PERSISTENCE IN DREAMS
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.
Zeneida Duarte (40) is one of our staff who has a life trajectory welcomed in our territory: she was born and raised in Maré. She lived in Rubens Vaz for 18 years, then moved to Parque União, where she lives with her husband and two children so far. She arrived at Redes da Maré in 2011, to collaborate with our Population Census and from this approach, started in the “Solidary Bonds” project, work that influenced her academic choice.
Due to the need to care for her children, Zeneida had to withdraw from her studies, but with the beginning of her work at Redes da Maré, she joined the Pre-College Course at Redes in 2015. In this first attempt, reconciling her studies with the other demands of work was a challenge and it was not possible to access the university. In 2018, Zeneida decided to try again, with the company and encouragement of her daughter Giovana, who would also take the entrance exam that year. The dream of having a degree already existed in Zeneida, but it was the work with home visits in the territory that made her choose the Social Service course: “with home visits I saw what life was like for people, really. I saw the lack of rights, many people are not even aware that a good school, a leisure are rights. I managed to pass 3rd place in Social Work at UERJ, a profession that I identify with a lot". Zeneida is currently attending the 3rd term of the course and is part of 2.3% of the population of Marea, who, according to the Census Maré, entered higher education.
At the beginning of the pandemic, on the first day of food baskets delivery, Zeneida came together to collaborate. However, the suspicion of a case at her husband's work forced her to collaborate from home. The desire to be able to act in the campaign was huge: "it is a very beautiful job, everyone is working hard, this is very contagious". With this initial setback, she conducted social interviews with families to receive food baskets and food cards, virtually.
For her, this moment we live in is of learning. Opportunity to look at each other in a different way, especially respecting differences. Regarding the work of Redes da Maré, she hopes that residents will take more and more ownership, so that they also understand their rights. The message she leaves for everyone is that it was with persistence and perseverance that she realized dreams of working with what she wanted and entered university, and this is the way she believes is possible to achieve goals.
