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<span class="text"><font color="#333333" class="text"> <p><span style="font-size: larger"><strong>Why the Shelter Juvino Barreto in Brazil must be helped</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: larger"><strong><img height="210" alt="" width="250" align="right" border="0" src="/users/RodrigoDeMedeiros8287/Image//ABRIGO_COVER_thumb.jpg" /></strong></span></p> <p>In 2008 while visiting my hometown in Brazil, my mother introduced me to a place that changed my perception on humanity, humility and the value of life. The Shelter Juvino Barreto, a non-profit shelter for old folks, exclusively operating on donations and scarce funding provided by a corrupt and imoral government. I was fortunate to have gone, unfortunately just one week from departing the country back to the US, but that one week of visits was enough for me to realize something needed to be done to help the shelter continue operations and provide those 180 folks with the minimum necessary for them to have dignity and kindness in their last moments among the living.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Earlier that same year, my parents came across an old man who was living under a tree behind their house, subject to the elements, covered with filth, rags and obviously weakened by hunger and lack of proper sleep. They immediately took him in, bathed, cleaned, fed and dressed him. All the while the man could only sob. This little gesture of solidarity was so uncanny and rare he was deeply touched. It was because of this man that my parents came to know the shelter and started offering support to their daily operations.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The shelter is ran by an amazing woman who is an elderly herself, Sister Ivany. Meeting her and staring deep into her eyes, I felt the power of her faith and the pain of her struggle to make do with so little; it was obvious she felt personally responsible for each and every person under her care. She reminded me of Mother Teresa. Her strength overpowered me, and I felt small.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The shelter is also fully ran by volunteers: nurses, assistants, and specialists who donate their time and efforts to provide some help whenever possible. Every week the place becomes the home for more old men and women who were abandoned by their families or left behind to wilt and fend for themselves in the streets. But let's not be judgmental; who among us would truly know to which lengths a human being will go for self preservation?</p> <p style="text-align: justify">As much as I felt heartbroken and powerless with the genuinely poor conditions of the place, one side of me was overjoyed to see that despite the despicable way human kind is destroying itself, there is still hope and there are still good people among us; people who are selfless, dedicated, kind, honorable, and forgiving. I saw much love, respect, and reason to feel grateful for my own privileged condition in this world. The place is poor, the living conditions are simple, but the rooms are clean, sanitized and organized.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">I made a promise to myself to try to bring attention to the Shelter and look for help, using my limited capabilities. As a photographer, I find it very difficult to capture certain moments, when sometimes a clash occurs between my eagerness to document the situation at hand and my own personal feelings of regret, guilt, inadequacy, shock, and - ultimately - mercy.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">I documented the daily life of the shelter for a week and a book emerged from my experience. I find my experience powerful, moving and revealing, and can only hope the images convey some of those original feelings. All images are for sale, as well as the book, and every penny deriving from sales will go to the shelter directly. I am still in the process of working with the legal parameters to make this an ongoing possibility.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-size: larger"><strong><span style="color: #993366">ABRIGO | SHELTER now available! Currently a </span></strong><em><span style="color: #993366">STAFF PICK </span></em><strong><span style="color: #993366">at BLURB</span>.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify">To purchase the book, visit my BLURB bookstore at: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/586652">www.BLURB.COM</a></p></font></span><br>
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Rodrigo DeMedeiros 2010
