We, as the administration [of the school], want to contribute to our students and educators, the entire Lapa community, be able to build a libertarian thought and practice. So the gender project in our school came as a glove [...].

One of the problems that we are having there is the problem of religion, especially the question of evangelicals. We had to walk on eggs to talk about the issue of homosexuality, to work on the question of machismo. [...] And as the director of the school, I realize the progress that we have, including in the lives of our educators, in our own lives. People who had their whole life repressed and suddenly wondered: 'But, is there another way to live?' 'Is there another way? Is another life possible?' It’s possible.

So, like that, this work developed all this time. There were several meetings [workshops] that we did. It is even within our Pedagogical Political Project. This gender project that is being developed gives us more security and firmness to what we are doing. We wanted to, but we could not do it. [This project] was giving us ground, a goal to advance this issue. Once this seed is thrown it may be that it dies, but the wind will carry other seeds and they will multiply. I recommend it for schools. This is a debate that schools cannot steal.

We see in the lines, in the reactions of the students. It's good that we see people living and learning, in their own reactions: 'At home, we are raising a stink with certain things. Father thinks it is like this, we will say it is like this. Who's going to make dinner? You too, right.' It is that thing that was very clear; household chores is also work. 'Ah, I'll help my life mate to wash the dishes'. I do not have to help her. This is a household chore, it has to be divided. If I help, it gives the impression that the work is hers, and the work is not hers. The work has to be done by those who live in that house. So we see their reactions like this.

And, because of religion, some of them had blockades. Overall, it was very well assimilated, learned and also they are putting into practice. [...] Alone, the school cannot handle this. We keep skating and do not move. But with the strength you have given, we have seen that it has contributed a lot because in the dynamics of the school every teacher has a formation, each one has a point of view. And so, the University fulfills its social function which is to go where the people are. We cannot handle it. A student told me these times: 'This school helped me a lot. As I was and as I am'. This is gratifying, because in education people "do not" see the work. It is not such a concrete thing. You'll see after a long time. When you see it, in a faster process, you are very satisfied, because you can get educated.

Testimony of the School Director Samuel A. da Silva.

Contestado Rural State School – Lapa – Paraná.

April 2018

© Landless Voices II