janela

Finally, the community house is ready! It's a concrete house in the Morro da Vítoria favela in which we will teach our classes. It's basically two big rooms, one on the main floor, and one up a winding staircase. The party was on Saturday. It began with a mass, given by the priest who donated most of the money, followed by a dance performance (that a group of local girls choreographed). Then the capoeira group stole the show playing the fighting dance (a.k.a. capoeira) in a HUGE roda (circle) in the mainfloor room.

The kids were especially energetic. Some literally would not let go of my waist and when they finally did, to stand in front of me to watch the performances, they kept looking over their shoulders to see if I was still there. Again, I guess I'm a bit of a novelty to them, as I'm the newest volunteer. I so much fun! It was great to hold these kids and play with them and answer their questions. They were very interested in knowing about my life in Toronto. "Do you live in a house?" they asked. "With your parents?" and "Do you have kids?" and "What kind of food do you eat there?" So I explained the ethnic pockets of the city where we can find whatever cuisine we like. They were impressed. Because really, what the heck do Canadians eat? What's typical Canadian food?

And of course, they were fascinated with my stories about snow. And they were so cute, one talked louder than the other to say, "I know! You have to wear a very thick jacket when it snows!" We handed out hotdogs (half per child) with a soft drink and piece of cake each. It was a very low-budget affair, as we didn't have much choice. The project, once it's registered as a charity, will have more opportunities to raise money. Right now, we accept monthly donations and we sell T-shirts to tourists to support the project basics (supplies, busfare, etc.)

This house is an important accomplishment for the community. I'd say at least 100 locals came out to celebrate inside the house, and of course, the party flowed into the streets.