Dance Lest We All Fall Down - Margaret Willson [77]
Rita drained her beer in silence and, after a moment, I refilled it.
I sighed. “Jorge told me some news of Gato,” I said. “He’s still in Europe, but things aren’t going well. His sister, Renata quit school and has a boyfriend.” I shook my head. “That was supposed to be a cheering change of topic, but it didn’t work, did it?”
“Well, my neighbor’s husband’s amante—his mistress—rang my neighbor in some kind of competition to say she was pregnant. So, my neighbor, instead of throwing the jerk out, also got pregnant.” Rita shook her head. “I don’t know why she stays with him, she’s just afraid to leave. And I don’t think he even really likes women.”
“Well, I guess that’s just his loss, isn’t it?”
We both giggled. Nelson walked by, glanced at us and shook his head.
“As long as we can laugh,” Rita said, “we have courage.”
First Year Letter: To a Mailing List of 80: February 15, 1999
Dear Donors and Volunteers,
Winds of middle winter slip along the window panes. Outside, pouring rain makes mush of fallen leaves while I, snug inside, sit warmed by the tones of Gal Costa, one of my favorite Brazilian singers. This is a letter with meaning: it is one year since Bahia Street began operations.
Madalena has turned out to be a wonderful tutor; she is involved, knowledgeable of good teaching methods, and very caring (whenever Rita and I tried to be hard-nosed about which girls should continue, Madalena fiercely fought to keep them all). We are very lucky to have such dedicated people working with us in Salvador. Rita is spending much time working with the families, the school, and with the girls themselves, not to mention banks and the financial administration. For this, we are currently paying her $100 a month, which goes about twice as far as $100 here in the States. Paying for Internet access and a living, part-time wage to Rita is a priority.
Here is an update on the girls:
Juliana: She has been studying at the tutoring class in the morning and Dois de Julho in the afternoons. To do this, she leaves home at 7:30 AM and returns at about 8:00 each night. She still wants to be a doctor. Her older sister (both her parents are dead) supports Juliana and her sixteen-year-old brother by baking pizza, which she sells on the street.
Dois de Julho has been giving Juliana some problems. Some of the teachers are stating explicitly that they do not think children from the shantytowns could possibly succeed at their school. It is no surprise then that Juliana, despite doing extremely well at the tutoring, studying continually, and being very bright, is being given nothing but below average marks. She is becoming very frustrated (the rest of us are angry).
Because of these difficulties, we have decided to change schools and tell the new school nothing about the project. We will have the girls take the entrance exam and succeed on their own merits. We think this will give them a better chance at equality. Juliana is very happy with this plan. The new school we chose is São Bento, a Catholic school (most private schools are religious) that has an excellent academic reputation, is only two blocks from where the girls are being tutored, and is affiliated with a natural medicine school.
Lidia: Because of problems with her public school, she only started the tutoring in August. She came to the program semiliterate despite being in the fifth grade. Despite Lidia’s dedication, to jump from semiliteracy to actual sixth-grade literacy in three and a half months is almost impossible, and she may not pass São Bento’s language entrance exam (she will pass in public school with no problem).
Interestingly enough, she will have no problem with math as she is showing a startling aptitude and will soon be above average for her grade level. When I asked her last year what she wanted to do as a profession, she said she wanted to be a doctor. This year when I asked her the same question, she replied that she was no longer sure, she was only positive that she loved