Felipe Moisés
Borges can't remember his mother. She died when he was just a toddler, leaving
him to live with his father. What he does remember, however, are the fights
with his new stepmother. Eventually, they got so intense Felipe decided he
couldn't live there any more.
"My dad said
he wasn't going to lose his wife because of me," Felipe says. "So,
I left."
Homeless at 13,
he turned to his friend and employer, a man who sold fruit on the street,
for help. After living with his boss and several different friends for a few
weeks at a time, social services sent Felipe to Nova Vida for what was supposed
to be a one-week stay. That was nearly two years ago.
"I came here
because I had nowhere else to go," says Felipe, now 16. "If it weren't
for Nova Vida, I'd probably be living on the street."
Founded in 1998,
Nova Vida is a home in Novo Hamburgo, in the south of Brazil, for boys between
the ages of 12 and 18 who can no longer live with their families, for reasons
ranging from drug addiction to abusive parents.
As one of nine children,
Felipe looked to his older brothers and sisters for a place to stay when he
could no longer live with his boss's family, but they refused to take him
in.
"When I really
needed it, they wouldn't help me," he says. "Now I don't consider
them my family anymore."
Like many of the
Nova Vida residents, Felipe has run away a few times, but he always comes
back. One time he left to live with his girlfriend, only to return in tears
a week later when she went out with another boy.
"It was his
first broken heart," remembers Nova Vida coordinator Marilene Paré
Vargas de Souza. "The poor thing."
Although now Souza
and Felipe have a good relationship, it was an argument between them that
caused Felipe to leave Nova Vida the second time.
"It was really
hard to come back after all the fighting, but it was easier than having to
adapt to a new place," he says. "I had to fight with myself to come
back again, but I was able to overcome my pride and ask for help."
A New Life
Some come from broken
homes or abusive parents; others learned violent behavior while living on
the streets. Almost all are chemically dependent on drugs ranging from tobacco
to paint thinner, which is often inhaled by street children to lessen hunger
pains. Whatever
their story, they all come here searching for a Nova Vida—a new life.
Nova Vida took over an
existing building previously used for a similar organization, and inherited
a few of its residents. In its four-and-a-half years of operation, more than
90 young men have lived here looking for a second chance at life.
Everyone is required to
attend school, with most of the older residents choosing to go at night. They
fill the rest of their time with arts and crafts, percussion and guitar lessons.
The boys also take capoeira, a Brazilian martial art set to music.
With a weekly chore schedule, the boys take turns cooking, cleaning, sweeping,
gardening and doing laundry.
Looking through a small
photo album, Souza explains that some of the boys thrive in the stable, structured
environment Nova Vida provides, such as one young man who recently earned
a scholarship to Feevale University. But others never really adapt and end
up back on the streets—and, unfortunately, back into their old habits.
Her voice softens as she
points out two teenage boys who died of AIDS, both contracting the disease
by sharing infected needles on the streets. Despite these tragedies, Souza
says she and the other monitors will continue to work to improve the lives
of some of Rio Grande do Sul's forgotten children.
"It's sad when things
like this happen," she says, "but we have to keep on working to
help these boys. They need us to be there for them."
Spiritual Healing
The boys climb out of
their bunk beds at 7 each morning, even on weekends. A strict schedule teaches
them to replace old behaviors with new ones, says Souza.
By 7:30, everyone is dressed
and in the dining room, ready for breakfast. Jorge Luis Coelho Neves, 18,
leads the morning's prayer. All 11 boys join hands as Jorge thanks God for
the food, asking that everyone remain healthy.
Airton Luiz Grahl, one
of the monitors, comes into the circle as the boys close their eyes to recite
the Oração da Serenidade (Serenity Prayer). The boys say the
prayer numerous times a day, and it is central to their recovery.
"God, grant me the
serenity necessary to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change
the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference," they say in
unison.
The boys sit silently
at two long tables, clearing away the brown checkered tablecloths and small,
decorative plants to make room for the food. They scarf down a breakfast of
homemade bread, butter and hot chocolate, and then quietly take their plates
to the kitchen.
Grahl teaches the boys
to be disciplined in everything they do, which is why they must remain quiet
during mealtimes. Grahl and the boys then go to the meditation room for the
morning prayer session. Felipe starts by reading "Your Project and Your
Life," from the "Start of Happiness" prayer book.
After several songs and
prayers, the group gathers in a tight circle for the second time that morning
to recite the Serenity Prayer. This time they put their arms around each other's
shoulders, as if in a football huddle, ending with a loud cheer for strength—"Força!"
One of the Family
Émerson do Rosário
bounces into the Nova Vida dining room carrying a picture, clearly trying
to explain something to the other boys. After some charades-like gestures,
and a lot of pointing back and forth between himself and the picture, he gets
the message across that this is his school.
Deaf since birth, 24-year-old
Émerson often has a hard time communicating. Over his eight-and-a-half
year stay, the monitors have each learned some sign language to communicate
with Émerson, but the boys at Nova Vida find it difficult to understand
him.
