work

and they gave the institutional support. In 2003, we started to realize that what we were developing

was their project too, and then they incorporated a bugged and through the Rally, there would be a

medical program. They brought the concept that where the event goes, the project goes, it may

there is medical project, and, from this we have developed all actions, and you will grow, it begins

with a dentist, a doctor and a pediatrician because they are working in school. From this, we start

to develop a cardiology project and also begin to develop a project for microsurgery, pathology, in

fact, are consequences, which, year after year, we are bringing it. What is interesting in the medical

area is that this area has the participation of medical companies, which have many reasons to

support this kind of work not only for merchandising that is important, of course, they offer the

technology, they want to dialogue with me. ‘What do you want to take?’ “What can my company

do for you Project, in products terms? We help to expand the medical field in sense of development

the compact equipments we have today, which have the same quality level of an equipment in a

clinic and we can assembly them in 40 minutes inside the school. We realized and won these

challengers and if you would talk about it 10 years ago, someone would say that it is was

impossible, that this kind of medical care needed a very large truck to transport it. However, we

began to realize that it was not true, you do not need a large truck that because besides be clunky to

reach these places, it conflicts with the ideal of the work, which was we integrated ourselves in

their reality, and not they integrate in ours. We are who need to go inside the local reality to get a

transformation and never the reverse. They will get a kind of technology that many times they do

not have so all the human issues and every issue of structure need to be handle according to the

people reality, so they will not be afraid, will not feel intimidated with the work. We realized that

the education area that we did distributing book and school supplies was important, but could be

better. Then, we started to capacitate the teachers for working in storytelling, to optimizing the

scholar materials' content, for keeping those materials in use not only when they received it, but for

a long time after that. The dental project had several developments, mainly in the preventive area

and besides dentists, we became educator, and we begin to do lessons planning. The school creates

a brushing area to teach the student how important is to brush his teeth. To show him he can have a

health smile for whole life, and show how it is important. Parallel to this we kept bringing the

cultural areas we began to work with drama and from drama we moved to painting, design, one

idea leads to another and you will build a solid project as the one we have today. Finally we have

what we are doing this year that is the digital inclusion area, which is something very cool, and for

me it was a kind of rescue from what I can do, and that is why I was so happy with this project,

that I believe so much in it. Because photo and video are means of expression, we began to work to

only with that younger student but we also brought teenagers to the project, giving them an option

of job or leisure. The result we do not need to talk about, it is here.* We feel happy because by

intuition, and sometimes by our own knowledge, we are always ahead of something that

sometimes people who have more access, more financial resources can develop. I feel happy for

that.

How does the project of libraries and collecting books work in 2008?

In 2008, we have a much more mature Project because during these eight years we built a

relationship with the publishers and those publishers who said no to us before, today we can ask

for the books we need and they agree. We ask for expensive books, books that are top and they

donate. We are talking about five publishers that work with us and they fulfill our need of about

900 books, something mixed with donated books. This story donation endures, people know that if

they donate a book to us we will mix it with new books and bring to a solid library. Until 2007 we

taught the schools how to make the shelves, but this year through Bartira, we bring not only 900

books, we bring three models of shelves where the books can be placed in a easy way that allows

other work that is the cataloging. The cataloging is part of the models, which we work. We do not

want that the library be only for the school, we want the community participating in the school life,

including taking borrowed books. In many places we go to the school does not have a so equipped

library as ours and so we want that those books we put there circulate to other educators, but we

want to see these books coming out and coming back. For that, first, we do the cataloging by hand

and in the end of the second semester of this year some schools have computer and maybe we can

get computer for all them and along with this, we teach how to control the cataloging by computer.

