Good night! How are you?
Grab a Boca de Rua to support the work of homeless people in Porto Alegre?
- Let´s start? - Yes!
There are a lot of people returning today
and new ones arriving.
It is January already, we have to close this edition,
so the earlier we do, the better.
Like we decided together
this issue will be about the 18th anniversary of the Boca.
The introductory article is not ready yet,
everyone can feel free to complete it,
but what we have until now – and is very good – goes like this:
“When the members of Boca gather,
on every Tuesday at the Escola Porto Alegre,
they form a circle.
No one is in front or behind someone else.
Everyone can look each other in the eyes with the same distance.
In these 18 years we went through a lot of stuff together.
TOGETHER: that is the word which defines us.
We created our own laws,
that are debated, voted and revised every year.
We had some difficult moments and we still have.
We suffer persecution and prejudice.
We are accused of many things,
we lost support and, even worse, many friends,
who were murdered or died due to the bad welfare assistance
offered to people who live on the streets.
We denounced all these injustices through our newspaper.
But we also tell about good stuff, about our city.
Because just like any inhabitant of Porto Alegre, we are citizens too.
When the “Boca” started, there was no organization,
but today there is.
That makes us very proud and encourages us to continue.
Long live the Boca!"
“Boca the Rua” is a newspaper entirely made by homeless people.
It is unique in Basil and worldwide
it even has a website, and Facebook.
I had known the paper for 2 years before participating.
Every time it came out I wanted to see it:
"Look at the front page, so-and-so is on it!"
But I didn't know how important it was,
how much income it generated,
how much dignity it brought to oneself.
The project is quite simple, it does not exclude anyone.
You just have to want to participate at the meetings.
They are open to anyone, you just have to participate
and you get the paper.
After 3 meetings you can get it, and sell and represent.
It's enough time to know what it's all about.
It´s a paper that speaks the reality
of the people who live in social vulnerability.
The photos, the pictures, all made by us.
And this newspaper means everything to me!
I'm the most annoying one, the most demanding!
Because it has to be serious, man!
The denunciations... there is a lot of stuff in here
that doesn't make it into the local newspapers
and there should be even more!
But the paper comes out quarterly
and you cannot resume all what happens on the streets!
Just from yesterday to today, I could make whole paper!
You can pass!
We are doing a video
and we´ll make a commentary... a documentary!
A new one!
Every day. We work almost every day.
Whenever in need, you go out and sell the paper,
you know you´ll get some coins
to buy something to eat.
Boca is every day, it's 24/48, how the guys say
Boca is a struggle.
We try to prove to them
that the homeless people are not what you think they are.
To show them that we are able to communicate and work.
That we need help to try to change.
I'm not saying that I suffer from prejudice on the streets...
But while walking past a person...
you can feel when that person...
has a prejudice against the color...
...dark color.
But I don’t give a darn about it, you know?
If I would care about prejudices, I would have killed myself!
Serious!
I have to do it for myself, for God.
I pray every night and every morning.
When I wake up I say:
"Good morning to my friends, good morning to my enemies
“to whom likes me and to whom doesn’t.
“Good morning, Day! For being alive another day.”
And so I go on with my life.
Selling my paper...
if I am hungry, I ask for food in a restaurant
I don’t do anything wrong, I just ask.
And I do get some!
But if prejudice would get to me, I would have killed myself!
But prejudice exists, a lot.
From the professors who take me for...
someone incapable of doing anything,
up to my fellow students...
Nowadays they know me but…
the question I heard the most when I entered the university,
- I don't know how these people entered! –
was: “How did you get into the federal university?"
So I go all pedagogical: “Look...
“On a computer, I entered the website of the Federal University,
I typed in my data, I printed the payment form,
I arranged a donation to pay the fee
I went there, payed the 110 Reals...
On the day of the test, I handed my ID up to the supervisory
I read the exam, I did it...”
And the person goes like: “You are kidding, right?”
And I say: “No, you are kidding!
"Is there a way to get into uni without doing the entrance exams?
"No! Its logical! I just did the test!”
There are some people... not in my case!
I am homosexual but this is not my story.
There are homosexuals who end up on the streets,
because they don’t have affection from the family,
They get kicked out of the house.
So they get depressed and end up looking for the streets
and drugs, prostitution, robbery...
But plenty of homosexuals, like myself, do have a profession!
I studied for one month, I am not ashamed of it!
My father wanted to kill me when I dropped out of the nursing course!
My family accepts me, it's something personal...
I chose to go on the streets!
When you are handing over your CV
many people look at your appearances.
I don’t mind putting on a shirt, trousers and sneakers
this won't make me less feminine!
But what really makes it difficult for us
is the proof of residency that states you are living in a shelter.
- End of story! – This holds the people up.
On the phone they say: “Come, there is a vacancy...”
- Got there, gave that document... - The interview is wonderful!
You do not fit into our company!
“You don’t have the profile”
You don’t have the profile we are looking for.
This is a bit restraining, they don’t give you an opportunity to...
evolve, what ever!
