Sassy in Salvador
It’s been over 35 hours flying and laying over. I started my journey from San Francisco and after three layovers, I am finally here in Salvador. I’ll join my team for the next three days of work.
My neck aches, my body twists and turns to adjust to the cramped legroom of my Azul Airline 16C seat. This is not quite uncomfortable because I crossed my leg for the past one hour. But I flew first class on Delta from Atlanta to Rio De Janeiro so it feels like it. Privileged!
My eyes squint, I am maneuvering to see past the flashing lights. “Oh, my God!” I exclaim. “It’s the city of Salvador.” My friend Leticia, whom I met on my flight to São Paulo, had told me how beautiful the city is. As we boarded the flight, she spoke to me in Portuguese. As she spoke Portuguese, I erected my ego. I responded with smiles, appearing confident like I knew what she said. After several failed attempts to communicate, she then spoke English.
Leticia studies Psychology at a local university in a city near São Paulo. She works as a social worker at a local organization. She provides mental health and psychosocial counseling to employees and children. What a world! The universe connects people in mysterious ways. Here I am traveling to Brazil to…. oh it’s shaking!
The medium-sized plane struggles its way through the turbulent “Salvadorian” wind. The city comes alive even more. I’m excited, “it’s going to be fun,” I am thinking to myself. We land. Nobody died. Leticia told me that whenever she travels, she thinks about the possibility of the plane crashing. She finds relief in knowing that she will not die alone. So yes, nobody will live from a crash, but here I am relieved that nobody died, either.
I am making my way to the exit. This terminal design is weird. I can’t figure out my way through; it should not be this difficult. I’m getting mad that my excitement is fading away due to the hurdle of exiting the terminal. Isaac must be annoyed that I’m taking this long. “Look, these writings are all in Portuguese, Wain.” That’s me talking to myself. Now it makes sense why I thought the design was weird; I better ask questions.
I’m outside; I can’t find Isaac. I’m tired and hungry. I do not have a local GSM, and my devices are not connecting to the internet. I have been flying for two days, and this is not the welcome I wanted. I have the internet now after 45 minutes, and I finally connect with Isaac, who is here to pick me up.
We are driving through the streets of Santo Antonio at 4:00 AM to our Airbnb. A street kid greets our car by banging on the window to beg. Isaac and the driver speak Portuguese with him. I have no clue what they’re saying. They are probably about to switch me up for him (pun intended).
Guilty. I was complaining about a small legroom seat on a flight and these kids are with no room to sleep tonight. What a privilege!. The particular situations you do not have to experience. As I was saying before the turbulence interrupted, I am here because of these children. Yes, guilty right now.
My friends, James Okina and Isaac King co-founded and launched the No Existe Project last year. They researched with Salma Moran in the Dominican Republic about street children. The team presented the report we published at Oxford University last year.
James’ organization, Street Priests, works to transform the lives of street children in Calabar, Nigeria. His work has impacted several thousand street children during the past five years. Isaac’s Project, Bleed Red, creates inclusive spaces that allow adolescents (mainly children) to embrace their normal.
These young men joined their passion for empowering the world’s largest cohort of potential to transform them into assets for society. I am the last team member to arrive after Jose Venta (JV) and Ja’ dan Johnson, both of whom are also here to support the filming of the documentary for the project. In the past days, I have seen photos of Isaac and other team members breaking down in tears and sharing emotions whenever they listen to the stories of these children. I was telling Isaac how “emotionless” I can be at times, even to celebrate successes. How long would this feeling last? We will find out.
I am here at our Airbnb, and everyone is asleep. I’m taking awkward photos and videos of Ja’ dan and his signature snoring, and JV’s shirtless body. I don’t see James quite well because the room is dark. Okay, I must be quiet now and get some sleep as well, I have not had a decent one in the past two days.
I would let you know tomorrow if I cried. Still, whatever happens, I will have a great time telling the stories of these incredible young kids who society often write out.
