"It's like if we're blind in the world"

Nilza Bandeira is a family fisherman known throughout Miranda, a municipality in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul. Traditional fishermen from the Miranda River, the family of Mrs. Nilza knows the trick of the Pantanal rivers. And she lead life there as the "high" and "low" waters of the rivers of the Paraguay basin. And in these comings and goings of the river and life, Mrs. Nilza had to leave much for later. Going to school was one of them. Mrs. Nilza can not read. And not know how to read is very difficult these days. Can you imagine what it's like? Mrs. Nilza tries to explain: "It is like if we are blind in the world," she describes.

We talked to Mrs. Nilza in a room at the headquarters of Fishermen's Colony Z-5 on the cold night of Friday, June 2. While I hear her tell her story, in the space next to her are her friends, family, acquaintances. All artisanal fishermen who take from the rivers of the Pantanal the sustenance of their riverside families. In common, they have the same "blindness" of Mrs. Nilza. They are illiterate. Some write, they know "a, e, i, o, u". Others, not even that.

Mrs. Nilza is happy because this story of "blindness" is changing. Dona Nilza and her fellow fishermen are entering a new boat, unlike those they are accustomed to. We are meeting this Friday night for the Boat of Letters, a project that intends to teach the artisanal fishermen of Mirandese to read and to write.

The initiative was born of the demand presented by the fishermen themselves who face problems in the day to day because they can not read or write. In the colony, a place maintained by the association of these professionals, they meet and between daily activities, a sale of fish and another, they exchange laments of the hardships of not dominating the alphabet: it is difficult to negotiate the fish; difficulty in completing records of the fishing routine; it's difficult, even to know how to use the cell phone and take that picture, of that one that people will only believe is not "fisherman's story" if they have photographed! "We want to read a prescription, you can not, you want to count a fish, you can not, you want to read something,a board, a street name that is written, you don´t read. We see a cool cell phone that we want to take a picture, make a video ... we don’t know ... "says Mrs. Nilza.

So for them, the project is so important. The action is coordinated by Janete Correa, a riverside who, unlike most, managed to graduate from academic banks. She is a historian and volunteer to teach the people in her community. "The riverside are very lack in the area of ​​education," says Janete. That is why the support that the Boat of Letters receives is so celebrated. The project is carried out with the support of the Institute of Intercultural Diversity Research (Ipedi) and is sponsored by the Brazil Foundation, which has made possible the financial support coming from abroad for young people living in the New York neighborhood of Bonxville. "A staff so far away caring 'with us' that we are just 'a fisherman' on the river, I am very grateful" says Mrs. Nilza.

The project began with 25 fishermen who attend classes in the space of the Fishermen's Colony every day in the late afternoon. The exercise of their profession forces the project to adapt. Many of the students go out to the river and stay in the Pantanal for weeks, living in the barges. They take with them tasks prepared by teacher Janete. "They took the activities and made a commitment to do," says Janete, with the confidence that only those who really know the peculiar reality of these students are available. This is just one of the challenges of the project.

Another challenge is the demand that, with the development of activities, is growing. More fishermen, confident in the project, have shown a desire to learn to read and write. This is the case, for example, of a group of fishermen residing in Salobra, a district that is about 20 kilometers from the city. They want to be part of the Boat of Letters. Janete and the organization of the project have found a way. They will increase the actions and take classes to Salobra, on Saturdays. The Fishermen's Colony as a legal entity, has become a partner of the initiative and will ensure the transportation for Janete to go to Salobra on weekends. Other partners are emerging along the way, donating, among other things, tables and school supplies. The dream of the fishermen is mobilizing the community. Reading and writing is the beginning of a new story for the community.

"The riverside are very lack in the area of ​​education," says teacher Janete (left).

With the phrase of Paulo Freire, the teacher Janete looks for inspiration for the challenge of teaching to read and write fishermen riverside.

The headquarters of the Fishermen's Colony serves as a classroom space, a familiar place that facilitates the learning process.

At the center, Mrs. Nilza, who celebrates: "I'm very moved because I needed to, because we want to learn how to make count, write the name... and we can’t, so with this project it's going to be very important in my life. "

Part of the students, with teacher Janete and team of Ipedi: mobilization will take the project also to district away from urban area city.