Goiânia Hosts First Cultural Festival:
In Search of Peace
- Sr. Thalyta Pereira Lima, SFP
Laryssa Machado, Collaborator
 Sr. Thalyta Pereira and Laryssa Machado |
“This is one of the objectives that we have, as Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, for our institutions and for all who are committed to fostering a better world. If we manage to continue promoting activities like this Festival, perhaps in a not very distant future we will see that the whole world begins to recognize that we all are part of one and the same universe, created by God, and that for this reason we are brothers and sisters of all creatures, as our holy father, Saint Francis of Assisi recognized.” [Sister Thalyta]
On the eve of the Feast of Saint Francis (October 3), we opened the First Cultural Festival: In Search of Peace at the Frances Schervier Formation Center (FSFC). This involved the people from the Residencial Sonho Dourado, our neighborhood in Goiânia. It was organized by the Cultural Diversity and the Environment Project, which had been launched by the FSFC Activities Coordinating Team in August 2009.
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Our goal was to raise the awareness of our country’s cultural diversity and deepen our commitment to preserve the environment. The festival brought together those participating in the activities already happening at the FSFC and also enticed more people from the wider community!
The First Festival’s theme – In Search of Peace – seemed appropriate since Francis is the Patron Saint of Ecology and is deeply respected by several religious groups for his message of unconditional peace. As a religious, he spread universal love throughout his life, preaching charity, peace and humility, and bringing solace to many poor people. Today Francis continues to inspire us.
Sister Tânia opened the Festival with a reflection on Saint Francis. Then the cultural presentations began. Two children sang a Gospel song which pleased everybody. Then, Rogério, our guitar teacher, and Rafael, one of his students, played and sang a folk song dear to many Brazilians, “The Boy at the Farm Gate.” They were followed by the dance class students who danced a lively Northeastern rhythm: the forró.
A grandmother of four who comes to our Brinquedoteca (the educational toy playground at the FSFC) shared her life experiences and told us about how children played when she was growing up. She demonstrated how much fun they had singing ‘ring-around-the-rosy’ and playing with rag dolls and how creative children could be. They often made their own toys, which helped sharpen their thinking process and imagination. She observed how children today do not play as creatively since their fun comes from electronic gadgets and toys which do not involve much ingenuity.
The women from Sonho Dourado who do handwork and participate at the FSFC’s Handcraft Group depicted on a cloth banner several highlights in their lives. They had woven the display with embroidery, painting and collage. They were deeply moved while telling us their life stories! One of the women was unable to hold back her tears which flowed down her cheeks as she spoke. All these were beautiful experiences of learning and appreciating each other that we hope to repeat.
The English Class performed a play to illustrate actions that can be taken to preserve the environment. Their piece ended with a video clip of Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song.”
The Festival’s peak moment was the Ginkana, an amusing competition for the youth groups. It was organized by the participants divided into the ‘White Team’ and the ‘Blue Team’. They each had to create their own Cheer Chant for Peace. A jury evaluated it regarding the lyrics, rhythm, team organization and dignity.
The Ginkana included a fashion show produced by the two teams with costumes made from recyclable products, suggesting the possibility of preserving resources by recycling refuse. This show was a true revelation of originality and beauty and was a surprise to everyone. Another competition was the gathering of recyclables to demonstrate the importance of reducing the plastic garbage spread everywhere.
Probably the most important contest was the collection of food for the poor to reinforce a sense of solidarity as a community value. Feeding the poor who often do not have enough food to lead a dignified life touches on the embarrassing question of a rich country whose great wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few.
“I was invited to participate in the Ginkana as the Blue Team coordinator. From that moment I began to call on other people to participate while keeping in touch with Sister Thalyta and the FSFC Activities Coordinating Team. When deciding what our ‘Cheer Chant for Peace’ would be, we chose the one Maria José, a member of the Handcraft Group, had composed. For the fashion show as a team we made our own dresses with reusable scraps. We encouraged and tried to involve everyone in our festival, which proved to be a very rewarding effort.” (Laryssa, a volunteer collaborator and member of the Painting on Cloth Group.)
The whole event was a success! Everybody who participated in the activities came to know each other better, thus improving the intermingling among those we serve. Everybody was swept up by the preparations weeks ahead of the great day.
The Festival ended with the Galinhada, a chicken and rice stew -- typical of Goiás; the young musicians played the Samba. When the festival ended, it was a surprise to everyone that there was no garbage left on the ground! This was an indication of a good beginning, making us very hopeful that new patterns have been started that will spread through future generations.
 Toy Play Teacher Carla on the right; Isabela at center and Mateus on the left |
 Sisters, Associates and people from the community |
 Costumes from recyclables |
 Sisters and Collaborators together! |