Every environment has its own way of behaving.
There is not only a singular way to behave!
That's what I think.
- Should I open this file? - Yes...
But we need a caption...
When I think about on how we started,
I realize how weak our proposal was
and how we underestimated the group and even ourselves.
Because our argument was pretty!
But deep down, we were something...
quite welfare like...
Ambitious to put our knowledge
at disposal to a group that didn’t have access to knowledge.
When in reality they had access to a knowledge
that I didn’t even imagine existed!
The first group we worked with
where young people
they were older than 18
but they were the survivors of a big group
of boys and girls living on the streets since their early childhood
They were living, sleeping, working...
hanging out all day long,
at the "hot-dog-square", in front of Rosario College.
The square was called like this due to a hot dog stand.
It was the guys dream to eat that hot dog,
but it was expensive so very rarely they had one!
And there was also that school they would never have access to.
There were very few of them, maybe six...
looking after cars, just hanging around...
Back then there was no crack, they used to sniff glue
and we started to work with them right there,
in their territory,
the meetings were on Saturdays.
And we said to them:
“What would you like to tell the people?”
So they started talking
and I realized...
that when we talk, we are making news!
So the first article of the newspaper was ready!
Impressive!
And one of them...
said a phrase of Jim Morrison!
“Even a broken clock is right twice a day!”
Let's get to work, hey!
The new edition is out!
18 years!
Some people couldn’t make it today,
I would like your approval to release…
Hey darling, how are you?
- I love you! – Love you too!
Today the distribution will be two shares of 35,
total of 70 newspapers!
Where is my smile? Can you show me?
There is this obligation that who is part of the group
has to sign his papers one by one,
That's why we have this big circle here.
And this is the new edition, it's about our 18 years.
Long live the Boca de Rua!
I show the paper and say:
“Look here, new edition, would you like to buy it?"
- That's all? – That´s all, Charlotte!
- Two quid? – Yep.
- Thank you! – You're welcome, come back soon!
See, your getting me lucky Char!
This here is our breadwinner.
You can even save some money if you like.
You can evolve... buy something to wear, a cap,
some pants or sneakers...
The paper provides us with many good things.
Not only with what many people say...
that it is for drugs, cachaça...
Of course, everyone has his own mind, nobody criticizes no one.
Everybody drinks! Everybody does what they want!
Each one is his own judge.
What do you think the movie should talk about?
About the reality of the street...
The cops beating the crap out of us.
- Did this happen to you? – Yeah, over there!
I was at the supermarket and my husband was sitting in a trolley.
A policeman came and started hitting us right away.
My leg went all purple, from here to there.
Just because I was begging and my husband sleeping in the trolley!
The streets aren’t a good place to be.
Very dangerous...
It´s very dangerous on the streets,
Very bad… on the street.
Very cold, in winter it's very cold.
You have to find a marquise to be able to sleep.
Or have a rest... Not even for sleeping!
When it's raining, you need a marquise just to stay there.
In some places they chase us away
It's very bad... To be on the street.
A lot of people know our work
Some people say: “I wouldn’t take it even for free!"
Many people don’t like it!
One day, a friend of mine went to sell an edition to a woman
with the front page full of military police!
And the woman said: "Look: I will buy it,
"but I have to hide it from my husband who is from the police!
"But I like it! I read it secretly!"
You get to the limit when...
I have lived everything I could live on the streets.
I can't take it anymore!
This newspaper is giving me access to society.
If there is no job for people who have a place to live
imagine for the ones who don’t!
The only way out is prostitution... and we don't want that anymore!
You have to watch for social programs, do counseling...
I really want to get off the streets.
Get off and never go back.
Because it is very hard, and for women even more.
Let's give an example...
If I am late to the shelter tonight and there isn’t a bed free,
I will have to sleep alone on the street!
How many drunkards and creepers are there?
I already woke up a couple of times next to a guy I had never seen before!
We always try to stick together... But...
I sleep with a big knife below the pillow”
For real! Out of fear!
When we started working with those kids on the square
Already back then
the proposal was not to do care work.
But it was quite common to say...
Or think or ask:
"How can we help these people?"
So although it wasn’t the purpose, we did play this role.
We joined forces
to take them to medical appointments.
At the time, at least four of them
found out that they had AIDS,
holding our hand in front of the doctor!
Over time - and this is an achievement –
we became aware
that the project couldn’t be measured like:
Did they make it off the streets? And away from drugs?
That wasn’t the idea!
Boca's purpose was making a newspaper,
creating a bridge of communication
between people living on the streets and people living in homes.
And to create a source of income.
There was no idea yet of a community, that just came up
but the proposal was to make a newspaper.
But more in a more simple way, what happens:
you write an article about homeless people
and ask, "Why did you come to the street?"
"What's your life like?" But you never ask:
"Do you have a suggestion to give to the government?"
"How could it improve your situation?"
"What do you need?"
"What would you say to the Mayor, the Governor, the President,
to the responsible of social assistance?"
