| Thursday, 21-Sep-2006 12:00 |
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Never Up a Creek Without a Paddle
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The Canoe Association of Itacaré continues to offer alternative activities too our local youth who are responding in growing numbers. For more than 10 years, the founder and president of ACI has held the club together with a shoestring budget and a persistence of will that has garnered the club several trophies in statewide competitions.
I have to tell a personal story about this remarkable woman whom I have known for more than 7 years. Soon after arriving in Itacaré I became acquainted with Sandra, Marcos and, a short time later, their daughter Laura because of their restaurant's reputation for authentic Bahian cuisine. I then learned that the most charming Baiana in town who sells "acarajé" in the "praça" is her mom. The second most charming...is her sister. (Acarajé is a delicious snack made with beancake and dried shrimp, deep-fried in dendê (African) palm oil. Tip: When they ask if you want it hot, they're talkin' spicy.) All over Bahia these women in white have come to symbolize Afro-Brazilian culture and in our little town it seems they're all related to Sandra. I jokingly call her family the "acarajé mafia." The day arrived when Marcos and Sandra decided to marry and they honored me when they asked me to be the photographer. A simple wedding in the old church, a few close friends (half the town), and a reception at Sítio Paraiso, a well-known pousada. Not so simple. Remember this is the land of Jorge Amado and this wedding turned out to be typical of our hero's novels. Most of the arrangements had been made before visiting the padre about performing the service in his church and that's where it gets complicated. The man became very indignant with Sandra as he vehemently refused on the grounds that Sandra had never set foot in his church, as he scowled at her infant daughter. The reason she never went to "his church" is because her family devotly follows condomblé, the African religion brought to Brazil by slaves. The reason their baby, Laura, would be in attendence is because the couple had been living together for years before deciding to marry. These simple truths were not very persuasive to the padre who acted very insulted by it all; he crossed his arms and flatly refused them a ceremony unless, ...unless...they were all properly baptised before of the wedding. So it came to be; Marcos was baptised as a child so his bride-to-be and his daughter had a double baptism on the morning of their wedding day! And, like Amado's novels, it was an extraordinary day.
Around the canoe clubhouse everyone calls her by her first name and she calls everyone, "meu filho," my son. Eventually everyone around the club picked up 'meu filho' which, with Bahia's accent sounds like "meu fio." I spent several days with the group and never learned anyone's name, we're all sons of one another. Mind you it has nothing to do with age or gender, it's just a way of feeling like family. This club has never turned away a new member for any reason and you will see a wide cross-section of Itacaré`s population represented here. The youngest ones who may not even know how to swim or hold a paddle are accepted as long as there are enough life vests to go around. No 'girl' is considered to weak and in fact, that blonde wearing the big smile has prosthetic legs. Yeah, Sandra just lifts her into the canoe and away they go.
Sandra is very excited these days because the club is expanding through generous donations from Nelson Moraes at Txai Resort, who was recently honored by the city for his many contributions to the municipality, especially in the area of youth programs. First she received an order of much needed life vests for her young members and then Sandra's dream was realized; the club received more than 24 school desks, a dozen lockers and a desk for her office. That means the clubhouse now serves as a classroom for canoing, kayaking and also a place for afterschool studies and supplemental education in general. Now 'my sons' at the Associação de Canoagem de Itacaré are excercising their minds as well as their bodies.
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