On Sunday, I was walking down the street when I observed some shocking, yet familiar behavior. As I passed in front of favela Santa Marta, children were playing and adults were similarly scattered around the plaza talking, selling food, and waiting for the bus. Business as usual.
I noticed a woman distributing individually wrapped bags of popcorn to the children. In the blink of an eye, the children had grabbed the popcorn away from the woman, and began desperately fighting over it. Pushing, shoving, kicking, and screaming ensued. Three children wound up on the ground.
In the end, few bags of popcorn had fallen into the hands of the children. The majority of the popcorn, ripped violently out of their individually wrapped packages, had fallen on the ground. The crowd of children and onlookers eventually dispersed, leaving a sidewalk littered with lonely, wasted popcorn and a foreigner trying to wrap her head around the scene she had just witnessed.
My mind flooded with questions and images. It reminded me of the pecking order of birds where the larger and stronger birds forcibly deny their weaker competition. The only difference here is that the birds are pecking for survival, whereas, these children had plenty to eat.
Couldn’t the popcorn be shared, instead of wasted on the ground? Did one child need to show his or her strength over the others? And what is it about this society that allowed a scene like this to occur?
Later on, I found out that Sunday, September 27 is called Dia de São Cosme and São Damião. On this religious holiday, individuals who have received good fortune give back to the community by distributing small bags of candy or treats to children. The holiday is meant to commemorate the kind actions and medical miracles performed by these twin brothers centuries ago.
Watching this incident unfold reminded me of a similar event that happened last year in favela Tabajaras. Project volunteers decided to renovate their meeting space by planting a garden and painting over tasteless graffiti. Everyone was invited to help. Many of the adults worked during the day, but a few children eventually showed up.
Before the volunteers could assign the children tasks to perform, they stole the paint that the volunteers had selflessly pooled their money to buy, and ran off. They poured the paint over themselves and over beautiful tables in the plaza that had checkerboard tops. Their objective wasn’t to be malicious; they were simply having fun in the moment.
Seeing the big picture, these acts seem thoughtless, wasteful, and destructive. However, not everyone thinks the same way. In the field, there will be times when the ways of thinking, acting, and doing are different from your own. You may not understand. You may not agree. And you may not be able to fix the root of the problem.
Sometimes all you can do, is remember São Cosme and São Damião. These brothers rose to fame not only because the miracles they performed, but also the ways in which they performed their good deeds. They never accepted payment, and even in the light of persecution, remained faithful to themselves and dedicated to their work. Sometimes all you can do is be yourself, lead by example, and in the infamous words of Jiminy Cricket, let your conscience be your guide.
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Leading by example is the best way to teach a person. It’s not “do as I say” but “do as I do”. Another valuable lesson to be learned is it is more important to lead by example even if no one is watching.