February 15, 2003
Awakened Woman's Circle is working for peace
In Porto Alegre She is on her way
Part 3: Tears of the Virgin (for the suffering of the world)
by Stephanie Hiller
In December, I went to a talk by Helena Norberg-Hodge sponsored by Starhawk. It was primarily a discussion of changing the terms of globalization to break the grip of transnational corporations by strengthening local economies. As a feminist, I had long been dedicated to the idea that the rise of global women's movement was the only hope of resurrecting a viable existence on this planet. Yet the work of people like Helena, Fritjof Capra, Paul Hawken, Vandana Shiva, Jerry Mander, and others whom I had heard at the Bioneers Conference in California seemed to offer the most compelling and concrete proposals for changing the systems that have catapulted us in the direction of unremitting destruction.
Late one night I visited the World Social Forum web site. With its slogan, "a better world is possible," the WSF was dedicated to exploring alternatives to the global economy. But women's views seemed drastically under-represented. Unless we were included in the discussion, I felt, this powerful movement for change was bound to fail..
I resolved to attend this year's forum in Porto Alegre to find out what women were doing there and add my voice.
With sufficient impetus to finalize travel plans, I ordered my ticket with glee, and immediately went into shock.
I was going the distance -- and I was going alone. I did not speak the language. I might even, lord knows, be stopped at the border by the CIA for my re-evolutionary activities (not likely). The Lonely Planet guidebook that arrived the next day provided ample fuel for apprehension. Thieves were about, and there were passport and tickets to protect. And then there was the matter of which foods to eat, and the safety of water. Was I out of my mind? My son asked: How can you afford to go to Brazil? Answer: I can't. My daughter had similar reservations. But a small fundraising effort produced enough to cover my expenses there and as it turned out, I was indebted to Visa only for airfare.
Then there was the question of accommodations.
The first word from the person on the other end of the Internet was that there were no rooms left in Porto Allegre.
I embarked on a frantic search for lodging that only grew more nerve wracking as the days ticked by. I could have a room in an unidentified motel for $50 a night, far too much for my tiny budget. Guest housing in a local household, offered by the Forum, failed to materialize.
The week before my departure, Genevieve Vaughan, founder of Feminists for a Gift Economy invited me to join their delegation, who were all staying in a convent. Promising safety for $15 a night and friendly company from the US, Canada and Finland, it was a gift.
The Missionarias de Jesus Crucificado is conveniently located in the middle of the city, just between the two major arms of the Foro, where Joao Pessoa turns one way on both sides of the street, leading to long confusing dialogues with taxi drivers. It's in the Azenha, an ordinary neighborhood of working people and housewives going about their business, not really that different from a comparable section of New York or London.
I was the first to arrive at the convent; exhausted and stiff from the long flight, I stretched out on the lawn in the garden in the late afternoon sun to soak up the fact that I was actually in Brazil. Sister Linahlo found me there when she came to introduce me to another member of the gifting group, Angela Miles. With her long greying hair and truly angelic face, Angela looked more like a nun than the women of the convent who all kept their hair short, doubtless a pragmatic choice in view of the temperatures for women who still washed all their laundry by hand and set it out on the lines to dry. (We were all provided with little local laundries on the various terraces, with plastic buckets lining the wall and a nifty drying rack suspended over the sink.)
Sister
Linalho
Angela was eager to talk and to eat, so I accompanied her to a restaurant the group had discovered the preceding year. Unfortunately, the place had changed; the chicken soup Angela sought was no longer made there. While she nibbled on bits of roast chicken instead, I had a guarana.
Guarana is a carbonated sweet drink made from the beautiful red fruit of a teh guarana plant that grows in theAmazon. The fruit is known as the Tears of the Virgin, shed for the suffering of the world. Loaded with nutrients, the drink is said to provide a tonic for good health. Guarana also contains guaranine, a type of caffeine. The bottled drink is a pale yellow and comes in a green bottle. This one bore the name Kuat, printed in way-cool capital letters on a nice slim bottle.
Angela was interested in what brought me to the forum this year and I explained my feelings about women and war and how much the world needs us to come to the fore. She decided then and there to write a petition in support of our efforts against the war and bring it to the women's meeting we were both planning to attend the following day.
I turned the bottle of Kuat in my hand and saw an all too familiar logo.
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Ask for guarana in Porto Alegre and 9 times out of 10, you'll get this Kuat, its pale yellow color deepened by a healthy dose of caramelo, brought to you by Coca Cola. |
From then on, I ordered the Brazilian brand, Antartica. It was far less sugary.
Silly me; turns out Pepsi Cola now owns "the original" Antarctica.