Parallel to this you have the school supplies which we delivery for all the students. This material

content has a connection with the material in the library. At the first semester, the teachers receive

a kit that shows what is in the student’s material and how to use it during the year. In the second

visit, the student receives his kit and the teachers already know what is inside and how to use it. All

this has a connection with the library’s material. The material of the student has, at times, books

that talk about the same issues that we put in the library. Not only books and not only of literature,

you have references to the environmental issue, the issue of health, the cultural issue, the

photography itself. With this, we get the student who will receive school kits also pass as a user of

this library, already prepared by teachers for this purpose. For the second semester with the

delivery of computers, they will not be only library users but also will learn that the internet is a

tool for search knowledge about the subject they are reading. Another activity is the storytelling,

which is not only for the teachers, because along with the theater you have a puppet workshop that

is precisely to show techniques about how to transform the book they picked-up in artistic stories,

in tales, in poetry and in theatrical presentations. In addition, you have the storytelling itself that

consists in to pick up a story in a book and transform it in a presentation of one, two, or three

people to make the students understand that they can awake their imagination through reading. To

awake the imagination is to awake knowledge and to awake the vision that they can build a better

world not only in that community that we are helping but that if they migrate to another city, as

Sao Paulo for example, they do it with better qualifications.

What is the Magazine library?

The Abril Publisher is the biggest Publisher in the country and has a million of titles. I forgot to

say that we have extended the project not only by intent or by knowledge. We have extended it

because since the beginning we did assessments, and still do much better today, and in these

assessment we asked about what they want we bring to them, what items could be better, what we

can put in that community to improve their lives. One of the things they always asked for was the

magazines, because magazines have a more entertaining intent than the books. The book is not a

thing to be afraid of, but when the child gets the book she is afraid, afraid to crush, afraid of

tearing, you have to have a lot of care with the book, but you do not have to be afraid of it. The

magazine is a more informal thing and we went to Abril publisher justly, because we wanted not

only the books, we wanted to bring the magazines to be handling by students and teachers, to be

cut, and you cannot do these things with a book. You cannot cut a book to make an artistic project

and the magazine has offers this possibility. Therefore, since 2006 we began to take the magazine

library, which includes one year of the entire collection from the publisher excluding the Playboy

Magazine. We have magazines about nature, education, the whole collection for both children and

adults.

How do you choose the books?

We have access to the publisher entire catalogue and we choose from it. One of ours

professionals, Bruno, he helps in this area and we choose the books that are priority for that region.

We have a major action in the north and northeast, so, of course, we work the issue of the Amazon,

the issue of water of Sao Francisco River. We have tried to fit the annual themes of UNESCO. It

chooses, each year, a given topic, we try to fit the theme that they will work, by the teaching

project, in case, from the government's, which has an orientation of work, and then, with this, we

form these libraries. They also have what the people ask for. During the impact assessments, they

suggest some books and we see the viability of, in the next year, bringing these books to the new

libraries

The school staff works on the project the whole year, but the Institute stays for about 5

days every year in each city, so how is the work during this period?

This is the craziest! We ended up creating a way of working that we make in a short time...

Actually, the things happen, as follow: We choose a school together with the City department and

from this, we prepare the city by, at least, one month before our arrival. We maintain contact with

them by phone, by letters, by e-mail, preparing the school for our arrival. When we arrive, at least

theoretically, everything is prepared to the actions we will do. If you think about how many things

we can do in only five days, I really do not know how explain the amazing results we have. I only

know that it is real, we can change the life there in five days. And it really changes! We know it;

we have changed things for some years already. We outline each area so that it has a logical

beginning, a middle, which would be a deepening, but it will never have an end. The end is,

actually, a higher depth of knowledge that we passed on first and second visits and the end will

depend on the guys, will not have so, they'll do it for the rest of life. We format the things for

gaining their trust and get the commitment that this work will continue happening in our absence.

So the first step is to present what you are donating, you will not only present the project, you will

present the books you are giving them, show the shelf, shows the value of the collection and

presents the ideas. The only thing we want is the proper use of this material, and for this, the use

must to be through the cataloging and of course, we choose schools that will give a higher value

for this material. In 2000, we traveled and saw many schools without a library, and they

complained of how to teach, how to plan at school, if you do not have any material than the

didactic, so we also know that these schools need these collections. These collections are

expensive; we are talking about the big publisher in the country. Many books they often publish

books that the government does not buy and we do not have any conflict with the government

because we do it to complement. What delivery to these schools is the dream come true for any

school which is a literary collection that work not only for the teaches but the students from the

first to vestibular. After this, in a second time, you will check out what they are cataloging, make

the delivery of school kits, and make a deepening of storytelling. And in a third time, we

consolidated all the questions that eventually emerged, we check if all the work of cataloging was

done and those who receive computers will learn to do it on the digital part. So that is how this

area works.

