Uncovering potential and realising dreams - Mestre Bahia´s cooperation with the Guerreiros sem Armas in Monte Serrat

Visiting Mestre Bahia's academy in Monte Serrat has been one of the most interesting and,above all,meaningful experiences since arriving here in Santos.

Originally from the Northeastern state of Ceará and a student of Mestre Sombra, Mestre Bahia has been living in Monte-Serrat for more than thirty years. The work that he does through his academy - the
Associação de Capoeira de Monte Serrat - is key to Tiro Naval, one of the many  communities in need which have been growing on the hillsides of Santos since the 70s following a wave of immigration from the
Northeast.

Bringing Capoeira to the community

That Mestre Bahia's work through Capoeira is socially minded became clear to me the minute I walked into one of his classes. Much of the work that he does directly through Capoeira in Monte Serrat focuses on
children and young people living within the community.

'Most of them are children in need' handing me a glass of sweet coffee while the kids start pouring in from the door in their white uniforms.'And Capoeira helps'. Before I have the time to ask him anything more about this, I am called in to warm up in a roda with Amanda, Mestre Bahia's daughter, and friends.

For these kids, some as young as four years old others already teenagers, the academy is not very different from a large playground. But here their 'brincadeira' (games) becomes more focused and structured and the playful energy is channeled into constructive interaction. Children learn intuitively and practically,
how to respect the unwritten rules that govern the interaction of a game of Capoeira. They become aware that respect -for their fellow capoeristas, for their teachers and for the tradition that they are passed on- is
an essential ingredient in order to be able to participate in the game of Capoeira. All of this without being forced to sit at a desk and read books.

As well as this, Mestre Bahia´s work is also making sure that talent is cultivated and becomes an asset, both for those who own it and for the community at large.Sure, some of these children may not choose to continue training in Capoeira forever, but what they have learned intuitively and practically in Mestre Bahia's classes will stay and shape a core set of skills and values that they will probably carry with them all their lives. Others will continue training and -like Professor Valter who is now twenty and, as far as he can remember, has
trained capoeira all his life- will help perpetuate Mestre Bahia's legacy within the community in the years to come.

But Mestre Bahia's involvement in the community of Tiro Naval goes beyond working directly with children. The academy itself is a point of focus for the entire community. It is not just his students who
turn up for the regular classes at 7 o'clock but, as that time of the day approaches, the whole community makes its way to the academy. Other children, teenagers, parents, friends, friends of friends. The
door of the academy is always open for people to participate in Capoeira even if indirectly.Who doesn't play, watches, listens, chats or simply ´hangs out`. In this way Capoeira has become a key element of the social fabric of Tiro Naval, a shared experience which contributes to bring hearts, minds and lives together.

Capitalising on talent and realising collective dreams

Although Capoeira is an essential part of Mestre Bahia's work, his involvement in the community stretches beyond this and is rooted in a deep awareness of the potential that the community holds.'We have the
most beautiful views in the whole of Santos' he said with a big smile when he took me for a tour of the Morro (mountain) the first time I went to visit him. I could hardly argue with that as we were walking and soaking up the peace along the path that leads to the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte Serrat, the beautiful 17th Century church which sits at the top of the Morro, a key tourist  landmark in the city of Santos.

It is perhaps the awareness of this potential  coupled with his unique position in the community through the work of the academy that turned Mestre Bahia into one of the key players in the cooperation with the Guerreiros Sem Armas (http://guerreirossemarmas.wordpress.com/), a social entrepreneurship programme run by the Instituto Elos of São Paulo (http://www.institutoelos.org/) looking to help this and other similar communities around Santos to fulfil their potential and collective dreams.

The Guerreiros Sem Armas (Warriors Without Weapons) are a group of young people aged between 18 and 35 who take on the task of helping a community transform itself in thirty days.By using various social technologies such as cooperative games and non violent communication techniques the Guerreiros help the community become aware of and uncover its own internal 'stock' of talent and resources that can
help bring about change. At the same time, they facilitate the identification of a collective dream  and help the community lay the foundations for its realisation with a final five days period of hands on work.

