Fr.
Robert DE VALICOURT works with the Indians of Brazil. Recently, he celebrated
50 years of priesthood.
Since the colonization
of the 16th century up till our own day, the Indians have always
been reduced to slavery, persecuted and killed. To survive, they had to flee.
They took refuge in the interior parts of the country. There are 90 groups in
Brazil, mostly in the Amazon, and 37 in the rest of Latin America. They have no
contact with other Indians or the rest of the population. They are discovered
by flying over the forest or by the traces they leave behind as they pass through.
In recent years, specialists and missionaries have tried to contact them. The
result was a disaster.
A simple flu or
the measles decimated them or made them disappear altogether. The current
policy is different: their presence is reported to the government which
prohibits any access to that territory. However, gold miners, timber merchants,
mining research companies do not respect the laws and the country is so vast!
They will disappear. Society cares more about whales than about humans!
I love the work
I do among the Indians who live in Manaus or in the nearby rural area. I am
discovering many things. I think that 50% of the population of Manaus has some
Indian blood in their veins. But few Indians acknowledge their origins because
of the serious prejudices against them, either at school or at work. A nice
lady came up to me at the end of Mass: “Padre, you work with the Indians?
Aren’t you afraid?”
Our little team
is reduced to three people: Joelma, mother, Apurinã Indian, evangelical;
Silvio, Tukano Indian, living with a woman, Catholic; and I. Our work is based
on visits. We go from house to house and group to group. It’s like the Little
Prince and his fox. We are being adopted. They are glad to see us arrive and
they ask us to help them. They tell of enormous difficulties. We are with them.
They must solve their own problems, but they need guidance or the contacts we
provide them. They must support themselves as Indians, rediscovering their
cultural roots, developing their traditional wisdom which they tend to abandon.
They become the masses with no future and they sink into alcoholism and drug
abuse. Our main work is helping them regain confidence in themselves. In
Brazilian, they speak of “auto-estima” (self-esteem).
Five of the Apurinã
Indian families live in misery. Most of them are sick. The children do not go
to school. They cannot find work. They have built their homes next to the sewer
which overflows when there is heavy rain. Fortunately, the grandmother has a
small pension. They are allowing themselves die. They ask us for help, for
clothing, for food.
That’s okay
once, but they have to get moving. From time to time, we visit them and encourage
them to show some initiative. Sometimes, they are not happy because we don’t
bring them anything. The months go by. I wonder if my presence serves a
purpose. One day, we arrived there and there were about 20 people gathered
together. They had invited their relatives and friends to get organized and try
to do something. They decided to go and claim better land to build their homes.
They asked us to call the municipal health department. They are concerned about
the children who do not attend school.
An Indian
neighbor took care of enrolling them in a nearby school. We called a doctor, a
nurse, and a dentist. They gave the needed vaccinations. So we’re off: they
have discovered the joy of living. They are all evangelical Protestants, but
that’s alright: they are all children of God. It’s life that counts! (OMI France, 15 July 2011)
