The Afro Brazilian Religions

by Mark Stevenson Fuo

The African slaves especially those from the west, carried along their Yoruba religion with them when they were brought to Brazil, Candomblé as Afro- Brazilians term this religion is one which seeks harmony with nature. The worship of this religion is carried out in religious centres called terreiros. At the hem of affairs are priestesses, known as mães de santo (mother of saints) or priests, pais de santo (father of saints). Gigantic statues of all kinds could be noticed around these Candomblé temples. They are called the orixás ( African gods) that accompanied the slaves from Africa to Brazil.

Most Afro- Brazilians cherish these gods that they have preserved and worshipped for over 500 years. They fought to realize the fusion of Catholicism with their worship, doctrines and beliefs. In the religious ceremonies, practitioners dress in the colors of the orixás and place food at the altar before singing special songs and dancing precisely choreographed steps to the sacred drums. Everybody is said to have their own special orixás. During the ceremonies, worshippers fall into all kinds of trances, which they believe is caused by the contact and interaction they have experienced with the deity.,

Apart from the Candomblé, other religious group also emanated from Africa to Brazil. The Macumba, and Umbanda are religions from the same origin in this category. The Macumba is a general term that describes African derived spirit worship while Umbanda is more distinctive. The former is to Rio de Janeiro what Candomblé is to Bahia. They both involve closely related rituals and mode of worship.

The variations of worship simply reflect different beliefs brought by different groups of slaves from Africa. as well as the effects of regional separation as these religions developed in Brazil. For more information on the religion, a visit to one of the terreiros in Bahia will clear all your doubts and equip you with additional information about these religions.

Road Transport Workers Strike Paralyzes Commercial activities in Salvador – Bahia, Brazil

by Mark Stevenson Fuo

Normalcy has returned to the commercial city of Sao Paulo after the ugly and avoidable incident that was sparked up on Friday, May 12th 2006, by the PCC members.(Primeiro Comando da Capital, (First Command of the Capital ) which is a notorious and well organized crime gang. This time around, like the Paulistas, Baianos have been trapped in their homes.

More than one million Baianos that live in Salvador woke up without public transportation four days ago. After two months of negotiations, the public bus transport workers comprising of the drivers and cash collectors went on an indefinite strike Monday night. The workers are demanding a readjustment of 10% of their take home, while the entrepreneurs are offering an incredible increase of 4%.

The approval of the strike was decided in a voting realized during a gathering at the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Eletricitários da Bahia (Sinergia), four days ago. A protest march from Aquidabã to Iguatemi (major highway) was used to announce the commencement of the strike to the public.

We were “open to discussion and negotiations until minutes before the strike”, Affirmed the president of the Union of the transport workers, Mr. J. Carlos. He alerted that the strike would paralyze activities in the entire Salvador metropolis. We have the total support of the workers to have embarked on this strike,” J. Carlos said.

During the whole walk and protest, the road transport workers accused the intransigence entrepreneurs, affirming that the intention of the patronage has always been exploiting and depriving the workers of their rights. J. Carlos emphasized that 15 negotiation rounds have been setup without arriving at a reasonable conclusion. We “did everything possible. We had 15 negotiation rounds and the entrepreneurs only presented proposals that took our rights away, like the reduction in payment of workers overtime and robbing us of our relaxation on Sundays”, he said.

He went further to declare that the road transport workers would not make stoppages at any bus station until their demands are met. Moreover, since the strike began, out of the 3.600 buses in the State, and the 2.400, that existed in the capital, none of them had stopped in the bus stations as the president promised. The state of Bahia has 18 thousand transport workers that had been clamoring for this readjustment for over 2 years.

The Regional Tribunal for Work in Bahia granted a preliminary warning yesterday to the entrepreneurs, that they should affirm that 70% of the buses in the city would be schedule to work on peak periods during the strike. Failure to comply with this treat, the road transport workers association would be liable to pay a fine of R$ 50 thousand. Irrespective of this treat which they regarded as empty, the order of the authorities was blatantly and vehemently ignored by the road transport worker. Manoel Machado the vice president of the Road Workers Union denied that they are yet to receive the treat letter that states that they should resume duty.

If two elephants fight, the grass suffers. The strike that is approaching the fifth day has completely brought most commercial activities to a stand still. One could only see cars and taxis moving around the streets and avenues of the city. With a minimum salary of $300 equivalent to $135 dollars or thereabout, how many people will be able to afford the exorbitant taxi fares? Most bus stops including the largest bus station in Salvador are completely vacuous. In the main street of the commercial center of the city called Avenida Sete, many stores are closed. The historical center that is always packed with tourists and locals is also a ghost town. Those traveling into the city from neighboring and far away towns have decided to postpone their journeys until they have made assurance double sure that the strike has been called off.

Mobility has been perplexing for the majority of the inhabitants of Salvador who depend mainly on buses, since the city do not have a working subway system; the city only possesses a small train that conveys the residents of the suburb to the downtown districts. The primary, high school and university students have all gone on a compulsory break. The streets in most of the neighborhoods have been taken over by football playing youths. The beaches around town have accommodated a great deal of people these past four days. Angry youths have stormed the streets throwing stones and destroying public buses as a sign of protest against depriving them of movement around the city.

Whichever, way one views this strike; it is the masses that bear the brunt. We hope that the entrepreneurs will consider and soon meet the demands of the striking workers for a prompt resumption of commercial activities in the temporarily dead city of Salvador.