November 5th, 2021. We were already remembering for the sixth time the terrifying event of the tragedy-crime of Mariana that occurred on the same day in 2015 in which 19 people died, several towns were destroyed and the Doce River completely contaminated. Experts estimate that its recovery, if it occurs, will take decades, if not centuries. Remembering and highlighting such a tragedy is an essential part of activism and of the work of joint construction of a better future. That same day I had the opportunity, together with my friend Vladimir Ospina and several friends, to launch our book "Traces of a river: a travel notebook" in Berlin. All with the support of A Livraria, a bookshop specialising in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian titles, run by Edney Pereira and Catia Russo.
Six years had passed since the accident and more than five years since we actually finished the book, however, due to the winds of life, each person who was part of the project was already in other places. I in Manaus, Vladimir in Paris and other friends who were part of the project between Niterói, Rio de Janeiro and Cuba. Playing the project from a physically distant reality seemed to overlap with the daily dynamics of where my concerns were placed. At that specific moment for me, in Amazonia.
With the pandemic now running for almost two years and various thoughts in renewed places, I reflected constantly on the role of my choices and one main fact emerged from all of this. My responsibility. Responsibility about what I was doing, how I lived and mainly about my causes, beliefs, affections and futures. In a certain way I noticed that there was a child of mine not yet born that had been waiting for years for space to travel the world and tell its own stories.
Within the logic that I did not perceive in my habits, the abandonment was very present. Abandonment of realities that did not please me, jobs, projects and any process that involved greater difficulty. Any responsibility. Faced with this process and driven by the pandemic I came into contact with my greatest need to touch the launching of the book and really make it visible to a larger audience. With that also, to thank and be grateful to the process as a whole that formed me as a person.
The launch was a success and certainly one of the moments of my life in which I was the happiest and saw myself fulfilled. Happy for: having done it with the support of the institute where I worked the IASS-Potsdam (Intitute for Advanced Sustainability Studies) and swiss Gwärtler Stiftung that supported my work for one year as a whole; having counted with the support and help of my friend Vladimir and the presence of several friends. We had a full room on the day and more than 200 people watching online, questions, conversations and an atmosphere of happiness to which I am very grateful. I was happy to be able to represent so many people affected on a cold Berlin night and to present the book that tells the story of all of us Brazilians in my language. I spoke on the day with some of the people who are portrayed in the book and we were there - all together. They in Berlin and we, all of us, in the Rio Doce. Their support was key for we all to fell together working for its regeneration. Beyond that we also counted with the support of german midia divulgating the event, such as the Tópicos magazine (article: Mit einem gemeinsamen Ziel - "With a common goal").
We are all Rio Doce!