Along a river

At a region known as Córrego do André, in Minas Gerais, Wania Isabel da Silva (13) insisted that I follow her to her favorite place. I thought she would take me to the river that runs beside her house. As part of the São Francisco River watershed, the River São João is famous in the area for the fishing it provides. To my surprise, she took me to a dirt road in the opposite direction of the river's bank. Her two brothers, Wando Pereira da Silva (9) and Gracemar Apolinário da Rocha (4) followed along.

I asked why they wouldn’t go swimming on such a hot afternoon. I wasn't expecting to hear that the clear waters of the river were polluted. But for local folks, the rareness of the fish had been enough evidence of the contamination of the river. Suddenly, we were interrupted by the youngest brother saying out of nowhere: "My father likes Brazilian rum". Hinting the reason why his father left the family and moved away to another town. They would take me to the house the father had started to build for the family. It was abandoned. They had moved next door where their grandmother, Dona Teresa gladly welcomed her daughter and three kids. 

As we reached a tree with an immense top and shade the girl said she would love to have a picnic there one day. I don’t know if she had the chance. According to family plans, she was being sent away to live with her aunt in a big city where she could find better opportunities, not only to study but also, work. In 1999, Unicef estimated that 14.5% of the Brazilian girls, aged 10 to 14, worked as maids. Unfortunately, Wania probably added to these numbers.