As if the people of the street...
had no opinion or contributions to give.
The newspaper is made… we decide what it will be!
So we talk every Tuesday,
do the groups and go out to do the story.
Then we have a look, and Rosina helps with that
to see what will be cool or not.
And everything is talked between us.
There isn’t one person who decides, it's the whole group.
The group will approve the decisions.
For me, the street is the same as entering a school.
You learn better or worse things than in high school.
You learn evil and good.
Now you want to go to the right side, right?
I've been living on the street since I was 9.
I'm 52 years old.
So I am quite lonely on the streets.
I only talk when I pass one or the other.
But there are people who don't like me.
and there are the ones who do...
But still...
We appear like everything is fine.
But when you go to sleep, put your hand on the pillow...
All this thinking begins...
"Gee, I'm on the streets, suffering a lot,
"I didn't start a family,
"I didn't get anything good, anything important... "
And we go on with the countenance of "all is fine"
but inside... it hurts a lot, you know?
It hurts so bad to be out there suffering,
getting beaten up by the police...
You can't have a shack somewhere,
because they take away your things... things you gathered.
They take everything and you have to start all over again.
It´s bad as hell. It really hurts.
The street does something that bothers us a lot,
speaking for myself:
the loss of material things,
clothing, documents, work material...
mattress, bedding, blanket, especially in winter.
I honestly lost count of how many times it happened,
me losing... everything.
I know last time...
I was left only with what I was wearing!
It' was all suddenly.
The police car was passing straight there.
Out of nowhere, the cop came here.
They were here, cleaning, brushing the street.
Them cleaning, the police car passing...
The cleaning truck was over there, the policeman went there
and called him to come here and take everything away.
It was all suddenly.
The guys had gone for soup.
I even said to the cops: "The guys must have gone for the soup!"
"They are not here, so there is no owner."
They put everything into the truck and threw it away!
And they don't let us keep anything!
We see them putting our belongings into the truck
and we have to stand there quietly!
You can do nothing!
Because if you to do something,
you will be beaten by a Municipal Guard.
And they don’t offer anything to us!
At the City Hall, we have access to nothing.
The government doesn't care about us.
Here and nowhere! Homeless people do not exist!
Let's start then?
Today is an important day for us.
Only once a year, we do this.
So it's important that everyone is here,
because then there is no point in complaining about the rules…
Well. Let's start then.
"Rules of coexistence of the journal Boca de Rua".
"The rules of “Boca de Rua” are created by the team itself.
They can be modified through group debates.
They are rules of a community
and mainly rules of a work group.
Rights.
Right # 1:
Every Boca member has the right to be respected,
by the whole group,
whatever his education, physical or mental condition,
time of linkage to the team, gender or sexuality is.
Boca's rules…
I find this term very funny, but they are our community rules.
They developed in a natural way,
out of certain situations, creating manners to deal with them.
And then there came a time when there were numerous rules
and many new people in the group
so we wrote them down for the first time.
There was a very important occurrence...
Which was the big discussion of the rules
which coincided with the Impeachment process in Brazil.
And I saw those people saying that lot of nonsense,
and at the same time at the Boca, 30 homeless people
discussing their own law in a very mature way.
This is when you think…
things doesn’t have to be that way!
In the past, we didn't have these rules,
Some sneaky stuff used to happen!
Boca users would steal, even from the collaborators.
So we put it in our minds: "Man, the guys come to support us,
"and we steal their cell phone, their wallet..."
So we put some strict rules
and the Boca de Rua stays firm!
It has been 5 years nothing sneaky happened!
There was a rule, determined by the group,
that to me was utter nonsense:
“If something disappears during the meeting...”
- "disappear" as an understatement of getting stolen -
“nobody receives the paper at the end.”
And whenever we revised the rules, I tried to knock this one over.
Also because it is horrible to say to 30 people:
"Look, you won't get your salary
- because receiving the newspaper is a salary -
for one week."
Then one day Leandro, one of the first participants, told me:
"Rosina, you're very funny, you say you trust us
"but you think this rule cannot exist!"
Me: "Let me understand then, this rule exists…
"but not to be fulfilled, is that it?"
And he said:
"Can't the Boca be a territory free from sneaking around?"
On the streets there are no friends!
Acquaintances! A friend is my dead mother!
I remember to this day, I was seven,
I was in a shelter,
and on the weekends I would go home.
And after that my mom died, I was seven, I remember to this day,
she used to say, "My son, a friend is your mother.
“After your mother dies, you have no friends."
Neither my brothers are my friends, they do not seek me!
And you two are not friends?
Acquaintances!
Acquaintances are one thing, friends are another.
Good evening! Alright darlings?
Grab a Boca de Rua...
to support the work of homeless people in Porto Alegre?
It is a paper that is made by us who live on the streets.
And this cover is a special edition, about 18 years of Boca de Rua.
From the first issue on, it's all in here.
It's two!
I'm on the street because I met the drugs very early.
It was the time of the sniffing, the glue...
