CONNECTING LOOKS
By Julia Bruce
This is the column Who Makes Redes, a compilation of the stories of people who build our organization and who work hard every day to do what we do best: actions and projects for residents of Maré. Learn about these stories, trajectories, experiences and the history of Redes da Maré itself - and how this work and the challenges faced since the pandemic have transformed them.
This is the column Who Makes Redes, a compilation of the stories of people who build our organization and who work hard every day to do what we do best: actions and projects for residents of Maré. Learn about these stories, trajectories, experiences and the history of Redes da Maré itself - and how this work and the challenges faced since the pandemic have transformed them.
Lucas Ferreira (27), known as "Lucas Buddha", born in Parque Maré, has capoeira as his passion. Since the age of 6, he participates in social projects of art and culture in the territory. At 10, he started capoeira classes and got to travel through the country giving classes. His talent motivated him to promote capoeira for favela children and teenagers, so they could have the same opportunities. Today, Lucas is graduated in Physical Education and is the coordinator of the Municipal Cultural Canvas Herbert Vianna, reference stage of art, leisure and study in the region.
"Capoeira teacher, when will class start?" This is a phrase that Lucas often listens. "When I get on the canvas, the children come running, hug me, make a circle around me. I love children", says the capoeira professor on the relationship of much affection and respect with children. He, who since young age lives the capoeira closely, understands their reactions and always reinforces how much culture and sport are factors of transformation in each one's life. "My first student, today, is a capoeira teacher, and sustains his family teaching at only 17 years. He wanted to do this so much", he says.
The willpower was essential during his trajectory and his mother influenced him to grow in this area, since she had always incentivized him to study and participate in the culture and sport projects of Maré. There were many projects in which Lucas took part, such as the flute orchestra, hip hop classes, coral classes, among others. When he began the high school, he took the Pre-College course of Redes da Maré and was approved to Physical Education, at UFRJ, a course he always wanted to do. "My first class at college was capoeira, so I resumed my passion, I began to study, to train and live this," explains Lucas, who taught capoeira in private schools and projects until he reached the Canvas. "I had a free time in my week and wanted to donate to the kids here from the favela."
In 2019, Lucas came with a capoeira class project named "Maré de Capoeira", and began to act as a volunteer and then as a canvas worker for two years. In 2020, he participated in the Public Call - New Ways to Make Art and Culture, in which he wrote video courses about black personalities from capoeira in the antiracist perspective. For the canvas’ children, these classes were made in the form of a puppet, with children's language, to practice capoeira when listening to the stories. In addition, he was a mentor of the ‘Marégrafia: cartography of the arts and artists of Maré’, which aims to give visibility to productions of local artists. Lucas directed the research, selected the artists, and dialogued with the territory.
In the campaign 'Maré says NO to Coronavirus', he arrived as a volunteer in April this year to distribute food baskets and reflect as this made himself a different person: "This helped me understand that it is a job, but also a mission, to listen to stories, to stop and be able to offer an attentive ear. It helped me in this sense of putting more humanity in my work, looking more eye on the eye", he describes. And it is precisely that look he expects from people in a brief future.
