SVDs and SSpS, who are members of VIVAT International strongly condemned the attacks on Street People in Sao Paulo, Brazil that took place on August 19 and 21, 2004, and published an open letter (in Portuguese) together with other Civil Society Organizations and “Pastorales Sociales” demanding the Government Administration to take immediate action and arrest the people responsible for it, and bring an end to this barbaric act. As reported by Ferdinando Doren Beki, SVD, the JPIC Coordinator of central Brazil, in the week from August 19, 2004, 15 street people were brutally attacked, and out of these, five have died.

Ferdinando Doren Beki, SVD reports that SVDs and SSpS of central Brazil, together with lay collaborators are involved in the ministry with street population in and around Sao Paulo. Some of the organizations and movements through which they work are:

Associacao Rede Rua: This is a communication network, which was founded with the initiative of SVDs, as an alternative communication media. The Associação Rede Rua works with the video productions, radio programs, newspaper, photographs, etc. All these activities are meant to be the channel for the aspiration and the voice of the street people, and thus to make this aspiration and voice heard by the society at large. Subsidized by the local government, the Associação also runs some overnight shelters for the street population, soup house, and formation center for those who are looking for job in the city and those who are willing to work with the land in the rural area.

The Commission of Pastoral of Land (Comissão Pastoral da Terra-CPT) of the State of São Paulo: The activities of the CPT are: giving support to the Landless Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra-MST) in the land occupations, accompanying the small and hired rural workers, investigating the practices of slavery in the farms that apply monoculture (sugar cane, banana, coffee, soy-bean, etc).

N.B: The translated version of the open letter, in English is available here. It was translated by Ferdinando Doren Beki, SVD

August 27, 2004