And I started to run away from home.
When I was 7, my mum passed away.
Then I grew up in the orphanage. And when I became old enough,
they had no obligation anymore,
they said to me, "Can't do anything else for you!"
So I went to the streets.
Thank you for acknowledging our work!
I appreciate!
I still can't read! Reading like this, fluently...
But I can spell...
People ask me about it, but I explain that...
I participate in the group!
I know the topics that are in here.
I don´t need to read to know the content of the paper!
And if I make it back to a house I want to go back to study!
Because on the street, it's not possible anymore.
I'm sick of the street!
I think the person
- friends I like very much -
and that I see inside the bottle...
I can't judge because I’m a drinker too…
but not from Monday to Friday!
From Sunday to Sunday!
This is not freedom!
You don’t want to be governed
but you are being controlled by a cachaça or crack stones.
You burn this fine grade steel wool.
The steel wool, if you shake it, lots of acids come out...
Imagine you pulling all this...
into your lungs!
I already smoked it, I was into it, it was all I wanted.
Because it's more practical! You don't need a pipe,
you just roll the stone into the steel wool,
put it at the tip of the antenna,
wrap a bag around, because it’s hot, and smoke like a cigarette.
There will be that brilliant shit.
With the pipe, you have to melt the stone with a lighter.
But here, you just light it up like a cigarette and...
- But it kills you faster! - Acid into the lungs, man!
And it's the drug of the moment!
Everywhere. Not only here.
Ah, the guy sees a lot of crap!
It's another trip, you get out of the world!
I'm here with you now, but if I take a hit, I...
I’m in another…
But the craziness doesn’t last long…
one, two minutes, that´s it...
Just to throw money out!
If you smoke a fiver, it will give you a big bang,
but then the others are just illusion.
So, I put it in my head…
I don't say I stopped, but sure I’m not as I was, on and on.
Now I can sleep at night.
I wasn’t sleeping anymore.
At this time I would be drooling in the sun!
What time did I go to sleep?
7am, 6am…
Of course, a person needs to have willpower.
No use of you wanting to help and the person has no willpower.
In my case, I saw that a lot of people wanted my best
and they didn't turn their backs on me.
But there is a limit, isn't it?
When you see that the other is not helping themselves...
and gives up.
But where they turn their backs, it´s the worst thing.
When you see that there is no one to support you,
is when you fall even further.
When I thought there was no one, was when I relapsed.
I had even gone into trafficking…
But some people came and talked to me, got me out of that.
Or else...
Because... Trafficking you have two options...
It's death or it's jail.
And I had two options, death or jail, or...
or have a normal life.
And what means enjoying life for you?
Going out, going to a public square...
Go out, hang out at a square... what else?
Talk, laugh...
take care of yourself, buy clothes, buy things
get gifts and when you get some perfume or something,
you take care of it, you take care of yourself.
Just being with your friends talking, joking.
Sometimes we go for a walk...
That is enjoying life.
Now what is not enjoying life is throwing yourself in a corner...
smoking, using drugs…
You end up selling your stuff, trading everything.
I already sold several things of mine.
- Seriously? Like what...? - Everything. Everything.
I've seen people who stayed off the street for 10 years,
then quarreled with the wife, separated.
"I'm going to visit friends!"
But you know what kind of friend you're gonna visit
and what they will be doing when you arrive.
So subconsciously you are looking for it.
You get there: "So-and-so! You look fine!"
"You look fine" means: you have money!
My comrade!
Just put a pipe in your mouth and there goes your money,
your sneakers, your cellphone...
You go home and get everything else you have,
you get back on the street, sell it all and end up your life.
And then you stop…
"What did I do?" Now it's too late.
And until people have confidence back in you,
that you really changed that you don't want anymore,
that you are trying to help yourself, for others to help you,
because we have to help ourselves so that others can help...
this takes years and more and you don't get out of it!
Here we have two discussions.
One is from you as street people,
with all concern in that regard.
The other is yours as journalists.
So what do we have to do now,
because one will complement the other, right?
We have to get organized, see if we take the camera,
see who will go there, and set up the groups, okay?
There are actually two large groups:
the article about changes in the facilities,
- And the article on food security. - What about the trans?
That's what I was going to say!
The story about trans people and about the guys who kills the girls!
- It increased in 2018! - Feminicide!
I was going to remember this agenda too…
The difficulty of life of transsexuals
and the increase in violence against women.
We can even connect this
with the story about the carnival on the 8th of March…
- and with that samba school... - The Mangueira!
- Wasn't it Tuiuti? Who spoke... - About Marielle!
Mangueira paid tribute to Marielle!
I'm concerned about one thing: we have four big articles.
Each of them could make a cover story.
We shouldn't even talk about the cover!
Because we never had a cover with trans people
and as we will talk about them,
it is fair enough to put them on the cover!
If we already have this idea...
let's go for good photos!
Purchase my work, madam, to help me out?
Sir?
Purchase my work, boy, to help me out?
Buy one, madam, to help me? Thanks.
