“We’ve left behind the ‘I’ in order to work for ‘us’ and the ‘my’ to work for ‘ours’. What is mine? The house, the clothes. And what is ours? The land.”
Benedito Alves da Silva (ben-eh-dee-toe ahl-vays dah-seel-vah), President Association Ivaporundura
“We only worked collectively, doing collective projects, puxirum (poo-she-room) as we called it, and the work was always divided with the plots right next to each other.”
Daniel de Souza (dah-nee-yell day soh-zah), territorial leader, Jauary
“We do as our ancestors taught us. People need to know where (their) food… comes from. Our typical dishes came from the slave quarters and remain made without chemicals or poison.”
Heloísa de França Dias (eh-low-ee-zah day-fran-kah dee-ahz), community educator, Sao Pedro
“Our struggle, like our grandparents’ and great-grandparents’, is to defend this land so that we can hand it over to the new generations just as it was when we received it.”
Adrienne (Drica) (ah-dreen) (dree-kah), teacher, Cachoeira Porteira