culturas da minha terra*: Eder, COPAVI PROJECT: School and the Value of Hard Work

This is Eder!

He is 17 years old, and lives with his family in COPAVI. He grew up there, and works in the agropecuaria, feeding the cows. Unlike the other participants, Eder took his camera with him to school. In our interview, he explicitly drew a distinction between his experiences at school, and in the settlement. In COPAVI, he experiences a degree of "liberty," and can work (something prohibited on the outside). For Eder, work is important, and is something that sets COPAVI kids apart form their counterparts in Paranacity, who are more accustomed to playing football, watching tv, messing around on the computer. He sees a value in labor.

Eder plans to finish high school, and go to college. He would like to study and return to work in the settlement in some capacity, perhaps as a mechanic.

Eder is proud of his family's history and his own involvement in the MST, and hasn't felt a sense of shame or discrimination growing up. He, and the other youth in COPAVI were lucky to have an instructor when they were small. They had classes that helped them to understand their own histories, the importance of the struggle for land and so forth. Beyond this, he has many family members who are MST settlers, or have supported the movement in some capacity or another.

These are some photos that he took over the past weeks.