Buy one, guys, to help me?
If you want to help with a pastry, I thank you!
My name is Paulo Águas, it's my war name
and I currently survive on Boca de Rua newspaper.
There are many judgments about us
me, you, who live on the street,
people know that we sometimes do wrong things.
Heaven is a holy place, but here on earth we are at war!
and it is a bloodless war, it is a war of dialogue.
I've been on the street for 8 years, since 2000 and…
Yeah, I'm 8 years in street situation.
I got to know the public facilities,
I got to know how street dynamics work.
But before that, I suffered a lot,
because I had nowhere to sleep, nowhere to eat,
I came from a loony bin!
It was either staying with my family living their rules
or going to the street.
I then preferred the street because their rules don’t fit me!
The biggest difficulty we encounter on the street?
To find a place to sleep!
If you would go now to the municipal shelter,
it has 120 vacancies and 180 people in the queue.
Every day is a dispute!
For a spoonful of rice, a spoonful of beans and a shelter.
Unfortunately, that is the situation in Porto Alegre.
Then there's a dispute! This is not normal.
It is normal to compete in an election, or sports tournaments
like those you have at school,
but to dispute a spoonful of rice and a bed… excuse me!
My dream is to have…
the power!
Nothing more!
What did you think?
Okay, let me talk again!
Each person, regardless of the situation,
has a dream.
My primary dream, I believe the paper will realize it,
is so simple:
is to be a City Councilor.
The street asks no questions… It welcomes you.
People usually ask me:
why don't you get a job and a home to live?
But who lives on the street, as I have been for 10 years...
we feel alone.
Lots of my colleagues left the street and stayed a year inside the house,
but they felt alone,
not as embraced as the street embraces.
At the time when I arrived on the street,
I was an alcoholic...
like really drinking!
Today, there is no such thing as "drinking socially",
but I don't even drink half of what I used to drink.
So I ended up on the street because of alcoholism.
The Boca de Rua group doesn't care where you come from,
or why you're there.
If today I'm saying what I'm saying
it's out my own free will.
Because I think it's my duty to explain...
and many people may not understand...
but I would like them to understand only one little thing:
Boca de Rua is a family for the street people.
"CITY COUNCILOR"
When he broke his pelvis, he stayed 23 days on the street!
- 29! - In front of a social facility!
There was no one to help…
They didn't give me food, they gave me nothing!
I had to go into the facility,
to take a shower, get a soap
or some food to give it to him.
She ate less to give it to me. The remains.
The guys shared with me or I ate little,
to give to him.
It is a lot of suffering!
Those 29 days were a suffering.
- I had to go to the traffic lights... - Or ask for some from this bro' there.
The taxi driver there helps us a lot when we need it.
- So I asked him for help. - 20 quid, 30 quid.
2 or 3 days before receiving the state allowance
- Because it was broken. - Very painful!
And they dragged me up and down on the mattress.
- Under the rain! - Getting wet, sleeping in the rain.
Those who really helped me were Leandro...
Alessandra, Carnícia...
Carnícia made a tent for me!
- He had an open tent, - He didn't have the sticks...
- He put me in... - And closed it with the mattress.
He closed it on the side, like this…
embedded it and then put it aside.
There I was. Me and her.
On a rainy day, I put up that tent. to give him a bath.
- A bed bath. - Like we were in the hospital.
Just washing intimate areas.
I poured water with a bottle...
When it didn't hurt too much! That was the point.
When I was sleeping I would turn this way and that.
It hurt. It really hurts.
And the pain in a pelvis is horrible... Not be able to move...
Those who help the most are the homeless people.
What about the other people?
Ah, stop it!
Some help, others don't...
From 100, 10 help you.
90 don't even look at you.
When I started living on the street, I got a “godmother”.
Which is a way of saying it!
I asked her for some water, because it was hot.
And she said: "Girl, are you hungry?"
I said, "Yes..."
- The face of hunger! - She said: "You look hungry!"
I said: "Well, I have nothing..." I had no more newspaper!
She said, "Come back in a little bit and I'll give you some food."
Then she gave it to me... "You don´t mind?"
Because for them it is like leftovers, you know?
Then she gave me what she had there.
Here and here. Look.
It's recording.
This is a pause, understand?
To turn off everything it's here.
- Here it's recording... - The red light turned on...
And then she stopped talking, or it’s not very interesting,
so you stop here, then you can continue.
Here I turned everything off.
But when you start recording, press both at the same time, OK?
Are we done with that lesson? Good heavens!
I think the first thing that gave birth to Boca,
it wasn't our idea or dream.
It was when we established some kind of trust between us.
We made a deal with them:
that never, at the day of the meeting,
they would never reach the square, and have no one there,
unless we agreed beforehand.
And that combination lasted all these 18 years.
And I will tell you this fact that I find very funny
and that was decisive for us to break that barrier of trust.
That day, I was sitting there
and they were sniffing glue, all crazy,
and I said, "Guys, stop, for God's sake!
