Garapa

For the English version of this article, click here.

Apa fiarta cu zahar. Asta e hrana de fiecare zi a copiilor din satele sau suburbiile sarace din Brazilia. Nu m-a socat nimic din acest documentar - Garapa. Modul de viata, mentalitatea familiilor, preocuparile lor seamana perfect cu cele ale familiilor din Romania care traiesc in saracie.

Am invatat inca o data ca saracia este la fel peste tot in lume. Oamenilor le e foame, copiii sunt bolnavi, dezbracati, nu au parte de scoala. Adultii nu gasesc de munca, cu totii traiesc in case mizere, nu au apa, imbracaminte. Alcoolism, dependenta de tutun, boli venerice, hepatita, infractionalitate sunt doar cateva dintre problemele care se repeta comunitate cu comunitate.

Ce am invatat nou? Cu burtile lipite de spate, oamenii nu fac nicio legatura directa dintre situatia in care se afla si faptele lor. Sunt saraci si rabda foame pentru ca nu ploua, pentru ca Dumnezeu vrea (“God gives”), pentru ca nu sunt locuri de munca, pentru ca orasul este departe, pentru ca statul nu le da nimic, pentru ca nu au acte. Si au dreptate. Solutiile care i-ar putea scoate din saracie ii depasesc. Si de ce i-ar asculta pe altii? De ce ar crede in cei care ii condamna sau dispretuiesc?

Nu sunt educati, nu au avut modelele potrivite pe care sa le urmeze si de la care sa invete, nu au resursele si puterea necesara sa treaca peste barierele pe care le vad la tot pasul. Lumea se uita urat la ei si in urma cu mai putin de un secol unii doreau sa ii extermine de dragul speciei umane si al teoriilor adunate in “eugenics”.

Aduna frustrare sau se resemneaza sa manance cat de cat normal 12 zile din 30. Tac, inchid ochii si intorc spatele copilului care plange de durere de dinti, pentru ca nu au ce sa ii faca – bani de medicamente nu sunt, orasul e departe, doctorul costa. Nu e nimic de facut. O sa treaca. Copilul sa va lupta singur cu durerea, cu boala, cu foamea. Cei ce pierd aceste lupte mor si mor in jur de 16.000 pe zi in intreaga lume.

Imagine: Alexandre Lima

Garapa in Brazil and anywhere in the world

Boiled water with sugar. That’s the main meal of the children living in poor villages or suburbs from Brazil. Nothing shocked me in this documentary – Garapa. Their way of living, their mentality, their habits are very similar with those of the Romanian families living in poverty.

Once again, I learned that the poverty is the same wherever you go in this world. People are hungry, the kids are sick, undressed and they don’t go to school. Their parents have no job, they live in dirty houses. Drugs and alcohol addictions, STDs, hepatitis, crimes are only some of the problems that affect every single poor community.

What did I find out? With the hunger in their bones, these people don’t make any connection between their actions and the situation they are living in. They are poor and hungry because: there is no rain, “God gives”, the government doesn’t help them, the city is far away, there are no jobs for them, they don’t have IDs. And they are right. They are not able to see any solution for themselves. And why would they listen to others? Why would they trust people who judge or hate them?

They have no education, they had no positive adult models in their childhood, they don’t have enough power and resource to cope with their problems. Besides these, people living around treat them bad, and just one century ago others were making plans to exterminate them, in order to clean the society and put in practice “eugenics” theories.

These poor people get frustrated or resign, eating normally only 12 days out of 30. They close their eyes, and turn their back to their own child when this one is crying because his/her teeth hurt. There is no money for medicine drugs, the city is far away, and the doctor is expensive. There is nothing they can do for him/her. He/she has to deal with the pain, the illness or the hunger alone. Those who lose these every day battles are dying, and every day, around the world, 16,000 children are defeated.

Image credit: Alexandre Lima

Trifoi cu patru foi rupte

For the English version of this article, click here.

Niciodata nu am spus-o cu voce tare, dar sunt o norocoasa. De obicei, tramvaiul pleaca din statie chiar in fata mea si ploua aproape de fiecare data cand ma imbrac in alb. Apoi, in momente unice, de maxima importanta sau prestanta, se intampla ceva minunat precum cazutul intr-o balega uriasa de vaca (nu e doar o metafora, chiar am cazut) sau datul cu nasul de asfalt - si pe asta am patit-o.

O parte din deciziile importante din viata mea le-am luat urmandu-mi acest noroc chior demonstrat mai sus. Adica, in momentele de cumpana, chiar am avut noroc. Si am urmat “semnele” care mi-au intarit deciziile, pe care poate le luasem deja, sau mi-au adus aminte cine sunt, unde ma duc, ce vreau, cum zambesc, cum privesc, cum glumesc/ironizez, cum gandesc si ce visez.

