The red carpet was out at Criança Esperança on Wednesday,
our final day at that NGO. VIP’s were
invited to ride the elevator up twenty seven flights from the wealthy Ipanema
neighborhood to the community center serving the favela residents high on the
hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
After exiting the elevator, they followed the crimson carpet to the
center of the educational program, the Biblioteca, or library. As a school librarian, this got my attention.
On this day they were hosting one of thirteen events in Rio de
Janeiro called FLUPP. This is a literacy festival for favela residents
sponsored by the UPP, the police department that is assigned to pacify these communities. This festival was modeled after FLIP, the
Festa Literaria Internacional de Paraty.
FLIP is “the literary event of
the Brazilian calendar, as well as one of the most influential literary
jamborees in the world,” according to The Rough Guide to Rio de Janeiro. The annual festival began in 2003 by Liz
Calder, co-founder of the British publisher Bloomsbury. It hosts Brazilian authors as well as those of
international fame. We just missed this
year’s event on July 4-8, as we made the four hour drive to Paraty on Thursday,
July 12.
While FLIP is a festival for elite authors and their
followers, Criança Esperança´s FLUPP was
created for the masses living in favelas.
On our three previous visits to this community center, I took special
interest in the library. It was a large
bright space, with million dollar views overlooking Copacabana and Ipanema beaches,
as well as the picturesque lagoon, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. The library had tables for creative projects,
over twenty computers, and hundreds of books on their shelves. There were samples of student work displayed showing
that they had been learning about the environment in response to the recent Rio
+20 conference. When school was out,
every computer was used by students, typically playing online games. The traffic at the bookshelves, however, was
dismal. On closer inspection, it was
clear why. The shelves were filled with “MUSTY”
books. In the library world that stands
for “Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, and
Your collection has no use for it” and it means that it is time for them
to go. It appears that the library was
filled with donated books that were rejected by kind hearted people. A book in the medical section looked as if it
represented the average age of that collection.
It was published in 1986, and had stains showing its exposure to
moisture. A patron would have to dig through many old books to find the few
gems that were hidden on the shelves. A volunteer said she had tried to begin a
reading program with the children, but they showed little interest. She said that in the eight weeks that she had
been there, she had only seen three people checking out books.
That is why it was so exciting to see the activities
happening with FLUPP. Children were
brought to the festival with their class.
The vibrant MC introduced celebrity readers, storytellers, and invited
the children on stage to dance between events.
At first the children seemed to struggle to focus their attention. As Arlete Salles took the stage, the boy next
to me tapped my leg and with a twinkle in his eye said something in Portuguese
which I did not understand, apart from the word “novella”. He was in awe of this TV novella star and was
excited to hear what she had to say.
Again, due to the language barrier, I can only guess that her passionate
introduction involved sharing her love of reading. She then used her theatrical gift to read a
rather long book without pictures to this large group of children. Most gave her their complete attention. Following that there was an incredible
storyteller whose body language and sound effects kept me glued to his every
move, even though I didn’t understand a word he said. The children were
thrilled. Then actress Renata Sarrah
took the stage. She spread a pile of
books on the ledge in front of her. She
refused to take the microphone, and got the group so quiet they could hear her unamplified voice. She also began with a
passionate introduction. She then read
to the students with wonderful expression.
At the end, she told them that the books on stage were written for all
levels of readers and would be donated to the library. This was a generous and welcome gift. This was followed with a book read by Rodrigo Fagundes. I do not know his significance, but the
children seeking to have their picture taken with him certainly did. He kept them in stitches with the humorous
way that he read his book.
In reading more about FLUPP I learned that this is also a
writing contest. Favela residents are often
stereotyped as uneducated gangsters. Through
the festival, they are encouraged to write and submit the diverse stories of
their lives. Thirty of the best entries
are then published into a book. I truly
hope that this event awakens a thirst for reading and writing in these young
people. I hope that they are brought into
the library by the new books given by their TV icon, and that they then take
the time to dig for the other treasures on the shelves.
Coates, R. & Marshall, O. (2009). The rough guide to Rio
de Janeiro. Rough Guides.
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