“Because I'm going to get high! "
Then one of them looked at me and said,
"Rosina, you were born high!
“Otherwise, what would you be doing here with us on a Saturday afternoon?”
I think that moment, for me, was something like...
...magical.
Because I realized…
that there was something more than a work proposal,
than a proposal to...
donate and receive…
but that we could create something much more profound.
Shall we start now? Add the special effects!
- You can go on! - My name is Josiane de Oliveira,
I was born in Ijuí,
I came here when I was 14,
today I am 40 years old.
I've lived my whole life here.
But 4 years ago...
I lived on the street,
I was abused a lot,
I used drugs, cachaça, I lost my daughter.
I got tuberculosis,
I was in the hospital for 3 months, almost dead.
I had a stroke, ended up on the street, then got tuberculosis,
I was not undergoing HIV treatment,
I almost died!
You have to see a picture of me before and after,
to see how I look today!
Well recovered! Really.
I didn't stop drinking, I didn't stop smoking
I didn't stop drinking my coffee, I didn't stop drinking my "mate".
I like that people like me, I am friends with everyone.
I just don't like the ones that...
I am very angry, I don’t accept much.
Now I'’ll get my teeth back in February.
It's all because of the punches I took on the streets…
What do you mean?
Because I'm very stubborn…
Then the guys were drunk up, or drugged, or not,
I would say "no means no", and they hit me.
Now I hope not to get punched in the mouth anymore!
It will be expensive that thing they will put.
Now I'm fine, and at least I'm clean.
I don’t have lice, I dye my hair,
I bathe at the time I want, day, night, dawn.
I cook my food, wash my clothes, I'm fine!
In the past, I couldn't even piss! Nor do other needs...
To change even an absorbent, it was hard for us women.
For men, there’s no problem, but for women…
Did you sleep alone on the street?
I already did...
But always with one eye open. I was terrified.
I've been raped one night at the city sports hall.
I was lying under a marquise, burning with fever,
I didn't know I had tuberculosis,
I couldn't eat anything, only drink water.
The guy raped me there.
I said, "Don't do this! I have HIV!"
He hit me, slapped me in the face,
and raped me!
Then he said: "Say nothing to anyone,
if you speak, I'll get you."
So I freaked out,
I couldn't even get up, I was so weak.
I jumped the fences of the building
and I went to tell everything to the guys.
The guys went inside to see who it was.
And they found out it was someone from the neighborhood.
The son of a policeman… a good family...
had a house, nothing was missing,
had good studies,
a boy raping women on the street!
Me sick, burning with fever,
sorry for the word, but it’s fucked up!
Being in pain and weak, not able to eat,
feeling pain, being raped...
It didn't stain my body, it stained my mind.
My soul was stained.
Because I had never been raped before. It was the first time.
And it was not easy.
And I won't talk about details... but it wasn't good for me.
It was the biggest nightmare I had in my life.
After that I left the street.
Yes, we want to get off the street.
But to get off the street our own way.
Not the way other people want...
We want to make our own lives like everyone else.
Conquering,, working... but there aren't jobs for everyone.
We have a very low education level.
Second and third year, up to fifth at most...
And the world is evolving!
It’s no use giving a house if there’s no job,
and no point in giving a job and not preparing that person.
You won’t take someone off the streets after 20 years or more
just by giving a house.
There is also what we call...
scars or sequels from the street.
Usually, a person who lives on the street,
if they don't have a psychological or emotional problem...
they will develop one.
Things will happen to that person.
That's what I call sequels.
I ‘m not saying there is no cure,
because it´s kind of a strong word.
But it´s more difficult to return to your normal state...
if there is anyone “normal”…
But this is what I mean,
the difficulties that make the person take time to adapt.
Not that the person has no desire to leave the street.
I think it is possible, yes, to get off the street.
There is something about this newspaper...
I've participated in other projects, discussions, other things...
I'm talking about me, Anderson.
The Boca de Rua newspaper, in my opinion,
is the greatest tool for social transformation
that I've known in my life.
Not even the university is as much transformative.
What are vulnerable groups used to?
When you ask or say something to them,
you are in a power relationship and the group tend to accept
"Yes sir".
So the autonomy, protagonism, criticism, self-criticism,
and questioning and wanting to know why...
the paper managed to bring all these things together
that we want every individual to have,
and that social projects should have.
Boca de Rua is not a “project”, is it?
So what about that mysterious cover?
Wanna have a look?
So the cover is this one.
- Beautiful! - Great!
I'll pass it on to everyone.
- Who took the picture? - It's Aline's!
And there is more, other organizations or social movements
always have the "leaderships" (that word!)
and the Boca doesn't have them.
When there is an invitation to represent the group,
anyone who wants can go
and if there are limited places, the group decides who is going.
And the supremacy of the group's decision... sometimes...
collaborators also have a vote and they are defeated.
And that's it!
If I'm afraid of something?
If I say no, I'll be lying to myself!
Yes, I'm afraid!
Afraid of sleeping alone at night.
