Quilombo de Praia, Matias Cardoso - Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2015
Mr. João is the uncle of Genival, the current leader of Quilombo de Praia. According to him, João Pereira da Silva “had a very difficult and troubled life”. When his father left, João's mother was unable to support him and his sister alone. As a child, he was taken to Caio Martins Foundation, which was “almost like a youth detention center", explains Genival, “but he wasn't rebellious at all. He just didn't have neither a father nor a mother”.
After that, João and his sister were handed over to families living in Manga, a neighbouring city. Once split apart, the siblings would only meet again in their late teenage years. João was put to work in various kinds of heavy manual labor and continued like this throughout his life, which caused a series of health problems.
Only when he was 50 years old, would he return to his native land, where he was able to live close to his family, who provided him with shelter, care and a home until the end of his life. João “was a good, generous person”, says Genival. Due to health problems, João died at the age of 72. For his nephew, he “died young” and enjoyed very little of the much-deserved retirement earned when he was 64 years old. João's story is the same of thousands of rural workers whose labour is being further devalued under the Bolsonaro administration and whose pensions have become even more difficult to achieve.
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