Journey to Porto Alegre: 2005

dear colleagues
greetings from iguaçu falls, where we are processing the meaning of the amazing experience of the world social forum. the fifth world social forum closed monday with a march from the conferernce site on the water front to the mercado, the center of the city. we share with you some of the important learnings gleaned from the last 10 days.

first:
we have been impacted by the depth of hatred and contempt for america here in brazil and among the international community assembled for the forum. bush was burned ineffigy in the closing march. america has an economic stranglehold on much of the world, backed up by the most powerful military force in the planet. even the taxi drivers, shop keepers. local students talk about the enormous burden of brazil´s debt and the u.s. backed trade agreements.
is anybody listening to this?

second:
there is a well organized, enormous movement in latin america to resist imperialism , to resist the u.s. backed neoliberal economic agenda and to create vital alternatives. the landless workers movement and porto alegre´s participatory budget process are good examples of this. hugo chavez is wildly popular for all the ways he has already helped the poorest of the poor. he spoke to a crowd of thousands sunday night. he is seeking to spread the revolution across latin america to counter the suffocating power of the north.

we ignore him and this movement at our peril. we should join him and lula in the struggle to reform international institutions . justice is the antidote to terrorism.

third:
empires collapse from within. here at the forum violence and the way the u.s. promotes violence, is a sign of weakness. the u.s. is not invincible! an alternative world view that promotes justice and fairness is alive and well. other worlds are breathing.
is anybody listening?

we look forward to showing you stunning images from brian´s photogrphy, and telling you more stories, and to bringing you hope as it is being lived out in the global south.

thank you for your support and solidarity

marty, brian, geza, mae, helen, and sally

dear colleagues
greetings from porto alegre and the 5th world social forum. this confluence of peace and justice movements from the world over has surpassed our wildest imaginings. here is an article from terraviva, the wsf newspaper to give you an idea of what we are experiencing.

"the traffic stopped to standstill wednesday night in downtown porto alegre. flags, drums, chants and some yelling broke the routines of this so very hot summer. the world sical forum is back in its hometown after its passage through an even hotter mumbai india last summer. the march for peace and dignity made it clear to all with its 200,000 participants. the u.s. sponsored free trade agreement of the americas and u.s. president george bush competed for the role of villain. the 5th world social forum has grand aspiration. it has attracted more than 5,700 organizations who will be involved in more than 2,000 activities, covering 11 main themes, and speaking in 16 languages including quichua, hindi and various other asian and african languages. more than 2,800 volunteer are involved invarious aspects of the organization. there are 100 concerts, 41 theatrical presentations, 13 dance performances and 85 art performances."

klaus schwab, founder and executive chairperson of the wsf writes an article entitled,"shaping the future: the work of social entrepreneurs" his words will give you a picture of the passionate, optimism wsf is promoting here.

"as the world economic forum and the world social forum convene in davos and port alegre respectively, the mood is one of foreboding, a sense that deep forces we can barely discern are reshaping the world and that national and global institutions we have always counted on are inadequate. yet we are optimistic. why? because for the past four years we have worked closely with the world´s leading social entrepreneurs whose inspired pragmatism banishes pessimism. their passion, energy and ability to see opportunities for social innovation and transformation at every turn are contagious. we need social entrepreneurs as never before, for we are asked to do nothing less than rethink the world´s economic models. the private sector can no longer see itself as simply in the business of making business. and the phlanthorpic sector cannot be expected to fill in the gaps. we need hybrid organizations that do all of these things...using the market for social transformation."

last night we heard presentations from leonardo boff, adolpho perez esquivel and frei sergio goergen. the auditorium was packed with 3,000 people... 80 percent were youth! here is an experpt from terraviva interviewing boff.

"religious voices in a parallel forum have been unanimous against the western hegemonies seeking to establish a new order by using violence against the weak. in a world torn by politically instigated religion based divisions, boff can identify a common enemy; for me the great enemy is the western cultural paradigm which is very aggressive, very destructive, and which has now been globalized, invading the values and visions of the world. i see the seed of a new paradigm in spiritual traditions. justice , peace and compassion and solidarity are the very true names of god. who ever believes in these, believes in god."

the audience broke out in wild applause and singing as the end of the evening... the hope and confidence here is inspiring... our hearts are on fire.

with love and gratitude

marty, geza, brian, helen, sally, mae , bob

When asked why I had the deep desire to participate in the World Social Forum, three concrete answer came to mind: to introduce and represent a different America to the world, to witness and gain hope in the direction of our world. I third reason is that of my spirituality, prayer, and a following of God's path. All reasons have been accomplished far past my expectations. Global hope is alive with feet on it and everyone from every corner of the globe is valued participant. A new world is forming with a communal, earth saving mindset of dignity and justice. A metanoia transformation to the self centered, self serving, materialistic, system in place.

