Futuro Bem Maior: discover the work of Coletivo Multividas

The collective participated in the Futuro Bem Maior , carried out by Movimento Bem Maior , Phomenta and Instituto Phi, aimed at strengthening initiatives with community impact

“Itatuba” is an ancestral term, from Tupi, which means “place of many stones”. This name not only describes the geography, but also encapsulates the essence of a municipality in the Metropolitan Region of Campina Grande, Paraíba, which has just over 10 thousand inhabitants, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE 2011). Among the residents is Shirley Luis da Silva, a teacher for 25 years and member of Coletivo Multividas, an organization that supports rural workers in living in the semi-arid region and defending human rights.

Daughter of farming parents, Shirley understood, from a young age, that this was a fertile land, made up of people as firm as a rock, but with few opportunities. More than half of the region's inhabitants depend on family farming for their livelihood, supplementing their income with government programs, such as Bolsa Família, and retirement.

“We emerged with the experience of base ecclesiastical communities. It was a group of rural chapels, which met at that time to discuss the journey of each chapel, in 1994. When this group emerged, it was religious, but over time we also saw other issues, sharing the potential and weaknesses of each community. ”, comments the educator. “The name, Coletivo Multividas, was created later, when the Migrants Pastoral Service arrived and joined, bringing with it the water access program. One of the biggest problems with the rural exodus in the municipality of Itatuba was the migration of the population from rural areas to urban areas, due to lack of water.”

The initiative expanded and services were expanded, embracing not only families from Itatuba, but also from the municipalities of Fagundes and Ingá. “In addition to the cisterns, we have other activities aimed at farmers and agriculture, such as ecological economic stoves. In addition to reducing gas costs, they use the firewood available in the community, without destroying nature, and make it possible to prepare cakes, savory snacks and other varieties so that families can sell and help with their household income”, highlights Shirley.

Another strong point of the collective, which participates in networks such as the Agreste Leadership Forum and the Northeast Solidarity Fund, is the maintenance of Creole seed banks. At fairs and meetings, dialogues are held with society about the importance of conserving these grains and denouncing contamination by GMOs, pesticides and climate change.

“Today, we have the seed bank in the Mãe Joana community; a seed bank in the Serra Velha community, in Itatuba; a seed bank in the municipality of Ingá; and this year, we will create another one at Agrovila Águas de Acauã, a resettlement that houses families affected by the construction of the Acauã dam”, he shares. “We talk about everything from saving seeds to planting and all this training, about coexistence with the semi-arid region, so that farmers can be protagonists of their own history, around their homes, in their fields. We want them to be able to plant and harvest to prepare their food safely and without poison. The main objective is family. The maintenance and survival of the family.”

Futuro Bem Maior

Despite the tireless work, wisdom and positive impact, the Collective felt the need for management tools and strategies to achieve even more success stories. This is how Multividas discovered the Futuro Bem Maior program, a collaboration between Movimento Bem Maior, Phomenta and Instituto Phi , dedicated to strengthening community initiatives.

The program, now in its 4th edition, supports relevant social organizations, but with limited resources, in areas of high social vulnerability. Through training, it seeks to promote the protagonism of these groups, enabling them to achieve their mission with quality and in a sustainable manner.

“When we went to see the notice, it hit home for us, as we were not formalized. It was our opportunity. It was with this intention that we, from Coletivo Multividas, participated and, thank God, we were approved”, he recalls. “We thought it was a window, but it has already opened several doors, because we are putting it into practice. We take the step for Multividas to be formalized, to have your CNPJ. We will expand service at seed banks in rural communities. Before, we lost several notices because we didn't have a CNPJ, so this opportunity went further, allowing us to organize ourselves.”

The cycle lasts two years. In 2023, the selected organizations explored challenges, outlined strategies and designed projects that will be put into practice now, in 2024, with seed capital of 70 thousand reais. “It’s even difficult to describe this experience. The training enabled not only the continuity of the project, with the resource in the second year, but also a full understanding of the organization”, shares Shirley. “The Greater Good Future gave us the opportunity to evaluate ourselves, plan so we can start over. Don't start over, leaving behind everything we've experienced. Without leaving our base, our essence, but seeing the fruits we have to reap. We filled our baggage with knowledge, and now it overflows to other people who are part of Multividas.”

This year, the Collective will celebrate its 30th anniversary and the teacher sees this moment as an opportunity to test new strategies. “We understand the importance of visibility. We were a group that acted only within the community, now we have another vision of the importance of social networks, not only to give visibility to actions, but also to promote family farming products”, she says. “Another very important change was in the issue of activity records. Record of services, those served, changes. Today we are in this organization process. We were a collective without concrete data, we testified through actions and stories, but we had no records, so we are building our database based on the lessons learned during the training.”

Going forward, the idea is to further strengthen all learning and attract more supporters who can guarantee the continuity of the mission. Like the seeds that they work so hard to preserve, now the members of the collective also seek to sow their stories and ensure that good practices are passed on for generations. “I hope that our collective is formalized and can access new notices. They can provide opportunities for beneficiaries supported by Multividas, farmers, especially young people who live in rural areas. We want to empower them, we want them to become protagonists of their own story, so they can collaborate within their community”, shares Shirley. “We want to increase people's passion for their land, so that young people do not have the illusion of wanting to leave their origins for the big cities. Migrating is a right, but it should not be forced. We hope that they do not abandon their homeland, their space, their stories and their roots due to a lack of opportunities. Our desire is for rural people to have a living semi-arid region, where they can live well.”