I don't like sleeping in very deserted places,
or in places with...
with a high pedestrian traffic,
or even cars,
or very close to public roads.
Could happen that a car runs over you!
If you're sleeping alone in a corner,
a passing car, rolling down the window and shooting you…
Or someone who is drugged with alcohol...
and stabs you, you know?
I'm afraid to die.
- Do you think about it? - Sometimes.
Sometimes I do.
Once a month, twice…
I think about it.
I’m afraid of being killed and not remembered.
I'm afraid of dying and not being remembered.
Scared of being stabbed...
of getting abandoned.
Our first case of death was in the 3rd issue of the paper,
it was Mercedes, he was legendary.
At first, he was renegade, but then he loved the newspaper.
He was restless, he didn't stop for a minute!
He got sick, he had AIDS,
he was hospitalized.
I went to visit him at the hospital and he didn’t stop for a minute!
I said, "Mercedes, calm down! Let's write your book!"
He wanted to write a book.
He said, "Okay, write it down!"
"My name is Luis Felipe da Luz and I was born on December 25th.
"And someone told me that I am a son of light
"and I must be, because I was already shot in the head and stabbed
"and I was run over about 8 times.
"Once by a Mercedes Benz, that's why my nickname is Mercedes.
"But it is not my story I want to tell here.
"It is the story of other people I met on the street,
"because I've been there since I was a child.
"It will be the story of a "boca de rua".
"Put a point there.
"Now I'm tired!” “OK, Mercedes.”
I kissed his forehead and left.
A week later, he left the hospital,
he was so weak that he couldn't cross the street
in a single signal.
And a week later, of course, he died,
because when you let the person leave in these conditions...
It was the first death, we made a special edition about it.
And after that, we had many deaths…
There was one only year when no one died
and we celebrated with a chocolate cake.
Because every year someone dies, and sometimes...
There was a week, which was the only time when...
I thought I wouldn't be able to make the meeting...
because three of them died.
I remember that Leandro said,
"Calm down, mom, there's one more!"
And I sat on the sidewalk and I...
I sat on the sidewalk!
"I won't be able to make the meeting!” I was thinking.
And Leandro told me,
"Keep your hair on, mom, we need you!"
I don't know how I did it. It was the week that Paulinho died.
I don't know what I said, I don't know what I did.
But Rita was a case apart,
she was a game changer,
especially for the women's self-positioning
She was a strange case because she was fighting all the time.
And was suspended because of it.
She sent me off to goddamn places, call me a crazy vein!
And I would say, "Rita, stop it, otherwise I will have to suspend you!"
"Go ahead and fuck the bitch!"
And she would leave furiously.
At every meeting it was the same!
Halfway, she was doing well then started to go crazy.
Rita was a good person!
She was my best friend.
People even thought we were dykes!
Cause we used to sleep together, eat together, bathe together…
Do some hussleing together!
And Rita was someone who liked children.
She wouldn't let anything happen to children.
She didn't let anyone down!
She used to cook every day for everybody.
Sure there was some bullshit, normal!
She was always arguing, always cursing everybody!
But she was a dear person.
She just didn't... she got discouraged…
First, there was that compulsory hospitalization...
when we fought with the police not to take her.
I went with her.
Then she was arrested, came back, she got a baby, they took her baby...
That's when she got discouraged from life.
She used to get the fatty parts...
"This is now, let's see what we'll get!"
Someone else would go to get rice, pasta...
Simple as that, lunch was ready!
She was super smart!
One day, I went with her and she asked a friend...
- She said you were pregnant! - Wait, let me talk!
You weren't there!
We went to the butcher to get the fatty parts she liked.
Then to the bakery and got tomatoes and onions…
But we needed rice, right?
So we met a friend of hers who knew the paper,
And she said "Hi" and Rita said:
"Don't you have some change to help us make lunch?"
"Yes, okay..." She gave some.
And Rita: "Ah, did you know that my friend is pregnant?"
Then the woman looked at me: "Are you pregnant?"
And I… was all quiet!
And Rita: "Yes, four months!"
I had more belly back then, people could think I was pregnant!
So she looked at me: "Okay, but are you really pregnant?"
Then Rita looked at me, I looked at Rita...
and she said: "Yes she is, four months."
"And what is it?" "Oh, she hasn't seen it yet!"
She fooled the girl to get more money
to make lunch for us to eat.
Now with a smile!
The paper comes out Saturday.
There is a holiday in the middle, I hope it doesn't get in the way.
But in case of problem, we hand out the old one
and on Tuesday the new edition.
Wasn't it going to be on Saturday?
That's what she said! Only if something goes wrong.
Any notification?
About the international seminar, which will take place in a month
there will be a regional meeting this week-end,
at the auditorium at Nursing School,
on the health campus.
On Friday from 9 am to 5 pm
and Saturday until noon.
I think we could make a collective sale on Friday
to get some money...
for our party on Saturday!
- Friday? - Let´s go!
Just a moment, guys, let's write it down here!