The group visits the first stage of the Landless Workers Movement (MST). Brazils' strongest and most organized social movement is reshaping Latin America countryside while making it`s way into Brazil`s politics. We get a blimps into a poverty that effects 45 million Brazilian daily. The village of 2000 residents live in plastic covered bamboos hacks on the side of the highway next to a truck stop. On the first process of land reform, they are waiting for their Constitutional right of access to unused vacant land. Facing a wait that can last up to two years, the residents of this village uses the time to organize. Everyone has role from food distribution and a medical sector to schooling and education. In a well equipped open-wall school we listen to the head honcho of the village. "We are fighting a social struggle and in fighting, it does not matter who the President or politicians are, we have to keep moving creating alternatives. With patients grows strength. This is not a social struggle for money but a struggle for dignity and justice." When asked what can American do to help this movement the reply was, "its not enough to be a good person, you must create and live an example of the alternative." The village sends residents to a MST school every 2 months to learn management skills mixed with organic farming techniques. "Another world is possible" he says with bright eyes and a huge smile. "We are living it!"

As we walk through the village of dirt floors and chickens, I am reminded of my travels to Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. There is a different feel to this place. It's cleaner and closely connected. There are no television. The ladies are cooking rice and beans for every child of the village while slogans and flags of the MST cover plastic garbage-bag walls. "A man's fight is only half the fight without the woman" one banner states. The longer we stay the more I realize that something big is happening here! I am not only witnessing a revolution yet also hugging, shaking hands, eating, and learning from it. In my evening prayers I always send a shout to my brother and sisters living in poverty, without running water and showers, without a packed fridge, without a solid roof over there head. Today I got to hug them, cheer them on, and make a solid promise that we too are dedicated to the creation of a new global social reality. Alternatives and hope are not just theoretical but they are alive and in full practice here in Brazil. Witnessing the crowd and feeling the energy of the Social Forum, I am beginning to realize that this practice is well on its way through Bolivia, Venezuela, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, México, India, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. AKA the total Mundo!!!!!

Our tour with Global Exchange is spending the five days prior to the Forum exploring the beautiful Brazilian Southern state of Rio Grande do Sur filled with settlements and encampments of Brazil`s powerful and impressive Landless Workers Movement (MST). Brazilian social movements are among the strongest and most organized in Latin America, challenging the social, racial and economic injustices of the neoliberal global system. The Landless Workers Movement has succeeded in organizing hundreds of land recoveries through out Brazil, pressuring for land reform and providing land titles to 15 million acres of land for more than 300,000 families.

During our first three days we have met MST leaders who, a mere 10 years ago were trapped in poverty. Today, after years of intensive leadership and management training with a heroic struggle to gain legitimate titles to unused portions of Brazil`s immense latifundo, their dignity has been rescued ,their lives restored. (That struggle has claimed 1,000 lives in the last 10 years.) Their pride in their organic pesticide free food productions, personal development, skillful land management, is visible on their faces and in their posture. We have learned that much of MST theory of rescuing the human person and restoring dignity is based on the teachings of Paulo Friere and Clocomir Santos de Morais, who claim that land reform IS social reform. People before profits theory is transforming the face of Brazil`s countryside making it`s way into Brazil`s politics at large.

We are served a bountiful lunch of barbecued beef and pork, and mounds of vegetables freshly harvested from the fields of these 35 families. Wood tables are set up in a grove of eucalyptus trees, draped with green and flowering vines. The biggest butterflies we have ever seen animate the air. There is a huge lake on their land....we will swim after lunch. Families have built solid, comfortable homes here, developed acres of organic rice and corn fields, manage 800 head of cattle and grow huge crops of vetetables and fruit. ...all on a land once owned by an absentee landlord that was guarded by seven people. Now 35 families can eat three meals a day! Ten years ago, poor, hungry and living under plastic tents today walking with dignity surrounded with beauty of their own accomplishment.

What can we learn from this?