I arrived in Belém on Sunday to visit the Acalanto project of the Novos Curupiras Ecological Action Group located on the Island of Marajó. I started on a day-long trip accompanied by Fátima Belfort, agricultural engineer and coordinator of the project.

We boarded a large ferry boat, which is the only way vehicles and goods (including food) get to the island. After arrival, we drove for more than one hour over a road hollowed out through the thick vegetation. We took a barge across the Paracauari River. This brought us finally to Soure, the largest city of the region with about 20,000 inhabitants, located in the Marine Extraction Reserve of Marajó, which is under the protection of IBAMA (Ministry for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources). Soure is a typical rural town isolated from the mainland.

We then proceeded to the rural community of Tucumanduba which is a 10 minute car ride from Soure. About 860 families live here. There are no sewers and no drinking water.

Performance of Grupo de Tradições Marajoaras Cruzeirinho.

The Novos Curupiras Ecological Action Group, located in Ananindeua, has been implanting environmental protection projects on the Island of Marajó since 1990. Their office on the island, where we slept, is a house made of wood as opposed to the other houses that are made of mud walls.

Acalanto, the name of the project presented to the BrazilFoundation for financing, aims to strengthen community associations by training their leaders to become competent managers. The idea is that these leaders, once trained and prepared, will seek out new partnerships armed with the legal, economic, and governmental instruments necessary to achieve better results, and will proceed to define sustainability strategies in the different areas where they work.

After visiting the community for a while, we arrived at the office of the Association of Crab Fisherman of Tucumanduba, one of the institutions which could be helped by the Novos Curupiras. A class on conservation was being given to the young people of the region. We met with the directors of the association where we talked about the economic activity of crabbing. Since Soure is a town surrounded by swamps, almost no one plants anything and the penurious population depends on crabbing and fishing to survive.

Gláucio in Soure, Island of Marajó (PA), between Luci Maria Dias (left) and Ediléia Ferreira (right) from Grupo União das Famílias de Tucumanduba.

The meeting was enlivened by the presentations of a young farmer, Ediléia Ferreira, articulate and intelligent, even though she only completed primary school, and Júlio, a fisherman who is no longer able to gather crabs, but who has the respect of all of the young people. They explained that in the past the crabs were worth more and could be found in large quantities. But because of the cutting of trees and vegetation and the drying up of the rivers, crab production has declined. The ones who make money from crabbing today are the “profiteers,” as the brokers from Belém are called.

Next we went to a meeting with the young people of the Union of the Families of Tucumanduba Group, another institution that will be trained in management and advised by the Novos Curupiras. This is a group of 20 women who, with the help of Novos Curupiras, planted an orchard that grows food for consumption by the community where the average monthly family income is between R$50 and R$ 70.

The last organization we visited that day was the Cruzeirinho Group of Marajoaran Traditions, which aims to preserve the region’s cultural traditions. This institution sponsors dance instruction for 96 children who learn the traditional Marajoaran dances of Crimbó and Lundum as well as other regional dances. The children compose and sing songs and, with the help of their mothers, make their own costumes. The children have already performed in various localities around the state of Pará. Their activities are coordinated by the local leader, Maria Amélia. This organization will be a part of the Acalanto Project because they need to professionalize their management to maintain the cultural activities they promote.

The Acalanto Project is one of four projects in Pará selected as finalists by the BrazilFoundation in 2006. The state is passing through tense moments and the activities of social movements like these create public debate on issues that reflect the poverty and oppression prevalent in the region. This helps to spotlight the changes in the role of women in society, the preservation of the environment, and the social and democratic participation in the formulation and application of public policy.

An investment by the BrazilFoundation underscores the support that grass roots entities need in order to be able to operate with greater efficiency and contribute to the democratic and sustainable social development of their communities.

Warmest regards,

Gláucio Gomes