Acum aproximativ un an, am intalnit, pura coincidenta, in autobuzul New York-Philadelphia, cel mai interesant si destept barbat roman de pana atunci. In trei ore de calatorie, am vorbit ca si cum ne-am fi cunoscut de o viata. Fara intentie si fara urma de banuiala, Oscar din Tecuci angajat in Manhattan, mi-a intors viata pe dos si m-a adus in trei ore de calatorie acolo unde un psiholog bun m-ar fi adus in 2 ani de terapie de canapea. A fost prima mea vizita in New York, care a inceput cu un… accident de masina. Si accidentul ne-a tinut in loc, noroc ca am intarziat, ca sa intarziem si sa prindem ultimul autobuz in care aparea Oscar.

Dupa un an, recunosc un moment de mari intrebari care se tot intind, repeta, reformuleaza de ceva vreme si care culmineaza cu: merita sa mai traiesti in Romania asta unde “nimic nu mere bine, tati fura?”; esti fericit(a) in Romania? Raspunsurile sunt din ce in ce mai grele, chiar mai grele decat realitatea. Dar cum sunt o norocoasa, ieri am primit o palma (acum asta e doar o metafora).

Un punct de vedere la care nu m-am gandit nicio clipa: de fiecare data, cand eu ma plang de Romania, jignesc pe cineva pe care il respect pentru munca si ideile sale, pe acel om care se lupta in continuare sa schimbe tara asta in ceea ce ne-am dori noi toti sa fie. Il jignesc pe acel om care doarme putin si se plange si mai putin sau chiar deloc, munceste mult si care chiar a reusit sa schimbe lucruri si oameni in ultimii ani. Multumesc unui alt roman extrem de interesant si destept (si arogant, ca sa il citez), pe care l-am intalnit de curand. Mi-a adus aminte de cum gandeam acum doi ani si de “Emigratia-n fata-verso” si de atunci, surprinzator, Romania a evoluat. Deci, de ce ma plang? De un progres? Si nu, de data asta, nu am facut niciun accident, dar tot am avut un mic ghinion.

Bonus: Cum stiu ca am intalnit o persoana interesanta? Simplu: incep sa ma balbai, sa spun tampenii, sa inteleg tot mai putin din ceea ce imi spune, sa transform orice lucru interesant din viata mea in cea mai naspa experienta, sa ma impiedic, sa dau semne de blonda, sa umblu in balerini ca intr-o pereche de pantofi cu tocurile rupte, sa scap lucruri pe jos, sa fac ochii mari de incantare, sa raman muta de uimire si fara argumente. Si atunci stiu ca omul din fata mea e imprevizibil ca un film foarte bun si ca merita toata atentia mea.

Lucky bloody clover

I never really recognized it, but I’m a lucky person. Usually, I miss all the buses, and it rains when I’m dressed in white. Then in the most important and formal moments, something bad happened, like I slip on caw’s shit or simply on the street (both happened).

I made some of my life’s decisions following this good luck proved above. I was really lucky in the most difficult moments of my life. I followed the “signs” which supported my decisions or which reminded me who I am, where I go, what I want, how I smile, how I think, laugh or what I dream about.

Approximately, one year ago, I met, by coincidence, the most interesting and intelligent Romanian man I ever met till then, in the New York-Philadelphia bus. We talked three hours like we knew each other for a long time. Without any intention and without knowing, Oscar from Tecuci working in Manhattan put my life upside down and helped me in three hours in a way that a psychologist would have helped me in two years of hard work on her/his couch. It was my first visit to New York which started with a… car crash. The crush made us to be late, and lucky we were late and we caught the last bus… also caught by Oscar.

After one year, it’s the moment of hard questions such us: is it worthy to live in Romania where nothing goes well and everyone steals? are you happy in Romania? The answers are hard to give and these are harder than reality sometimes. As I’m a lucky person, if you remember, yesterday I was slapped (it didn’t happen, it’s just a metaphor).

I was slapped with a point of view that I never thought about: every time I complain about Romania I hurt someone with my words and attitude. This someone is a man whose ideas and actions I respect, he is the man who still fights to change this country in a way that all of us want. I hurt the man who sleeps few hours per night, complains almost never, works a lot and who succeeded to positively change things and people. I have to thank to this extremely interesting and intelligent (and arrogant, to quote him) Romanian man that I met recently. He reminded me how I was thinking two years ago and, surprisingly, Romania made a lot of progress in these last two years. So why do I complain? Am I mad on the progress? This time there was no crash, but I did have a small accident.

Bonus: How do I know that there is an interesting person in front of me? That’s simple: I start to lose my words, to say stupid things, to understand little from what she/he says, to transform every interesting thing of my life in the most boring one, to act as a blonde, to walk in a funny way, to look as a hypnotized person, and in the end I’m mute. And then I know that the person who is in front of me is unpredictable like a good movie and he/she deserves all my attention.