"Eu tenho um sonho" - As Mulheres

I've been waiting for this week to happen ever since I landed in Brazil. On Monday we had the inauguration ceremony to mark the beginning of the Mulheres Mil program. Slowly the auditorium filled with the women of the new community. Everyone was excited and eager for the event to start. Various professors gave speeches and welcomed the women to the IF. Sarah introduced all the people that would be in charge of their classes, including us interns :). Following the speeches we watched the MM documentary. This is the third time that I've watched the documentary and I've realized that I am able to understand it fully, without subtitles. Considering I couldn't understand most of the documentary 4 months ago, I'd say I've definitely learned a lot in the language department. But back to the inauguration ceremony. I would occasionally look back to see the reactions of the women as they watched the documentary. I could see the hope and the eagerness on the faces of these women who have waited for an opportunity like this, an opportunity to change their lives. It was a nice feeling to be in the room with them.

After the documentary, the women listened to the song Mais uma vez by Renato Russo. The first time we just listened, the second time we sang along. After the song, the women were asked to introduce themselves to the group, state which verse of the song stood out to them the most, and why. Each line meant something different to each woman. Some women closely related the verse to their lives. It's a song about hope for the future and beleiving in yourself and your dreams. Some lines that some of the women related to the most were:


"Mas é claro que o sol vai voltar amanhã"
- But it's clear that the sun will return tomorrow


"Se você quiser alguém em quem confiar, Confie em si mesmo"
- If you want to trust someone, trust in yourself

"Acreditar no sonho que se tem"

- Beleive in the dreams that you have

During this reflective activity, some of the women would start crying when speaking about how the lyrics reflect their lives. Despite the tears, the energy in the room was positive and everyone was comforting and encouraging each other. I can only imagine what hardships these women have been through. Many women expressed gratitude for the Mulheres Mil program even though we hadn't even started classes yet. This just shows the faith these women have for the program in assisting them take control of their lives. It was a very emotional day indeed but I'm happy to have participated in the opening ceremony.

For the rest of the week, the women had Interpersonal Relation and Self-Esteem classes. These sessions were just as emotional. We used music, activities, and stories to get the women to open up and think about their own lives.

On Friday, us 4 interns facilitated a workshop on the 7 Intelligences (sometimes 8, depending on the source). I enjoy working on the visual aspects of any presentation I am involved in so I took the initiative to work on the powerpoint presentation. I thought this would also be the perfect opportunity to practice speaking in front of people in Portuguese. Of course I had to make sure I had all my lines written down beforehand. I even spent some time practicing my pronunciation with Professor Vitor. Thankfully, these women have been encouraging me to speak Portuguese and are constantly re-assuring me that they fully understand me.

This is probably one of my most memorable weeks here in Fortaleza. I've probably hugged more people this week than I do in a year back in Canada. I'm looking forward to spending more time and getting to know these women more in the upcoming weeks.