Tekoa Ka’ Aguy Ovy Porã
Fabiola Jimenez
On Monday, June 2nd the group hopped on the bus and went on a very bumpy ride to the village of Tekoa Ka’ Aguy Ovy Porã, one of the many indigenous villages that exist in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The village, inhabited by Guarani indigenous peoples as well as other refugees from countries like Argentina and Venezuela, has a population of around 300 people. Majority of the population are born and raised here and attend school from the very beginning and stay here for their whole life contributing to the community, unless they get the chance to go to university outside of the village in which they can use their degrees like law or dentistry or pedagogy to benefit the community as well! The population here use natural remedies, source their own foods, and attempt to get as little resource as possible from outside of their own community in an effort to conserve their culture.
Even the tattoos on the locals’ arms are done in the village using bamboo sticks, and only the ink is sourced from the city. During our stay we were welcomed with open arms and got a tour of the village and were shown the river, the gardens, the houses being built or that have recently been built, the school area, the outside of the sacred building, kitchen, and their lake on top of so much beautiful greenery and scenery that just exists in the background of their lives every day.
Our hosts were kind enough to feed us a delicious homemade meal that consisted of fried chicken, beans, rice, and salad- and also made fish for our friends that didn’t eat chicken! We met the sweetest, kindest souls that radiated nothing but genuine kindness and beauty from within and got a glimpse into the pain and trauma that the villagers have witnessed, including arson and people/ companies that don’t care for indigenous peoples or the environment and want to cause harm for their own financial gain.
We got blessed with the opportunity to hear a traditional song as a goodbye while on the grass at the lake and shared many heartfelt moments with this village including a moment when we were asked to all come together to put our very best energy into their sacred building and another where we were allowed to come up onto the roof of a building and get a higher view of the beautiful river with mountains in the background.
Not only were the people of the village incredibly sweet and welcoming, but the animals we encountered as well! We met so many dogs, chickens, geese, horses, etc. in our day here and shared our love and appreciation for the village with them as well. This was the most in touch I felt with nature during my Brasil stay and I was phone free the whole time here while my phone sat back at the hotel safe. Enjoy the picture I captured through my digital camera, I hope they captured even a portion of the essence from June 2nd!
