Brazil: World March of Women has been on the road for a week

It’s been exactly a week since the two thousand militants from the World March of Women left Campinas, on March 8th, towards São Paulo, where they’ll arrive on the 18th. This past Monday (15) they left Cooperinca, on Km 46,5 at Anhanguera highway, at 8am, two hours later than their usual departure time. Still, they made it to the Boiódromo of Jordanésia, a district of the town of Cajamar, at 10am, covering little over eight kilometers. The delay was caused by the rain: after seven days of walking under the merciless sun, the women finally broke in the raincoats they were given on the first marching day.

This time, the women of the northern state of Pará lead the walk. Once they arrived to the Boiódromo, the show was in charge of their neighbor state, Maranhão, whose delegation presented dances based on African rhythms: As an appetizer, the women from the black movement, many of them descendents from freed slaves known as quilombolas, danced the qaudrilha and the tambor de criola, a dance that has been officially recognized as immaterial historic heritage. Soon afterwards, they introduced the pajelança, marked by the drums typical of the candomblé religion e, to finish off, the bumba-meu-boi. “We make sure to show our culture to the women here, who come from all the states in Brasil, because in Maranhão this culture isn’t getting the value it deserves”, said Maria Tereza Bittencourt, a militant from Maranhão.

This afternoon, from 4pm to 7pm, there will be a debate on motherhood as an option, not as a destiny, at the Boiódromo, where the women will set up camp. On the previous camping site, at Cooperinca, where the kitchen commission works, artist Biba Rigo will conclude the Walkers dress sewing workshop started the previous afternoon. The Walkers are two giant dolls from Olinda which in October will join the Brazilian delegation that will attend the closing ceremony of the Third Internacional World March of Women Accion. The event will take place in South Kivu, on the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tomorrow, the militants begin early to make their way to Perus. They still have 15 kilometers to cover. Their efforts will pay off after a debate on peace and demilitarization. They will be joined by Cuban doctor Aleida Guvera, the daughter of Che Guevara.