The Movimento Sem Terra- Brazil

I am sorry for not writing recently, I have been seriously busy with revision and work- it is horrific. Having said that, I have been doing a lot of research on social movements in Latin America and the more I read about them the more I love the Zapatistas ( I am definitely a Zapatista at heart). I would LOVE to go to Chiapas and provide some sort of skill, maybe teach English or help them out in some way. I have decided I want to do a PGCE next year so maybe this could help towards my goal of setting up a charity and going to Latin America to teach. I really hope I can do this, I have wanted to do it for so long!

I have been doing a lot of research on the Movimento Sem Terra (MST) in Brazil, another social movement that fundamentally fights for indigenous rights. 

This movement is literally amazing. I have had mixed opinions from different people, but I really like their ambitious character and ideas. Basically they emerged in the 1980s as a response to neo-liberalism in Latin America and the privatisation of land in Brazil, which left a very high number of rural workers without land and with no real options for the future. The MST was formed to fight for a fair agrarian reform, a just and fraternal society and to end capitalism. They have been extremely successful so far. Their main technique is to protest and to occupy unproductive land all over Brazil and then produce on it. They then make money on the products they produce, and each family they settle donates 3% of their produces to the MST. Critics argue that they are lazy, 'they could go and find a real job in the city'. I completely disagree with this. From my point of view, it is extremely difficult to find jobs in Latin America, especially for indigenous people who are seen as 'inferior' to the richer classes. They are framed as backward, standing in the way of modernisation. Why should these people move to the urban areas, where they will be oppressed by the people and, most probably, unemployed? Why can they not enjoy life in the fields and in the crops, producing and being active? It seems irrational for anyone to say that they are lazy. They are simply ambitious and they are fighting for what they believe in, there is no laziness in that. 

I am definitely going to post more about this as soon as I have time but if you wish to discuss this more definitely facebook me or contact me, I am happy to talk about it. I feel very passionate about it! 

I have been reading a book called 'Cutting the wire' by Jan Rocha and Susan Branford. It is very interesting and tells the story of the MST. If you are interested in this post, I definitely recommend it. I promise to post more soon!

Summer 2011 photos...

These are some photos I took with my film camera last summer when I was in Peru. I hope you like them!

Peruvian flag <3

Monasterio de Santa Catalina

Streets of Arequipa and 'Tico' taxis

'Molinos de Sabandia'

I had to pay 50 cents for this photo...

'Maids' go abroad

I love coming back home and chatting to my mum, because we always have really good conversations and really great discussions. We are very similar and she doesn’t look at me like I am a total weirdo when I say certain things.

Anyway, she told me a story that completely shocked me.

Middle class families in Peru (and most of South America I presume) have ‘maids’. Some families treat them very well, and the maids actually become part of the family and just help out with the cooking and looking after the children. However, the ‘snobbier’ families think it is acceptable to make them wear a uniform, not leave the house and have dinner in the kitchen on their own.

When I lived in Peru, I never really noticed this to a great extent. My grandmother was one of the kindest people I have ever met, and when she was in the Peruvian highlands at a young age, she essentially ‘found’ a little lady called Juanita, whose dad was in extreme poverty. Juanita’s dad asked my grandmother whether she could look after her, because Juanita was so skinny and she was so close to dying due to malnutrition and bad health. My grandmother decided to start looking after her. She helped my grandmother raise her children, she is like everyone’s second mum. She is an AMAZING cook (not sure whether you have been to Peru or not, but the food is simply delicious...) Anyway, this story doesn’t really have anything to do with the story my mum told me. I just wanted to mention Juanita because I am probably going to dedicate a whole entry to her at some point.

