Towards achieving this end, last Wednesday, 20 October, Salesian Brother Tarley Nunes da Mata, the Head of the Indigenous Documentation Center (CDI) of the Brazil-Campo Grande Province (BCG), was in Campinápolis, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, for a meeting with educators who work directly in the school education sector of indigenous children and young people. 

The meeting was also attended by Miriam Lagares, State Pedagogical Consultant; Nelson Gonçalves, formator of indigenous teachers and head of the state literacy program “Alfabetiza MT”; Raquel Miranda, bilingual teacher from the municipality of Campinápolis; and the Salesian Deacon José Alves de Oliveira.

Participants in the meeting discussed various aspects of indigenous education, such as the recent publication of a "Syllabus for Indigenous Literacy", for teaching in the indigenous language and in Portuguese, as well as the presentation of other important educational aids.

“The presence of Tarley served, first of all, to bring what the Indigenous Documentation Center has produced through the work of the Salesian missionaries, under the coordination of our superiors. He presented the existing material published in the areas of Social Sciences, Mathematics, Culture and Linguistics, with grammar, dictionaries in Portuguese-Xavante and Xavante-Portuguese, notebooks and other various didactic material," explained the Deacon de Oliveira, who accompanied the meeting.

"Furthermore, Tarley also knew how to listen to the experiences of each teacher, and shared the challenges, successes and wishes that the municipality of Campinápolis and the state of Mato Grosso are facing in the context of the indigenous school reality," he added.

On the occasion, prof. Gonçalves also presented his work experience in promoting initiatives and in the composition of teaching materials, both for teacher training and for indigenous literacy in the state of Mato Grosso.

"It was a very beautiful moment because we could see that there is a very rich reality full of possibilities for finding methods and solutions to existing challenges," concluded the Salesian deacon.

For the Salesians, the educational work carried out in the indigenous communities is a reason for joy and satisfaction, as a charismatic expression of attention and closeness to young people most in need and at the risk of social exclusion. The desire is that the meetings of educators like the one held in Campinápolis be a stimulus and inspiration for other educational activities in the indigenous communities, an important mission for many Salesian presences in the world.

Euclides Fernandes Brites

BCG Provincial Delegate for Social Communication

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