By Cléber Rodrigues
I was walking home the other day and a neighbor walking down the street waved at me and said:
— Hey my dear, good morning. I saw some photos of you on Instagram. You were just like the boss, huh! But I didn't understand anything that was written in the caption.
I gave him a smile, joked with the kid who was attentively listening to his father, and spoke.
— Hey my friend, that was the Philanthropy Network for Social Justice seminar…
He interrupted my sentence and with a questioning face said:
— Filamp… What?
We burst out laughing and soon after began a long and pleasant dialogue that seemed to me to be an effective process of transmitting knowledge, what I call popular education. It was time to explain to him about philanthropy as a concept and everything I was having the opportunity to learn as a fellow at an important philanthropic network and how all of this has to do with communities like ours. I explained that philanthropy was much more than charity and was related to defending democratic values, promoting social justice, transparency, horizontality and, therefore, inclusion. It was an important moment of reflection.
I spoke about the beautiful work that Rede Comuá of which I am a scholarship holder, and other networks do, of investing in projects, communities and certain segments that come together to try to reduce bridges and social differences. He added an example of what I had said:
— Like the neighborhood hip-hop collective that receives resources from a fund to implement projects with teenagers. To which I tied the example to the city's LGBT collective that follows this same line of community action. This exchange of knowledge that occurred during our chat generated important connections. We realized that we had a lot to collaborate with each other. I then took the opportunity to comment on the importance of the culture of donation and how trust is an important agent of transformation in territories like ours, lacking public policies, but with the potential for great social impact.
I noticed a smile on the face and an identification with the theme, which elevated our prose and our dreams. They walked together, towards the resumption of an old project in the occupation, the Mirants Collaborative House. A space for community entrepreneurship developed in the territory and by the occupants of the place. From my neighbor, on that sunny Sunday morning, a variety of examples of transformative projects and actions that were taking place in the territory, such as solidarity kitchen during the pandemic, group physiotherapy for the elderly, community garden, etc., came from my neighbor. The boy next door, just over eight years old, exemplified what for him would be social justice, “judo classes after school”. The father completed the boy's speech:
— If the project offers a snack, even better. I felt like I couldn't stay out of the contributions and I fired with satisfaction, elderly group, productive backyard, women's cooperative, community library...
Between smiles and many dreams we realized that we were much closer than the caption he didn't understand.
As the conversation continued to conclude, my neighbor asked me about the Nossa Cidade association, another reference mentioned in the image description, and what its relationship is with the communities. I explained how everything we had talked about was related to our own neighborhood, therefore an Idealist project that will only be possible to achieve through philanthropy networks and a culture of donation, important pillars within Our City, which is a community of associates who together sow the day when everyone lives well in abundant communities on a healthy planet. I explained that I was one of the managers and my role within the institution, which is to bring members increasingly closer to communities and sectors that are at the ends, generally with fewer resources. I realized that my neighbor and friend was contemplating the explanation. We said goodbye and he continued his journey with his son.
Our City Association team. Photo: Cléber Rodrigues, scholarship holder from Rede Comuá.
Between prose, affections and idealism bridges were built, networks woven and a universe of possibilities co-created.
Cléber Rodrigues, 38 years old, married, idealist, social activist and mobilizer of good actions and healthy practices aimed at the health of the elderly population in Minas Gerais. Public school student, scholarship holder of the Prouni program, graduated in Physiotherapy with a specialization in Gerontology. Health Manager at the Federal Institute of Northern Minas Gerais, scholarship holder of the Saberes program from Rede Comuá, and passionate about the study of healthy aging. Social Entrepreneur at Casa Collaborativa Mirants.