As the process unfolded, Mestre Bahia was an important point of reference for the Guerreiros. He became a key point of connection between them and the rest of the community and the academy became the meeting,working and resting space for the Guerreiros as well as their shelter from the sun and the heat when these became too much to bear.

And it is after noticing all those working papers, ´to do` lists and mind-maps hanging on the walls of the academy that I came to ask Mestre Bahia about the project and, before I knew it, I was signed up for the last two days of hands on work on the project.

Mãos na Massa (hands in the dough) - getting to grips with  the work

When I joined the Guerreiros the next day, works to fulfil the community's dreams that had been emerging during discussions in the previous weeks were well underway.

If someone asked me what would take to substantially transform a community and to fulfil its dreams I would probably say the question is overwhelming (even without the thirty days time constraint!).

One of the collective dreams that the community chose to focus on was the launch of a local Padaria (bakery). This would be run by cooperative of ladies who, for a long time, had been making all
sorts of delicious breads, cakes and salgados in their own kitchens and were now ready to extend
their services to the rest of Tiro Naval, saving its inhabitants long journeys along the steep stairways that lead from the Morro into town. The project of the Padaria involved not only the training and support
side for the future entrepreneurs in Tiro Naval but also the construction of a physical space in which the business would be based. Next to the Padaria a colourful mural and a garden would also be part
of the newly designed space.

Working alongside the Guerreiros on this made me realise how much success the project had had in bringing the community together. Many people rolled up their sleeves and joined us to break stones, mix
cement and paint walls whenever they had a free minute. The kids -most of whom I could recognise from Mestre Bahia's classes- were the most enthusiastic group, taking it in turns to glue a mosaic tile here,
carry a bucket of water there. Being informed in our work by the locals' knowledge of the land and the environment was also precious- that you don't plant a siriguela tree on a steep surface because the
roots may grow down and destabilise the soil is no big secret to someone who has lived there all their life but may have not been immediately obvious to us.

As much work was going on indoors as outdoors. Set up in the kitchen of a local family with an AppleMac and Autocad software, one of the architects from the Guerreiros' team was busy putting together the
project for a Cultural Centre to be built in Tiro Naval. 'It's only a draft but hopefully it will be  a good starting point to help the community pitch for funding' she explained as I sat next to her taking
a few minutes' rest from the scorching sun.

But the project was as much about renovating the community from the inside as it was about opening it up to the outside. On my second day a guided tour for external visitors uncovering the hidden beauties of
Monte Serrat was launched. As well as including the traditional landmarks of the Morro, like the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte Serrat and the Itororó water spring, the tour also allowed visitors to get a closer glance of the community itself by listening to stories of local families and individuals and, indeed,uncovering what is special and unique about the community at large.

Of course, the tour wouldn't have been complete had it not featured a stop at Mestre Bahia's academy. Here visitors were introduced to Capoeira, to its roots, its history and its key features. The roda that followed was welcome with enthusiasm by everyone - clapping, cheering and, for some members of the audience who weren't new to Capoeira, taking part in the games made the whole experience interactive and involving.

After the presentation, the academy hosted a tasting session of some of the specialities of the soon-to-be Padaria, which -I dare say- involved the public almost as much as the Capoeira! A slice of banana cake in one hand and a glass of pineapple juice in the other made it all the more easy to go around gather impressions about the tour as people relaxed and recharged their energies. Ricardo, a young social entrepreneur from São Paulo, thinks the strength of the tour lies in the fact that visitors can connect directly with the
community, talk to people, find out their stories and this makes the whole experience all the more real and meaningful. Many suggestions to improve the tour were also offered but the general feel was that something new and different had been created which was worth being developed and rolled out to a wider audience.

As the last day of 'hands on work' drew to an end I couldn't help thinking how incredibly special the whole experience of working alongside Mestre Bahia and the Guerreiros Sem Armas had been. It's true that the murals, the garden, the space which had been cleared to make room for the Padaria, the signs painted along the steep stairways to indicate the tourist route, are seeds of a process of change that needs to be nurtured and sustained going forward. But the determination and the sense of common goal that have been growing
and unfolding in Tiro Naval were second to none.And, as the old saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.