How does the evaluation work?

We do not do it at the end; we do it during all time. We make an assessment in every visit

only a punctual one, about what is happening in that particular visit, but we also make an assess of

the group, the group's perception about what happened. We will consolidate this evaluation now at

the end of the work and we already have several impressions about each place, they are not equal,

each place has a different profile for us to work and is very cool we perceive these differences and

may lead ideas from one place to another. One question that I think is very cool in our computer

workshop is that through the blog they were able to learn for the first time the history of each other

and make a self-assessment. They can look at the other guy’s history and tell ‘Gee, but mine has 2

plots, the guys’ have 8, why?’ This is only the commitment of each place because the

implementation of the project is equal for everyone and you will get variations from a place to

another. More than we doing our assessment, it is interesting that we also allow the schools to self-

assess them all the time and be better. This is something that we now realize, for example this year;

we had a complicated school in Mossoro in the beginning and I am sure that we will get there and

be surprised. The schools bounce back. Sometimes they get confused but they always bounce back

and it is for real. Now, in this third step we officially give them a physical assessment that we do

six months after our visit. I deliver the document along with my talk of closing, and show them

that at the end of next semester, in May or June, they will have to send us a report showing

everything they are doing, what they have expanded and what that, eventually, for some reason,

has not happened yet. In addition, we have relationships with each of these places and they have no

end. Some schools have projects today or a year, two years after we were there, and we will

finance these projects for each one of these places. We had the project of bike, from that rider * and

they are sending the reports to here, I need to show you, but you need to see how cool it is! Then

you will see the difference in each one, what is already an assessment, an assessment of how they

conducted the idea we gave, how they had to deliver. We observe how they introduce themselves to

a sponsor; let us say that this is a sponsor, which is from the other side the world. All these things

are ways to observe how the school will be prepared for our arrival. The thing is not the school

prepares itself for our arrival, but keeping the projects. This entire thing did not happen before our

visits. Dude, we change the history of the places. In some places more, in some less.

How many people joined the team during the works?

In the first stage of 2008, there were nine people, one coordinator, two in the dental field,

one in communication, two in environment area, two at the library and a driver. In addition, we

had the presence of several representatives of Roche Laboratories, because we do a diabetes

project in schools and they were there to follow up this project with our team. We also had a girl

called Andresa, from TV Culture that was doing a special take in Goiania. This was our team.. In

relation to the work, in fact, we did the traditional library assembly, along with a small workshop

for teachers on the structure of this library. We did the dental work, which involved also the

prevention and assistance to students. We work with health agents to teach them how to handle

with the equipment for diabetes, to do a continued job for the prevention of diabetes. We did

lectured on environment along with practical actions, which was the assembly of the garden, a

project of forestation and selective collection of school, it all happened in the first stage. We did a

work of photography and digital video, the first module, video, photo and blog. In addition, we did

training for the teachers in ophthalmology from a project called More Vision for the Education, the

dental plan to teach them how to do the brushing place in the schools and the late explanations in

schools, when we delivered the booklets and the material for second stage. The first stage

happened from six to 27 April 2008. We were in Balsas on April 16 and 17 and got there very early

in the morning. We left Palmas after the work and arrived in Balsas at half past four in the

morning. It was quite complicated, a tough trip. The second stage, which is the stage that

integrated the Sertoes, held from 14 to 29 June 2008. I coordinated the team and I did the

photography workshop, and we had a person in the arts area, one in communication, two on Puppet

Theater, 1 dentist, three in the environment, and seven in health, two in psychology, and one in

education, a driver and a person in support. In the third stage, we brought two computers, one

printer, one television and one DVD player for each school. We also brought six digital cameras, 1

for the school and five for the students, and a whole library. We complemented the photo and video

workshop with a new lecture on the subject. In the environmental workshop, my sister, Ana Elisa,

did a work with painting. We had the Puppet Theater workshop and Andre, did the dental cares. In

the environmental area, we had a paper and PET workshop and the nursery gardens assembly. In

psychology area, we had dynamics with teachers and parents. We opened the all areas to explain

the doubts from the first stage of the project. People have consulted with the general clinical,

gynecological and pediatrician. This was the second stage in general terms.

