Musing in the Time of Virus: Dom Helder Camara
This is my tribute to Dom Helder Camara (1909-1999), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Recife/Olinda, Brasil. It represents the very first event I would document with my camera: The dedication of a new neighborhood school in my site community of Dois Rios in early 1969.
Our Peace Corps Volunteer training group, thirteen idealistic young Americans learning the language and discussing the manner in which such foreigners could help poor communities in their quest for justice and self-realization through community development, got to meet with Dom Helder in a conference room in Olinda at the end of 1968. The meeting was arranged by one of our language teachers, Socorro, who had been a secretary to Dom Helder. He greeted each of us as we said our names. It was the first time we were able to sit with someone who had dedicated his life to the ideals we felt we represented, and his experience and quiet power and resolve left us all with humble pride in what we were about to embark on.
My first photos of Dom Helder occurred during a religious parade in Recife just before I moved from the Hotel Central to a house I would share with Ed, an American seminary student, in an area where I would be assigned to work with a small satellite school, and a site that offered no housing rentals; all the occupants of the Dois Rios community were people removed from favelas in downtown Recife to hillsides far from downtown. My first months were spent getting to know my community and learning the language, which had been difficult for me due mostly to my ego getting in the way. And before the school was to open, our Peace Corps contract had been canceled and my future connection to the school was eliminated.
On the day of the dedication, I walked up the hill from our house down below and mingled with the crowd assembling for the arrival of Dom Helder. Dom Helder was a saint to these people and his arrival was met with great elation. It was a rainy day, but Dom Helder was not deterred as he greeted the assembly, shaking hands and blessing with the sign of the cross. To my utter surprise, he greeted me by name and made me feel a part of the celebration. He stepped to the microphone and gave a stirring address of the importance of education to the future of this community.
Câmara was an advocate of liberation theology. He did social and political work for the poor and for Human Rights and democracy during the military regime. Câmara preached for a church closer to the disfavoured people and for non-violence. He is quoted as having said, "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
Read MoreOur Peace Corps Volunteer training group, thirteen idealistic young Americans learning the language and discussing the manner in which such foreigners could help poor communities in their quest for justice and self-realization through community development, got to meet with Dom Helder in a conference room in Olinda at the end of 1968. The meeting was arranged by one of our language teachers, Socorro, who had been a secretary to Dom Helder. He greeted each of us as we said our names. It was the first time we were able to sit with someone who had dedicated his life to the ideals we felt we represented, and his experience and quiet power and resolve left us all with humble pride in what we were about to embark on.
My first photos of Dom Helder occurred during a religious parade in Recife just before I moved from the Hotel Central to a house I would share with Ed, an American seminary student, in an area where I would be assigned to work with a small satellite school, and a site that offered no housing rentals; all the occupants of the Dois Rios community were people removed from favelas in downtown Recife to hillsides far from downtown. My first months were spent getting to know my community and learning the language, which had been difficult for me due mostly to my ego getting in the way. And before the school was to open, our Peace Corps contract had been canceled and my future connection to the school was eliminated.
On the day of the dedication, I walked up the hill from our house down below and mingled with the crowd assembling for the arrival of Dom Helder. Dom Helder was a saint to these people and his arrival was met with great elation. It was a rainy day, but Dom Helder was not deterred as he greeted the assembly, shaking hands and blessing with the sign of the cross. To my utter surprise, he greeted me by name and made me feel a part of the celebration. He stepped to the microphone and gave a stirring address of the importance of education to the future of this community.
Câmara was an advocate of liberation theology. He did social and political work for the poor and for Human Rights and democracy during the military regime. Câmara preached for a church closer to the disfavoured people and for non-violence. He is quoted as having said, "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."