By hkbardo
Finally I am getting settled into Rio. Last Friday, after several days of orientation at the university, I was all excited for my first visit to Meninas Mães. However, of all days, the bus workers’ union decided to go on strike that day, leaving me with no way to get an hour across the city to my destination! Fortunately, after 6 months in Brazil I was already accustomed to this kind of uncontrollable occurrence, which inevitably changes one’s plans. Long story short, I was unable to begin my long-term volunteer work this week; however, I took the opportunity to volunteer with Rio de Janeiro’s Central de Movimentos Populares (CMP) on International Women’s Day on March 8th.
CMP is a collective of political movements that unites a multitude of causes in order to create a community of greater support and representation, shared resources and funding, and also facilitates communication between the movements and political powers. The principal movements represent women, Black Power, LGBT, youth, the homeless, and union workers. A very involved CMP leader expressed to me, “I don’t earn money for my dedication to CMP, I have to find alternative sources of income to live off of, but this work is more rewarding than any paying job I’ve had. Sure, you need money to survive, but CMP is what really gives me life. It makes me very happy to know and to see the difference I make in the lives of others”. His compassion felt tangible and infectious.
To honor International Women’s Day, CMP organized a march throughout the city center advocating for women’s social and reproductive rights, for equality, and for freedom from machismo and gender-based violence. In the typical Brazilian fashion, the day concluded in a Roda-de-Samba (a samba circle) and a feijoada (the traditional meal of rice and beans)! When I wasn’t dancing I was able to talk with some of the members of CMP. In particular, I was sitting next to one of the founders of Rio’s domestic workers’ union, who informed me about Brazil’s new law augmenting the rights of domestic workers. Once passed it will grant domestic workers a multitude of benefits that are considered basic and obligatory in most other professions in Brazil, thus elevating the position of domestic workers and finally giving them the dignity they deserve. The implementation of this law will mean the following: a maximum of an 8-hour work day (44 hours per week), payment for work overtime, social security benefits, the right to indemnity, and several other significant improvements.
Rather than dwelling on the continued discrimination that women face worldwide (which is how I usually spend International Women’s Day), for a change, it was exciting to be able to celebrate a specific accomplishment in the global fight for women’s rights. Yay for Brazil, yay for women!