- When is it? - Friday!
- Where? - Faculty of Communication!
- No, Nursing School! - Give the address!
I'm in, I'm going!
But it's a collective selling!
I do not want anymore!
You can cross out my name, I'm out!
One day, I was selling the paper and a girl asked me:
"Do you live on the street?" I said: "I do..."
She said: "But you don't look like a homeless person
"and the way you speak is also different.”
I said, "Do you think homeless people don't have the capacity to think?"
She: "The ones I see normally don't."
Me: "But you have to see if the guy didn't use drug!
"Use something yourself and try to talk to me!
"What do you work with?" I asked her.
She: "Legal advice."
I said: "Sniff some powder and try to give an advice,
"and see if you say something that makes sense,
"maybe you will, maybe not...”
She: “Well...”
Hi everybody! Does anyone want to help us?
Tomorrow we will have our 18th birthday party,
so who wants to buy the “Boca”...
share a bit of the privilege… two quid is very little!
Let's take the drug example.
First: there is no world without drugs.
Since man exists on earth... even animals use drugs!
Point two, for us to discuss a serious harm reduction policy,
we need to have a definition of what drugs are.
Because there is no use defending decriminalization
of marijuana, for example,
for the doctor's son to be able to smoke in the summer camp
while the other dude under the bridge is beaten up by cops
because of two crack stones.
There can’t be two measures.
"Ah, but crack is a harmful drug!"
Man... it depends...
The drug itself, the powerful drug,
doesn't come from the bottom, it comes from the top,
because they do use
and the street people use what’s left.
That's why... drugs is all kind of things.
But yes, some are worse.
There are drugs that we don't talk about...
Poor people cannot use heroin, for example,
but the rich people use it...
Upper class, middle class.
The drug comes from the big ones.
and comes and gets here,
and falls into the hands of the weakest, the most humble.
And there is no other solution!
Being on the street without using chemicals or alcohol…
your mind will explode, you won't make it.
So people use it to forget…
about the world.
They're killing themselves!
I think weakness is...
let me see...
It's when you have no path
and your only way is the drug!
Because you have a fight, and you can fight but…
sometimes you will relapse and want to be away from people.
So you do not harm them!
And that is the weakness, because you think like this,
but in reality this is not what happens.
In reality, people want to help
and you don’t believe it.
You think you will harm them...
and prefer to stay away from them…
you prefer harming yourself than harming other people.
And use drugs far away...
So you don't disturb.
It will never end, you know?
Will never end.
This drug, substance, alcohol business will never end.
The world is evolving, but it will go on like this.
6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18
20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30…
The thing that affects me most,
I think it has to do with fear...
I don't know if it's the right word.
I can't stand and I can't get used to...
to injustice.
Injustice bothers me.
Is it fair to live on the street?
Is it fair that some people have a lot of things to eat
and a lot of people have nothing to eat?
Is it fair to think that a person is inferior
for having a different skin color?
Or a different sexual orientation?
For using a different drug than yours?
For studying at a different school?
Is that fair?
So I think my biggest fear is to see an injustice.
All the time!
This is sad, scary...
Because you go after it every day,
to reduce this gap of injustice.
Because the ideal will never exist!
The ideal is in the eye of the beholder!
Ah, and if everyone had a green or yellow house...
there would still be homeless people! And people using drugs!
But what cannot be endured is injustice.
There's no way.
Here we are! Today is the party, 18 years!
Dream…
Dream or desire? There's a difference, right?
Desire is one thing, dream is another...
A dream would be the end of injustice in the world!
Now wishes... I have some…
Personal wishes...
Maybe to graduate from university and my mom being alive to see that.
That is a wish that I have.
At this moment…
change that government!
Treat myself well and be happy!
Until the time that God sends me up.
I hope this will be late. Very late.
I'm already 40...
Not to take my children into this world.
What I went through, I don't want for them.
This is my dream.
And my real dream is, so much that my daughter helps me,
it is to help children with cancer.
Being a hospital volunteer.
Because I spent a year and 6 months there,
I know what a mother's suffering is.
So my dream is to be a volunteer.
Not a doctor, no! A volunteer who helps the children.
Me?
To help her!
Whatever she said, I'll say the same thing!
I want to buy a little house for myself
I want to live the rest of my life there.
Having a little house, until death, god willing.
It's gonna be all right.
Let me do a commercial!
- Wanna be in there too, Jorge? - No!
Good afternoon everyone, today is free public transport day…
and this is the 101st edition of Boca de Rua newspaper
in which I request: acquire our work.
Together we are stronger! See you!
Very well!
Let me see myself a bit!
Go, talk, talk!
18 years and a new edition of our Boca de Rua newspaper,
celebrating our party today.
We are keen to get out to the traffic lights,
to spread the work of Boca de Rua.
A kiss for you all and please access our website!
Thank you!
“AT THE APEX OF MY AGONY I QUOTED SHAKESPEARE”
Translation and subtitling: Annekatrin Fahlke & Charlotte Dafol