Salu

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TRANSCRIPT

“My experience was mainly about food, you know? Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes there are donations, sometimes there aren’t. And there’s also the issue of abandonment, which creates something in your mind, making you feel like you’re nobody. Like they want you to believe that because you’re on the streets, you have to become like a criminal, that you have to lose the principles your mother taught you.

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Out of all the time I spent on the streets—more than three, almost four years—the last time I stayed for about two years. During that period, I chose to build a small treehouse, to avoid things like having your blanket or mattress stolen.

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Later, I moved near a school, because I was studying there at the time. That’s when I met Barba, who introduced me to Felipe at the Base Hospital. Since I already had a bike, a phone, and managed to keep myself somewhat presentable, they invited me to work with them at the office. It was the very beginning of Instituto No Setor. That’s what changed the way I saw society. Because before, when I was on the streets, everyone felt like an enemy. Everyone. There was prejudice everywhere.

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But as I started leaving the streets and gaining some independence—being able to pay rent, buy my own food—I began to see that many people with financial resources actually have a kind of poverty that we don’t. A poverty of real friendship, of finding joy in simple things, like a meal or a sense of freedom. Many of these people live trapped in their own lives—taking medication, drinking, using drugs. Meanwhile, people who’ve lived on the streets are heavily discriminated against.

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I started by delivering documents, and soon I learned the whole process of getting permits for events. Then, during the pandemic, the restroom project began. I worked under one of the coordinators and also helped with cleaning. That was one of the turning points in my life—the moment that shifted my mindset. I realized that if I didn’t have anyone to take care of me—family or even the state—I had to start taking care of myself. After you take a shower and put on clean clothes, your self-esteem changes.

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I managed to finish high school through the ENSEJA program, which was a big achievement for me. Today, I can support myself through this work, through this opportunity. So what I want to say here is that I’m grateful to everyone at the Institute. Because they’re helping bring us out of invisibility. More than four people have already left the streets through this opportunity, and today they’re able to give new meaning to their lives. You don’t need to have a lot to share a little.”