Interview with Brazilian Squatter Activist Nete Araujo

[dcsmart]

Nete Araujo is no conventional grandma. At just 34 years old, she wears sweetheart purple nail varnish and bright white trainers. And instead of spending her days making tea and handing out cake, this nana chooses to pass the time occupying abandoned buildings in São Paulo. For the last four years, Nete has been helping to establish squats for the destitute, rallying exploited tenants to take political action and campaigning for the right to secure, dignified shelter for all.

‘As citizens, we have a responsibility to guarantee that homeless families have dignity – a house, water, education and electricity,’ she explains. ‘Change has to come from the people, because when it comes from the politicians, corruption gets in the way.’

Born in rural Guariba, Nete grew up cutting sugar cane before joining the tides of people moving to São Paulo in search of a better life. She married early, giving birth to her first child when she was just 14. Then one day, when her husband asked for a pay rise, he was sacked. Nete and her children were evicted from their home and forced to live under a motorway bridge for several months, relying on hand-outs to eat.

‘Living on the streets means losing your dignity. People would look down on me, but I used to have a house just like them,’ she recalls. ‘I lost my privacy completely. There were no doors to shut or windows to close. I was cold and I couldn’t wash myself or my children. The conditions were beneath anything worthy of humanity.’
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FULL ARTICLE
http://socialistwebzine.blogspot.com/2009/04/interview-with-brazilian-squatter.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Amazing to think anyone could climb out of the deep hole people like Nete are given

as a starting place.

I need to think about this some more. Thank you for posting it.

[dcsmart]

2. I'm glad you are interested...

you probably saw the original link the article was posted from, but if not, here it is

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1805/1/

thanks

[rabs]

3. Nice article. Thanks for posting.

Remember that Sao Paulo has long been a magnet for the nordestinos from the sertao looking for a decent living.

Guess it is still going on, but heartening to see that people like Nete Araujo are working to better the lot of the nordestinos and others.