Dedicated to improving the lives of the Amazon River people: Japanese people taking on social inequality
This article is reprinted from Nikkei Shimbun ( www.nikkeyshimbun.com.br ), a Japanese newspaper published in Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, for Japanese people and expatriates. This is a six-part series on the Japanese community living in the Amazon, reported by Masayuki Fukazawa, editor-in-chief of Nikkei Shimbun.
Stories from this series
Part 6: Final: Forest agriculture leads to economic stability
Feb. 17, 2009 • Masayuki Fukasawa
>> 5th Making residents "guardians of the environment" In July of this year, HANDS invited a Japanese expert on agro-florestry (forestry farming) from the Tomé Açu settlement in the state of Pará to conduct a seminar that toured the community. The seminar was funded by the Japan Fund for Global Environment (Japan Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency). At first glance, this doesn't seem to be related to health and hygiene, but Sadamori says seriously, "When residents leave their communities, environmental …
5th Humane Childbirth Seminar
Feb. 10, 2009 • Masayuki Fukasawa
>> 4th Spreading the wisdom of Japanese midwifery "E presiso sabi vier!" (We need to know how to live). Everyone stood up and clapped their hands as they sang the theme song for human childbirth. The atmosphere was lively and energetic, like a self-development seminar or a church mass. The seminar was co-hosted by the Amazonas State Health Department and JICA, but it was far from being a stuffy seminar. This is a scene from the "Second Humane Childbirth Seminar," …
Part 4: Electric cables are the umbilical cord to civilization
Feb. 4, 2009 • Masayuki Fukasawa
>> 3rd Monthly health guidance tours by ship "Bon je a!" The children greeted the group with expressions of pure curiosity. HANDS staff members used a model of the inside of a mouth to teach the children how to use a toothbrush. According to the school's director, Joaquim Cabaucante da Silva (31), who was born in Igarapezinho, there are 56 families and 302 students living here. There are 106 students, most of whom are from overseas. Grazis Cidade Tellis (38), …
Part 3: The Mayor Gives Up on Education
Jan. 29, 2009 • Masayuki Fukasawa
>> 2nd Providing health guidance through mobile classes "The city budget that the state gives us for such a large area is so small that it's impossible to fully provide for the health and education of our citizens," Mayor Emerson Pedraza de França, who had just been re-elected, said with a frown during lunch with me on October 29th. In areas where even local governments have given up, Sadamori has been working since September 2007 on the "Health Promotion Project …
The 2nd Land Island ManiColle
Jan. 22, 2009 • Masayuki Fukasawa
>> 1st Remote areas are semi-self-sufficient After an hour's flight on an 18-seater propeller plane that only flies three times a week, the city of Manicole suddenly appeared in the middle of the sea of trees. It is nearly 333 kilometers south of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, and takes two nights to get there by boat. Of course, there are no roads. Although it is a city, its area is almost the same as the Netherlands, and about …
Part 1: Kicking a child down the stairs
Jan. 15, 2009 • Masayuki Fukasawa
The reality I saw while traveling on a budget Few people have been as kind and devoted to the Brazilian common people as he is. Toru Sadamori (40, from Chiba Prefecture) is not an immigrant. However, he is an unusual case, having spent 17 years in Brazil since graduating from university. He has lived in the favela of Monte Azul in Sao Paulo, in the state of Ceara, and currently in Manicole in the state of Amazonas, where he is …
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