Bahá’í World/Volume 3/Some Experiences Among the Poor in Brazil
SOME EXPERIENCES AMONG THE POOR IN BRAZIL
BY LEONORA HOLSAPPLE
BLESSED are the nameless and traceless poor for they are the leaders of mankind.” How many, many proofs we see constantly of the truth of these words. Truly those who are poorest in this world’s goods—poorest in worldly power, fame, and riches seem so often richly compensated by a larger share of the wealth that endureth.
It has been my experience to work for the past three years among the poor of Brazil. In several states of that vast country, whose area slightly exceeds that of the United States, I came in contact particularly with those who are generally considered the less fortunate members of society.
Within a few months of the arrival of Miss Maud Mickle (my co-worker) and myself in Bahia, Brazil, regular fortnightly Bahá’í meetings were established in the factory district, in the very humble home of one of the workers. These people were in badly ventilated textile or cigarette factories from seven in the morning till five at night, year in, year out. Some of them told us they had worked twenty, some twenty—five, others thirty years, at the same machine, and at a wage of two to three dollars a week, or even less during slack periods. Though Sunday is the only day they have in which to wash and mend their clothes and clean their houses, still they would come —walking long distances some of them—to attend our Sunday afternoon meetings. They would listen intently and sympathetically to the story of the sufferings of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, of their sacrifices for the oneness of humanity. Especially eager were they to hear of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s many acts of charity, which won for Him the title of “Father of the Poor.” Though for the most part illiterate, they seemed to catch the spirit of the Master’s Words. However little of the teachings they could understand with their minds, with their hearts they felt and loved them.
Dona Antonia, in whose home the meetings were held during more than two years, used to go about in her spare moments inviting her friends and neighbors to come to the meetings, and distributing booklets and copies of our magazine among them. A photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá which we had given to her she herself had framed and hung in the room used for our meetings.
In the state of Pernambuco some among the poor were found most receptive; and in the capital of Ceará, where I spent four months, there were still more opportunities of making contacts with the very poor.
We have had vividly portrayed to us the extreme poverty and desolation witnessed in cities of India, China, and other parts of the Orient, but few, perhaps, have pictured anything similar in connection with any part of our western hemisphere. Some may think of Brazil as still a great jungle, where a living may be had for the taking. It is true that some parts of it still are. Others who have been so fortunate as to take the trip down to Rio de Janeiro on one of our up-to-date English or American boats, may have been agreeably surprised to find the Brazilian capital a very modern as well as very beautiful city, in which practically all the luxuries of home can be enjoyed at a moderate cost. Comparatively few, however, visit central or northern Brazil, so as to be able to form a true idea of the life of a large portion of the people. Picture, for example, Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará, but a short distance south of the equator, its rows upon rows of low houses joined together, with scarcely a square foot of garden or a tree to relieve the glare of the tropical sun or the burning of the
Rabbi Martin A. Meyer in whose Synagogue, Temple Emmanuel-El, in San Francisco, in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá delivered one of the most awakening and dynamic of all of His addresses in America.
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sand beneath your feet; and
the dirt! and the flies! If we are told that
there is a street-cleaning department, we
shall have to accept it on faith. Some of
the inhabitants have themselves named their
city "Sujopolis” (the dirty city). A sewerage
system is only now being put in. The
water is impure; yet one is thankful to have
any at all in Ceará, for it is in a region
subject to long droughts which have caused
the death of thousands in the past. But
that which most impresses one in the streets
of Ceará is the multitude of beggars,
decrepit old men and women, blind, diseased;
hundreds of lepers; and the many other
apparently desperately poor and wretched,
but perhaps too proud to beg; and the
naked children wallowing in the sand.
Thanks to the good work of our Rockefeller Foundation, no case of yellow fever has been reported in the capital for the past four years; but there are still malaria, cholera, and typhoid. Serious epidemics of the two latter broke out during my stay there, and I was able to offer my services in carrying medicine, food, and clothing to many of the sick. It was a thrilling experience to visit them in their homes——in their little huts of palm leaves twisted and tied together, with no floor but mother earth, with a wooden bench, perhaps a rude table, a hammock or two to sleep in, and a crucifix or picture of some saint in this which they call a home, and to try to prove to them by deeds the Bahá’í’s faith in the oneness of humanity. There were black and white among them, and all the intervening shades, and many who showed clearly the mixture of Indian blood with the Negro or Portuguese. But all were poor, suffering, in need of human help, and all were grateful to have it given, freely, for the love of humanity.
To some, as they became well, there was opportunity of speaking of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and booklets were given to the two or three who were found who could read. On one occasion a group of children who sometimes followed me around from house to house as I made my visits, stood in the doorway of one house in which I was showing a picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Each one wished to come in and look, and on being told whose picture it was, slowly pronounced His Name. One woman, to show her gratitude, sent her little girl of six or seven a distance of more than two miles to my home on the day of my departure to bring me a gift. The child arrived at about seven o’clock in the morning, and handed me an old handkerchief in which were tied four very small eggs, each carefully wrapped in a bit of newspaper! Another woman wished to give me her thirteen-year-old daughter. Their families are often so much larger than they are able to take care of, they are glad to give one or more to some trustworthy person to bring up for them, even though they are as a rule quite affectionate and devoted to their children.
We have felt that a valuable service might be rendered by taking several children—orphans or others whose parents were too poor to give them any education, or even food and clothing—and they might later perhaps go back and give the Bahá’í message to their own people. For about two years we have had in our home in Bahia a little orphan girl to whom we have been giving the Bahá’í teachings.
In Ceará not only were the poor themselves receptive, but the work with them helped to pave the way for some of the rich to receive the message, for when the opportunity came to give a Bahá’í lecture in the most fashionable club of the city, undoubtedly a number attended whose interest had been roused through hearing of my services as “Nurse of the Poor,” as I was called.
Permission was also obtained to address all the prisoners in the Ceará State Prison on Easter Sunday afternoon. Here again a contact was made with society’s unfortunates. The hearts of some of them, at least, would seem to have been softened by suffering and made receptive. One made a speech of thanks; another wrote a letter of appreciation. All seemed eager to receive at the close of the meeting booklets and typed copies of prayers that had been translated into Portuguese.
Of course some of the wealthy and educated classes in Brazil also have attended the meetings and expressed their sympathy with the Principles, but they are so prone
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Bahá’í Student Class, Bahia, Brazil.
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to weigh everything with
their intellects merely. Generally speaking,
it seems more difficult for them to feel
the love, that great spiritual dynamic
which is surging, emanating, from the
Word of God in this New Day.
Just one striking exception, however. The mayor of a small town, in the State of Bahia, noted for its fanaticism, gave us the use of the city hall for a lecture, at which he himself introduced the speaker, and for which, more than that, he had had handbills announcing it printed and distributed throughout the town. He seemed very sincere in his interest, and when we went to pay our hotel bill, we found that his courtesy had extended so far as to make us his guests.
Indeed, “Blessed are the nameless and traceless poor”; though blessed, too, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has told us, are the few who have not been withheld by riches or prestige from “turning toward the Lights of His Face.”
