In Mexico City, I am working with Proyecto Ecobarrios Santo Domingo (Eco-neighbourhoods). Santo Domingo is a Colonia in Los Pedregales de Coyoacán- the stony place of the coyotes. It is a colonia for the fact that families occupied this area on the 1st of September 1971- and it is in the Pedregales because this area was/is a lava spill. When the invasion (la invación) happened, the families that settled here…
Category: rethinking economy
what is old is made anew
Banco do Brasil’s messengers carry their missives in these yellow cotton bags marked with the bank’s black logo. When they get old and/or sufficiently dirty, the bank donates them to the women’s group O Grupo Brasilianas that uses recycled material to make bags. These yellow oddly sized bags provide the material for some of the chicest bags these women make. The bags are received every month and are first dismantled…
transition? what transition?
In this article, I will be reflecting on my summer internship with Transition Brasilândia and Oficina da Sustentabilidade in São Paulo, Brazil and thinking about how Transition Brasilândia functions as a community development model. I wrote a personal reflection piece on working in the different groups and projects of Transition here while this one employs an analytical lens to frame the aspects of Transition Brasilândia that make it a successful…
working with transition brasilândia- a reflection
‘A periferia se cansou de esperar a oportunidade que nunca chegava, e que viria de fora, do centro’ (Hermano Vianna) Periferia em Movimento (The periphery got tired of waiting for opportunites that were never coming, and which were to come from outside, from the central city.) I first learnt of Transition Brasilândia as I looked for organisations or social movements that embodied the vision of the environment that…
in honour of my…
In honour of my last day in Brasilândia I am going to keep sitting at this bus-stop until the chips lady finishes setting up and makes her first batch. There shall be more buses later.
how to brainstorm a crowdfunding campaign
The group? A community bakery and café, Doces Talentos, run by a group of women who live in Vila Brasilândia. The place? A rectangular room that had been the home of Doces Talentos for the past 1 year and 4 months. The space does not seem suited to the identity of the place- a restaurant, bakery and café. First comes the café when you enter, then the seating area, then…