Émerson was sent
here after both his birth mother and adoptive mother died. He has an adoptive
sister, but she is also very poor and cannot afford to take care of him. The
monitors are working to find Emerson a job training program so he can be independent.
They are also trying to get him a hearing aid, but because Nova Vida relies
completely on donations, that much extra money is very hard to come by.
Despite not being able
to communicate, he is an integral part of the Nova Vida family, says psychologist
Bauer Orcina Rodriguez. He is always included in every activity, from therapy
sessions to leading the nightly prayer sessions.
"It wouldn't be the
same without him here," he says. "He's such a sweet boy."
Nontraditional Therapy
Peri Brizola, 16, Geferson
Roberto Correa de Andrade, 12, Felipe and Émerson lie inches from the
floor on torn, mismatched mattresses, ready for their group therapy session.
The brick walls of the therapy room are painted a bright yellow, accentuated
by the warm afternoon sun shining through the green and white striped curtains.
They lounge on large, brightly colored pillows lining the room.
Rodriguez relaxes the
boys by turning off the lights and putting on soothing, New Age meditation
music in the background. A small fan purrs in the corner. Rodriguez soundlessly
walks across the room in his socks, asking the boys to close their eyes and
to visualize a cave, "like playing a movie inside your head."
While still concentrating
on their breathing, the boys visualize a cave with a light at the end of the
tunnel. Peri breathes deeply and covers his face with a black baseball cap,
just as they are to pass the light and enter a room where they will see their
true selves.
Geferson says he sees
a boy running by houses, while Peri sees himself running through an endless
field. After completing this exercise, Rodriguez believes they have reached
the subconscious state where he can begin to pull out their deeper problems.
Rodriguez has worked four days a week since Nova Vida opened, using nontraditional
spiritual and relaxation techniques in conjunction with traditional psychoanalysis.
He has studied aromatherapy,
cosmotherapy, color therapy, and chakra, which promotes a free flow of energy
throughout the major energy and nerve centers in the body. Rodriguez is also
a master of Reiki, an ancient Japanese practice of using light touch to transmit
healing energy to the participant. He sometimes also incorporates fire, Native
South American drums and incense in his therapy sessions.
"I can reach the
subconscious faster with the aromas and the music," Rodriguez says. "All
delinquents are very resistant. It's easier to get around this resistance
to reach their deeper problems by using very loving and gentle techniques."
In addition to meditation
and relaxation, Rodriguez has also devised several methods for dealing with
chemical addiction. A blue Alcoholics Anonymous keychain with the inscription
"Clean and serene for six months" was the inspiration for his use
of colored medals for the boys.
Rodriguez created four
different types of medals, each corresponding to a different drug: marijuana,
tobacco, alcohol and paint thinner. Boys receive a new medal every 15 days
until they have been sober for two months, then once a month until they reach
the nine-month goal.
Rodriguez emphasizes that
although most kids here are also hyperactive, he does not put any of them
on Ritalin or any other drug.
"These kids are already
chemically dependent," he says. "We need to show them that there
are other ways to get pleasure, for example, love, respect and life."
After nine months of sobriety,
the boys get a diploma and a graduation ceremony. Roriguez consciously chose
nine months as the goal because it symbolizes the gestation period.
"Once they are clean
for nine months, it's like a rebirth into the world," he says.
Giving Back
At 17, Jorge was already
heavily into drugs, buying marijuana, crack and cocaine on the streets. He
lost his job as a handyman because of his addiction, and started stealing
from his family to support his habit. Jorge would offer to go grocery shopping
or pay a bill, and he would always tell his family the bill was a little higher
than the actual amount. He'd then pocket the extra money.
Soon even the little he
could take from his family wasn't enough, and Jorge tried to rob a bus for
more drug money. He was arrested a year ago and sent to Nova Vida by social
services. His transition into the Nova Vida routine was easy—thanks to
the extra therapy he received during his first few weeks here.
"I like it a lot
here because it's here that I learned everything I know," says Jorge.
In late October, Jorge
will leave the familiar surroundings of Nova Vida for a 9-month stay at a
secluded therapeutic community where he plans conquer his drug addiction for
good.
"When I get better
for real, I want to go back and show them who I really am," Jorge says
of the family that no longer trusts him. Jorge will then return to Nova Vida
to work as a monitor, disciplining some of the same boys he lives with now.
"I already discipline
them now, so it shouldn't be too hard," he says. "I know it will
be a challenge, but it will also be a pleasure to be the youngest monitor
and to help the kids."
Jamie Braun is a
senior studying magazine journalism at the University of Florida. She plans
to graduate in May 2004. Jamie has worked for The Washington Times, The
Independent Florida Alligator, Student Leader magazine and Florida Leader
magazine. She loved her first international journalism trip to Brazil and
hopes to do more in the future. You can reach the author at jamieb131@yahoo.com