The third stage happened from October 8 to November 1 2008. We arrived in Balsas on

October 18 and stayed there until October 20 in the afternoon, and then we went to Nova Iorque.

We were the same team from stage one, plus Gustavo e Bruno in the music field, two new girls in

environmental area, Marcela in psychology and Guido. This is the team. Our work was to finalize

what we had done on previous stages and we did lectures on Pap smear together with the test itself.

The diabetes campaign remained and there was a lecture on the computerization process in the

library that Bruno added, with new proposes. There was a second module of Applied Psychology,

the continuing of dental care, an exhibition of the students’ work, some clarifications on the

environmental actions, a workshop on reuse of food, the presentation and delivery of glasses, the

module's three on photo and video workshop, where we show results through small editions and

delivered the cameras to the students. There was a students' photo exhibition, there was a crafts

workshop using local seeds, a talk about sexuality, a lecture on advanced environmental

sustainable development, and for the first time we did a ride with the students to take photos, what

was an absolute success. There have also been local shows, the results of the poetry competition

that we had proposed, a theater presentation using the techniques of manipulating puppets and the

outcome of the project of sporting goods. They showed us pictures with things they did with the

material that we took in step two. At the night, there was the first day of community cinema. On

the second day, there was a integrated music workshop with teachers and students, the opening of

the brushing place, the awarding and certification of teachers, the presentation of the health games.

There was the presentation of the winners of digital cameras, the fraternizing with the school staff

and local presentations. We worked during day and a half and we traveled in the night of the

second day to the next town, so that was it. Due to these results, we set up the February stage,

which happened between five and 20 February 2009. We stayed in Balsas from February 9 to 11.

We did this trip that to return to the places that stood out for some reason in the project. The cities

were Balsas, New York, Nonato and Crateus. New York ended up being a bit hard, but in others it

worked, it was pretty cool. We were in six and we did a deepening in the use of library software

and the implementation of the water reuse system by building a water tank. We took them the

school Radio that was a completely new thing. We thought about it in 2008 and took in 2009. They

had to show us some outcomes from the fairs and shows they had done, they made a new thematic

exhibition about the works from previous year, there were presentations about oral health and this

guy, Wolber, did the health work in the ‘smile project’. There were presentations of oral health and

Wolber did health work in the project smile, he took up the health agents to take preventive oral

health program along with the program of family health, and then, there was a movie at night. We

did a music workshop, with tools made from recycled material, we made a project to produce a

video clip in parallel to the radio, and we did new photo rides with students. In closing, there was a

presentation of music students, and we play a friendly match in the school and we did exhibitions

of students’ photographs on our big screen. Valter did lectures on plague combat with organic

material and on the use of eco-organic detergent at school, and then we did a module of Photoshop

workshop with students, where we taught them to use Photoshop and after it, we installed the

program in the schools where we were. There was the presentation of the students, the presentation

of the results they achieved, and the delivery of the certificate of the biennium, which is a different

certificate, which had to be renewed every two years in these schools. This was the February stage.

We also carry the material Tide Setubal to work with teenagers.

Anexo 2 - Imagens

Imagem 1 - Criança no campo de futebol vizinha à Escola Municipal Agostinho Neves

agem 3 - Computador para informatização da biblioteca

Imagem 4 -

t *

Apresentação de um músico local durante a visita do IBS

Imagem 5 – Bacaba district Residents.

1 IBGE, 20078 CANDIDO, 1979. p.2311 OLIVEIRA, Juarez. 2009. Interviewed by a V.P. Scarpelli25 SANTOS, Edjane. 2009. Interviewed by a V.P. Scarpelli

Imagem 6 – Resident childrem of Bacaba District