In São Manoel do Pari, in Baixada Cuiabana, families come together in a community space to sing, dance, eat and work
“Our dream has always been to work collectively,” declared Miguelina de Oliveira Campos, resident of the São Manoel do Pari community, about the work of the São Manoel do Pari Association.
One of the founders of the association, she says that the objective has always been to “help the families” who live there, in the rural area of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, a traditional community of family farmers in the heart of the Cerrado in Mato Grosso and close to the entrance to the Pantanal.
Founded in 1998, the association was intended to facilitate the raising of funds for community projects. In the words of Maria Lina, a community health agent and resident of the community, the intention was to “seek projects to help families”. Due to her profession, the health agent says that she always visits the homes of people who live there and identifies when they need help. “We can’t help alone, but thanks to the association, it’s possible”, she argues, adding that in the community “it’s all about helping each other”.
The first step towards making that dream come true was the construction of a community kitchen to process sugar cane and collectively produce rapadura – a traditional food in the region that has belonged to generations of families.
Over time, the dream took on new proportions and today, with the support of PPP-ECOS Fund executed by Institute of Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), the community relies on the space, which operates with the same standards as a small agro-industry.
In the area, it is possible to produce not only rapadura, but also furrundu – a typical sweet from the Baixada Cuiabana and Pantanal regions, which is made with green papaya pulp mixed with sugarcane molasses – and green banana chips, in addition to being able to process fruits to produce pulp.
See the step-by-step process for making furrundu:
“With the agroindustry, our work will improve a lot, we will be able to have surveillance records and serve the market”, highlights Miguelina, adding that the community will also be able to benefit from cumbaru, “a fruit that we did not use and lost, despite being very healthy”.
Other fruits from the Cerrado are also used, and part of the community's food is produced right there, in the fields. One of the family farmers is Nilo Manoel da Costa, who describes himself as a “farmer” and “fighter” for life. Born and raised in Pari, he explains that he plants “everything”, such as bananas, sugarcane, cassava, corn, yams, rice and beans.
“People say that I no longer need to work the way I do, because of my age and because my children are already raised… but my gift is working,” he says about managing the farm.
Nilo is also one of those responsible for keeping the cururu culture alive. An enthusiast of this regional music typical of the Central-West, he says that his parents, uncles and grandparents had a tradition in cururu and that he has been rescuing it “so that it doesn’t end”, since, he adds, “it is a healthy thing”.
According to State Secretariat for Culture, Sports and Leisure from the state of Mato Grosso, cururu is one of the “most expressive cultural manifestations of Mato Grosso”, being presented in religious or non-religious festivals.
This is a musical circle with dance in which two male singers play the viola de cocho and the ganzá – a percussion musical instrument – and challenge each other in singing. Watch the video below.
Siriri is also a traditional artistic expression that consists of a pair dance involving women, men and children. The choreography consists of a circular movement in which the dancers clap their hands together.
In São Manoel do Pari, the custom is for women to dance in full skirts made of chintz while the men challenge each other with singing and playing the guitar. “When we are together, we celebrate, pray, party and have fun,” explains Maria Lina.
For Nilo, “it’s a joy”.
“I want to live agroecology”
Wearing a shirt with the phrase “Multipliers of agroecology”, Miguelina argues that, although “agroecology” is a “very beautiful word” and new, it is an old practice of the traditional community, but before it did not have that name.
“We have always worked respecting nature, not degrading it or using poison,” he argues, adding that, despite this, “people were convinced to use pesticides.”
With the appropriation of agroecological knowledge, “we understood that these substances are harmful, they kill the land, they kill the plant and they kill the farmer too,” he declares.
She also adds that it is possible to produce natural “remedies” for plants, respecting nature and leaving poison aside, as they do in Pari.
“For me, this practice is very good. I want to live agroecology! If I respect my brother and sister, that’s already great,” she concludes. When talking about this, Miguelina explains that in the association, women play an important role and “men are also partners.”
“When we started back then, men were presidents of the association and we didn’t have that voice,” says the community member, adding that the decision is currently always made by men and women.
Rain, frost and fire
The community of São Manoel do Pari is a beneficiary of the PPP-ECOS Fund through an emergency aid notice in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Resilient Cerrado Project (CERES), carried out by ISPN, through the PPP-ECOS Fund, in partnership with WWF-Brazil, WWF-Netherlands and WWF-Paraguay, with resources from the European Union. In 2021, the community suffered from a rainy period with atypical strong winds that knocked down a large part of the banana trees.
The crops also suffered damage caused by frost, in addition to a fire, as the territory was one of those hit by the fire that burned at least 260 thousand hectares of the Pantanal.
The project supported by the Fund helped the community to purchase basic food baskets for all residents of the community due to the situation of vulnerability and food insecurity in which the families found themselves.
It was also possible to acquire the material needed to fence the agroindustry, a demand highlighted by the municipal health inspection so that the association can sell its products within the required standards.
The Fund also provided for the acquisition of part of the materials needed to complete the construction of the agro-industry, such as doors for the bathroom and changing room, as well as the wood-fired oven, in addition to providing for the acquisition of a freezer, pots, pans, cutlery, labels and packaging.
The inauguration of the agroindustry was on June 11, the date on which the Municipal Inspection Service (SIM) seal was also delivered, which represents a great achievement for the association, since it is the first organization in the municipality to have the SIM.
PPP-ECOS
O PPP-ECOS is a strategy to support projects to promote Ecosocial Productive Landscapes. The objective is to democratize access to resources for non-profit associations and cooperatives that are non-governmental or community-based for the implementation of actions that generate socio-environmental benefits.
The initiative has already supported more than 890 projects in the Cerrado, Caatinga and Amazon.
*Cover photo and article text by Camila Araujo/ISPN Communications Advisor.