Brazil (Week 2)

This week was spent in Sao Paulo and started off interesting...I felt like junk...I didn't have a sore throat, fever, runny nose, or any of that, it's like I just had the aches and pains of the flu with nothing else going on. It's not too much fun.
While in Sao Paulo we worked with Ministerio Restauracao (Restoration Ministry). This is a ministry that goes into favelas (slums) and runs some ministry programs. They have what they call a day center in each favela. Pause, I should define this term for you so you have a slight idea of what I'm talking about...

Favela- A slum in which poor(er) people congregate and build houses from anything between cardboard and concrete. They rip power and water off from the city so that they don't pay for it. Favelas are run by the drug lords and there is no chance of success in life without working for them. Most people in Brazil don't go into the favelas because "it's too dangerous." Those that live in favelas don't even count as citizens of the city, they are nothing...nobody...nobody cares about them, nobody loves them, nobody wants to be them...nobody even thinks about them. Can you gather why Ministerio Restauracao is so important?

In each day center kids gather to eat breakfast or lunch, sing songs, learn Bible stories, and participate in other activities that involve anything but drugs and illegal activities. Their goal is to get kids hooked on God before they are hooked on drug dealing...sound like a fun job to anybody? It's not at all fun sounding to me if I'm being honest. I was exhausted every day at 5 when we were done. Each morning we woke up I had to peel myself out of bed and search for a little energy before charging into the day for more skits, songs, crafts, and soccer.

I just want to highlight two things about this week, Fifi and the favelas. First off, these favelas. Anybody seen City of God? It's super depressing and sad, don't watch it without expecting lots of violence and lots of violence coming from kids and directed at kids in the favela. I saw this before I left and thought, surely this is a little blown out of proportion. No...I promise you this is not. I know that short terms like this don't get the full picture, and I don't pretend to know it all, but I believe this movie is an excellent portrayal of life in the favelas. The people at Ministerio Restauracao helped us gather the true feeling of the favelas. By this point in the trip I could manage basic conversation with the kids. These convos solidified to me that the Ministry was not just exagerating.
Kids in these favelas are not hopeless despite the situation. They are only poor because we call them that, they are hopeless because that's how we would feel in that situation. These kids don't know the extremes that we do, they only know their life. These kids were filled with love for God, with a hope for tomorrow no different than us, and with a joy that is undescribable. That's what I want to highlight about the favelas, the joy and contentment of these families in spite of their situation. It's amazing...and humbling.

This brings me to highlight number two of the week...Fifi. What's Fifi? No, who is Fifi? He's a 17 year old guy that lives in the slums. It's his nickname, kinda funny to me, how is that a cool nickname? Kinda sounds girly to my American ears. Let's face it though, he's got a cool nickname!:) He lives in a favela near the main center for the Ministry and has been attending there since he was 7. Now he helps out a couple hours per week and he tagged along with out group one day to help with the kids. Mostly he played soccer and smoked us up beyond all belief with his friend Rafael.:) He has gotten the chance to attend school and is trying to get into a university for next year (school starts in February or so and runs til November or so). He used to have 9 brothers and sisters, only 6 are still alive. The others fell victim to the drug trade in the favela. His dream is to play professional soccer one day in Brazil, he's had several try-outs for teams but never made it. If this doesn't work out, he wants to work with computer web programing some day. He's a talented, gifted, loving, and amazing individual.
I never felt more connected to anybody this whole trip than I did with Fifi from my limited interactions with him. He showed me why I am down here, for encouraging and loving people. I am in Brazil for the people. I am a relational person and I come alive when I meet people like Fifi. I thought I should share this story with you.:)