So far I have been primarily working with two of CPCD’s projects in Araçuaí. Ser Criança (To be a Child) and A Gente Cultura Viva (Our Living Culture). I have also been photographing in their folk art factory and helping out in the office.

At the moment, my most exciting task is to make documentary videos with children and teenagers that will screen at the inauguration of the new cinema that CPCD is building in the center of Araçuaí. The short videos will address the history and culture of Araçuaí.
Here is a picture of the space. The cinema is supposed to be finished in February. I will send you and invitation!






CPCD already has itinerant cinemas that travel to surrounding rural communities. So far they have been screening films like Finding Nemo. They have not shown anything that has been made within this community. I am hoping that the videos that the children make will screen in the itinerant cinemas as well as the in the new permanent space and possibly other, more unpredictable, public sites. (CPCD also has an LCD projector.) CPCD is hoping to house an editing studio in the new cinema and create a filmmaking workshop for children and teenagers to continue making films.

I have already started to work on storyboards with some of the children.

I am working within a wide age range. A group of children ages 6-14 and a group of 16-17 year olds. Tomorrow I am running a workshop to teach the educators, the concerned mothers group, and the teenagers about the possibilities of video and photography. I spent the weekend making a PowerPoint presentation in Portuguese.
here is a piece of the presentation:
não mexe a mão não deixa a sua mão impedir a foto

1)liga/disliga
2)para conservar a bateria não usa a tela da maquina
3)usa de correia da maquina bem segura a maquina sempre com duas mãos
4)comença a filmar um pouco antes da cena (da ação). 10 segundas. e para depois da cena (10 segudas) para assegurar que nada seja cortada do filme.

Tira um tempo para observar a cena antes de filmar e escutar o ambiente antes de gravar.

diagrama

When I first arrived in Minas, I met with Tão, the director of CPCD at the office in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas. He drew this diagram for me.

Tão calls himself an educator. He studied Anthropology and taught history for many years. It is clear that his interests in folklore and folk art have had a profound effect on his organization. Tão has a slightly mischievous smile and clear, sharp eyes. He always wears a cowboy hat.

Tão explained the origin of CPCD and the proliferation of its projects. He spoke slowly and clearly in Portuguese. I understood as much as I could….

The methodology of CPCD is based on learning through play, involving the community in each child’s education, and allowing children to contribute to decisions concerning their own learning.

The basis of CPCD’s methodology is the roda, the wheel. Everyday, children and community educators sit in a circle and share stories, play games, voice concerns, sing songs, and decide what the schedule will be for the day.

A few years ago CPCD identified Araçuaí and the surrounding rural communities as a region that had an intolerable rate of illiteracy and was in need of a revolution in its education system.

CPCD created a number of projects and set up an office here in Araçuaí

Statistics show that CPCD’s intervention has been helpful.

I made my introduction. I tried to speak clearly, ignoring my racing thoughts, and my instincts to use English words that would explain how welcomed I felt and how excited I was to be meeting everyone. I held these words back and restricted thoughts and emotions to a few simple sentences. I asked them all to repeat my name out loud. They thought this was funny, and I thought, well, at least they will know my name. Emma is not that difficult for Portuguese speakers…in Portuguese Emma means emu. Yes, the large, awkward, sort of ugly bird. Three toed feet and loose, shaggy feathers. Should I change my name?

One child caught up with me as I was walking away from the group. He wriggled his small fingers into my hand and held on tight. We walked down the road for a while, his legs moving twice as fast as mine, my feet stumbling on the cobblestones, and my head spinning. I felt confused. I was thinking about the heat, my burning skin, the itchy welts on my legs. My mind was scrambling fast, trying to make things make sense, searching for firm ground, a solid place to land, and a place to rest. After a few minutes I was conscious of this hand that was clenching mine, and this little soul by my side. I felt a tug, and stopped.
“O Emma, eu não indendi nada que você ja falou.” He said in his small 8-year-old voice. (Emma, I didn’t understand anything you just said.)
I sat down on the ground and he sat down next to me. I said,
“I think you did understand something. You know how to say my name.” He giggled. I laughed.
“What’s yours?” I asked.
“José.” He said.
“Prazer.” (it is nice to meet you.)