Partner KOINONIA Represents Ecumenical Presence and Service in Brazil
Family from Afro Brazilians Communities (Quilombos) Municipality of Barra and Sao Mateus, in Espiritu Santo, Brazil
Photo: KOINONIA
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KOINONIA represents a long tradition of struggle for democracy and affirmation of the values of the ecumenical movement in Brazil. The public served by KOINONIA and with which it establishes alliances, are the churches, the organized Afro-Brazilian population in urban and rural communities, small farmers and agricultural workers, persons and groups working in solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS and mid-level church leaders. KOINONIA seeks whenever possible to focus its work on youth and women. Although KOINONIA is a national organization, it has given priority to three geographic areas: Northeast of Brazil (the Mid-Lower Sao Francisco River Valley--States of Bahia, Pernambuco and Alagoas and the Metropolitan area of Salvador, in the State of Bahia); the Paraiba River Valley and the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo City in the State of Sao Paulo; and the interior of the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espiritu Santo.
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| Family from Afro Brazilians Communities (Quilombos) Municipality of Barra and Sao Mateus, Espiritu Santo, Brazil Photo: KOINONIA
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These communities occupy areas that are historically and culturally marked by their struggle for survival and affirmation of rights. In urban areas, the Program works with candomble (Afro Brazilian Religion) communal places of worship, also called terreiros, around which the community organizes itself. The terreiros represent the Black way of urban settlement in the midst of real estate speculation and disorderly urban growth. In rural areas the program works with communities of descendents of Quilombos (communities founded by runaway slaves), which have their own particular kind of settlements built in the midst of struggle. The program is seeking the legalization of terreiros and of quilombo areas, promotes environmental restoration and education, and inter-religious and intercultural dialogues.