Salu

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TRANSCRIPT

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“In my experience, it was mainly about food, you know? Sometimes you go without, sometimes there are donations, sometimes there aren’t.

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And there’s also the sense of abandonment, which starts to build something in your mind—that you’re nobody, you know? As if, because you’re living on the streets, you have to become like a criminal, to lose the values your mother taught you.

 

Out of all the time I spent on the streets, it was more than three, maybe around four years. The last time, I stayed for 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, where Barba (Barba na Rua) also studied at the time. He introduced me to Felipe (from Instituto No Setor), at the Base Hospital. Since I already had my little bike, a phone, and could get around and present myself well, they invited me to work with them in the office. It was the very beginning of Instituto No Setor. And that changed the way I saw society, you know? Because before, when I was on the streets, everyone felt like an enemy.

 

Everyone seemed prejudiced. But as I started to leave the streets and had the chance to become independent—pay my rent, buy my own food—I began to realize that many of those people with financial means carry a kind of poverty we don’t have. A poverty of true friendship, of finding joy in simple things—a meal, freedom. Many of them live confined in their condos, taking medication, drinking whisky, getting intoxicated, using drugs—we know that. While we, who at some point had to live on the streets, were heavily discriminated against.

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I started by delivering documents, and soon I learned the whole process of obtaining event permits. Then, when the pandemic came, the restroom project started. I became one of the coordinators and also worked in cleaning. That was one of the turning points for me—it changed my mindset and led me to where I am today. If I don’t have anyone to take care of me—not family, not even the state—then I have 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 Encceja, which was a huge achievement for me. Today, I can support myself through this work, through this opportunity. So what I want to say in my testimony is: I’m grateful to everyone at the Institute. Because they are helping us move out of invisibility. So much so that more than four people have already left the streets through this. And today, through this opportunity, they are able to give new meaning to their lives. You don’t need to have much to share a little.”