Since 2014, the Missionaries of the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Federation, have been promoting the distribution of clothes in the town of Carmo da Cachoeira, Minas Gerais, Brazil. But from July 2015 on, the work started to be done at a bazaar of second-hand goods donated. With the service, many people can have access to products and attendance free of charge.
The activity starts when the group of Missionaries receive donations that come from the whole Brazil and countries such as Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, Portugal and Spain. But the greatest number of donations comes through the Network-of-Light, the Nucleus-of-Light, and the collaborators who come to the Community-of-Light of Figueira, besides donations from the poor community of the town itself, because a work is done so as to be donated everything that is no longer useful.they range from used clothes to stoves or rain gutter, everything is accepted and then donated to people who need it.
The condition of the product does not matter much. When it is very poor condition the team itself assumes the task of reforming to improve it.the effort has a justification: they know that even that every old stove with a not so good look may serve and bring happiness to a family that is needing it. “The other day someone came to donate a stove in a very bad condition, but the person was very glad to be able to help with that donation”, tells the Missionary of peace Elamed.
The place used to store and expose the products donated is located in a shed lent by the Mayoralty of the town. Right at the entrance, it is possible to see hundreds of products scattered in an organized way. Everything is kept according to type and usefulness. In a line of about eight meters are different building items, such as power boxes, electric switches, electric wire, an infinity of screws and many other things that are part of a house or an apartment. Further ahead, we realize that the number of plastic cups, bowls and other domestic utensils increases: we have reached the sector of living room and kitchen.
Ana Paula is a resident in Carmo da Cachoeira and walks attentively along the line of products. Soon she is with several things in her hands. She is taking five glasses and brings in her bag clothes and footwear for the whole family that today consists of five persons. “It is very good, it helps the people.the other day I found an electric sandwich maker”, she says smiling.
On the line of products beside, a voice with Spanish accent patiently explains to the bazaar consumer: “Sister, it is necessary to know if you really need this product”.the voice is of Elamed, a Missionary of peace that takes care of the furniture sector and always try to guide people, even those with few goods, about the conscious consumption of products, of trash and waste. “We try to see with the person if what she wants is really necessary, and thus we always try to give the product to the one who needs it the most, he explains.
The atmosphere during the bazaar is relaxed and very rarely someone leaves empty-handed. Suelen Rosa has come many times to the bazaar, today is taking a thermal bag: “I am going to use it to sell popsicle that I make at home”, she explains. Suelen lives with nine persons at home, including three children and brothers and sisters.
The variety of things exposed is surprising: “The person needs something for their home and finds here. Rain gutter, windows and doors have been taken”, says Elamed. Maria Lucia has visited the bazaar of the Missionaries many times. Today she found a toilet cistern that may substitute for the one she has at home, which is broken. “I am using water in the bucket, in this way we spend more water”, she remarks. Maria is also taking, borrowed, a suit for the son who is going to marry and a wedding dress for her future daughter-in-law.
The clothes sector seems to be the most searched for.they are of all kinds and sizes, for men, women and children. Besides the clothes, in a great iron closet, are many books separated by categories, such as Mathematics, History, Geography and foreign languages. With vivid and quick eyes running through the shelves is Marian Giovana, 9 years old, who studies at the fourth grade at a school in town. “She does not want to know about dolls anymore, now she prefers the books…”, says her mother Marlene Aparecida, in the clothes sector beside. In a curious and smiling way, Giovana flicks through a sticker album. Her mother participates in the Pastoral of the Children and tells about her daughter’s vocation in helping: “she likes to pay visits to sick children and to elder people. She borrows the prayer book from her nephew”, completes the mother.
Although the great variety of things may for a moment give the idea of a mess, this word is far from the reality of the bazaar, which is organized from its beginning, until the hour when the person arrives. To enter the bazaar, it is first necessary to wait for some people to leva, so that you may choose the products calmly. But before looking for things, everyone passes by a register and support. It is at this moment that the Missionaries receive many requests of attendance. Each case is evaluated and then refered to the responsible areas, all belonging to the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Federation. And the cases vary. During one day alone, five consultations with the Ophthalmologist, six attendances in the unit of healing of House Light on the Hill and four castrations of dogs in the House of Hope. And even the dogs have their opportunity at the bazaar of the Missionaries. During a morning, a puppy alone and lost appeared at the door of the bazaar. Soon it had already been adopted by a town dweller, and Saint Joseph House, of the Missionaries, committed itself to attend and accompany the puppy, providing vaccines and medicine.
The work of attendance at the bazaar does not stop here, as each case is followed up until the end of the necessity or of the problem that may arise. That is what the Missionaries realized in many occasions when the people did not come to the appointed meetings.the solution was to fetch them at home and later take them back.
“Saint Joseph’s request was that we take care of the souls. We prepare the space so that when people arrive they receive a code of harmony. We have the concern that the work be not restricted to mere assistentialism, to material things”, explains Clara, a Missionary of peace that has been present since the beginning of the work of the bazaar. “We realize that when we supply the material needs with the heart, something happens in their lives that undo the knots in their life situations, and they trust in us”, concludes Clara.
