Message-ID: <mailto:9506120042.AA18370@cr-df.rnp.br> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 1995 21:42:30 EST From: Companheiros das Americas <mailto:poa-bsb@CR-DF.RNP.BR> Subject: popular working horses in Brasilia To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L
Dear Friends
In the satellites cities around Brasilia - where live the poorest people -
there are many people who live on moving things for others in their
2-wheel wagons pulled by horses.
As they are very poor, serving poor customers in a poor neighborhood,
their horses are lean and weak, their wagons improvised from any
material they find in the streets.
As you know, we are working in coalition with the Government in a
satellite city called Santa Maria, where another Partner, Ana Doris,
with her friends, has created and develops a center to promote
women development in all their aspects.
Today, I have been there with Jose Ivan Mayer (who works in the
Labor Secretary, helping to settle community cooperatives with
the jobless people) to help the wagoners to organize their coopera-
tive. These wagoners are already organizing themselves, mainly
since they were all contracted by the Garbage Removal Company
of the new Brasilia Government, to help to keep the city clean
from the ever present waste poor people throw out everywhere. (the
former Government used to lease trucks from rich people who had
trucks to hire, paying them a lot of money for a service that in many
aspects were not appropriate for the environment.)
Now, besides the public owned trucks, the wagoners reach places
where the trucks can't arrive, get small or isolate garbage that the
truck team neglects, and represent money spent directly with local
productive people, adding value to the community economical and
social life.
Ok, we went there to talk with them about how to foster their
organization, creating a cooperative. To buy cheaper feeding
materials for their horses, utensils, to contract a veterinary to weekly
visit their community pasture places. We also have talked about a
better management of their two community pastures (at the city's
north and south limits, about 14 acres each) - to avoid overgrazing
and desertification - and we talked about composting the manure
of their animals to produce humus to cultivate vegetable and
medicinal gardens and to sell.
In Santa Maria (a city 4 years old but already gathering 130,000
people) there are 2 community pastures, where 80 and 50 horses
(respectively) sleep every night. In the whole city, live 250 wagoners
with 380 horses. So, about 250 other animals sleep and graze else
where. But they also will be invited to join the cooperative. In other
satellite cities there are similar situations. Samambaia is another
example: 5 years old - 300,000 people - some hundred wagoners
and horses, and 6 community pastures, also needing best
management.
Of course, Jose Ivan and I will contact the local extension service to
collaborate in this project, aiming to increase the local feed production,
pasture conservation, animal management etc. But I think that there,
in the Partners' list there are other people who also love the horses
and their people, and could send us useful ideas.
Thank you, Joaquim.