Basically, my mum’s friend works in London and she used to be a lawyer. She somehow met a Peruvian ‘maid’ in the queue of a shop, in her uniform, looking down (they get told not to look at people in the eye, if they do, they get very told off... naturally....?!) Emma (mum’s friend) is a very opinionated person and she is very fair, she hates injustice (like most of us I would hope). This poor Peruvian girl told Emma that she used to work for this family in Peru, and when the family decided to move to England they asked her whether she wanted to go with them and carry on working for them. They made the whole idea look very appetising obviously... ‘it’s a First World country, you might meet the Queen!’. For an uneducated and naive Peruvian this would sound like a dream, so she accepted. Anyway, the point is she moved to England and when she got here, she was not allowed out of the house. She had to wear a uniform, she was not allowed to take drinks into her room (no cups of tea at the end of the night either), she was only allowed to go out one hour a week and she had to clean, cook dinner and look after the children. This family kept her passport so she was not able to return to Peru. They would not let her watch TV or listen to the radio because this could potentially allow her to learn English, which would be a ‘disadvantage’ for the family. Sadly, I don’t really know how the story ended. Emma told my mum that the girl managed to get away, but I don’t know whether she managed to get back to Peru. This is a common case, believe it or not. This happens to a lot of Peruvians, a lot of Latin Americans. They think the ‘First World’ is perfect, they think it is a dream. They are so naive, and these oppressive monsters take advantage of them for their own ‘benefit’. If you are interested in this, please comment on this and let me know what you think because I am hoping to organise some kind of campaign to raise money for the indigenous. I think this is really important and it is an issue that should be much more addressed.

Anka Zhuravleva

I have discovered an AMAZING Russian photographer called Anka Zhuravleva. Her photos are absolutely amazing. I love photography, I just wish I could afford to buy as many cameras as she has! Here’s a link to her page: http://anka-zhuravleva.com/ 

This is probably one of my favourite photos, it makes me so happy!

Going to London tonight to see one of my best friends, I hope I see some interesting looking people and some interesting sights so I can upload some of my own photos on here. The only one I have uploaded is the one I have as my background of my cat Ozzy. I took it with my mum's old Nikon film camera, it is such a nice camera! Unfortunately it is very heavy and I worry I will break it so I prefer not to carry it around all the time. I have been taking lots of flower photos recently, probably because they remind me of summer and I am slightly deluded thinking summer is here (it definitely isn't, the weather forecast is not looking good this weekend)

Anyway, let's just hope it doesn't rain too much...

Song of the day...

Been listening to lots of Arthur Russell at the moment, I love him so much!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjzsnNkL-7o

Ya Basta! (Enough is enough)

One of the main reasons for creating this blog was to raise awareness to the cause of the indigenous women in Latin America.
I have done a lot of research on the whole issue, and obviously I cannot expect everyone to care about it as much as I do and to feel as connected to it as I do, but there are a few things I thought I could share on here.
Indigenous people in Latin America are extremely oppressed by the government and the society in general. They are placed at the bottom of the social ladder, and they are essentially ignored. The case for indigenous women is even worse. They are oppressed and placed in the corner, not only by the government and the society, but by the indigenous men themselves.
Many social groups have aimed to address this oppression, but there is one particular anti-capitalist group that I have grown fond- The Zapatista Army in Chiapas, Mexico. There is a lot I could say about them, but I think the most important point is to stress that they are trying to fight for the rights of the indigenous people of Chiapas. To me, they represent the whole of Latin America in the fight for recognition. From living in Peru for 12 years of my life, I have witnessed the class struggle and the class division. I actually grew up in a middle class family, I went to a good school and I socialised with people whose parents were intelligent and well educated. However, many people I know have very 'snobby' views and they see the indigenous people (most commonly known as 'cholos' in Peru) as inferior. If someone has European descent, they think of themselves as 'superior'- it is ridiculous! I cannot believe it, it gets to me every time I go back. Anyway, this is why I seriously admire the Zapatista movement, because it is amazing how indigenous people from such a poor town can have so much motivation and so much hope for change. Women and men are welcome to join the Army, which is interesting, because indigenous women are 'expected' to stay at home and look after the children, but this is something the Zapatistas are trying to fight. They stand up for their most common saying 'Ya Basta' which means Enough is enough. Enough oppression, enough exploitation.

I am not going to go on about this too much, because I found a good article that you can read if you are interested in the subject. I do recommend you to read it and to give it a chance, I think it will open people's eyes to many things.
http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/~geneve/zapwomen/goetze/thesis.html

Yayoi Kusama

I went to the Tate Modern to see an exhibition by Yayoi Kusama. She is amazing, her paintings are so colourful (not this one of course), she is so strange and different. I definitely recommend her exhibition!