TRIP REPORT - 2012

   During the period of Mar. 27 to 30, 2012 I visited the Generous Hearts (GH) projects in Pernambuco. My trip was coordinated with that of Antonieta Silva so that we traveled together most days with local volunteers such as Marta, Durce, Marcelo, Silvia and Antonio. This was my fourth trip to the GH projects (prior trips in 2006, 2007 and 2010) so most of the people and conditions were quite familiar to me. Once again the friendly faces and greetings were very welcoming.

Highlights of the trip were:

1)      Visit to the “Casa de Familia”, Dona Severina’s home for abandoned children in Victoria de Santo Antonio. We met with Fernando, the full time administrator, who detailed for us the urgent structural repairs and desired improvements which were ready to be undertaken once funding was obtained. Most pressing of these was repair to the ceiling of the main hall which had sustained water damage. He promised to provide a detailed budget by individual item which arrived shortly after our return to Canada. Reviewing the progress that had been made since my last visit was quite gratifying.

2)      Visit to Sta. Luzia village in the municipality of Camoacim de Sao Felix with Irma Reginalda. Only one house still remains to be rebuilt. I was quite impressed by the display in the community centre of craftwork and needlework the residents had created. It was gratifying to see that the sewing machines which GH provided had been put to such good use and that the community was talking about next steps in becoming more self sufficient with plans for co-op activity.  A small parcel of land had just been donated for the building of a new community training and co-op area. I sensed that a cautious feel of optimism had taken hold. What a transformation from the gloomy atmosphere of my first visit.

3)      Visit to the shelter for the elderly “Abrigo de Santa Filonila” in Escada run by Irma Malu and 3 other nuns. It is always a pleasure to spend time with them. I was glad to see that a fair amount of progress had been made on the expansion project. On my last visit I was disappointed with the progress but things are now getting quite close so that the expansion building is almost functional at least in part. Hopefully it will be in use later this year.

4)      Visit to Irma Viviane’s Favela Beira Rio project.in Recife. This was my first visit and, as expected, I felt very much at ease with  Ir. Viviane. This community holds perhaps 10,000 people in a labyrinth-like construct of discarded materials on the bank of a river. It represents the most miserable living conditions that I have ever seen up close. Some day in the future the city will bulldoze it  and displace all residents, so attempting to provide better accommodation is beyond our scope. GH can only help Ir. Viviane with an emergency fund and moral support and some funds to help the community centre, a modest building close to the favela.

Jim Robertson  May 30, 2012