Voices of Our Future: Assignment One

Voices of Our Future: Assignment One
WEB 2.0

I am a 41 year old, Afro Brazilian woman and I live in a slum within a beautiful neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. I have 4 kids and 7 grandkids whom I call my lion cubs because I feel like a mother lion since I will do anything to protect them. I live in a humble home that houses my 2 daughters and 3 of my grandkids. To sustain them I do everything possible and I work a lot. I love what I do as I do everything with the utmost care and love because if I can sell my art and my purses I will have income to support my lion cubs.

Today in particular I was at home feeling sad knowing that in various places in the world there is someone that goes thru the same situation that I am in. So when this message came asking the question about Web 2.0 it was as if you had read my mind about being able to share my thoughts about my work and my life with women throughout the whole world that also experience similar situations. Web 2.0 has enormous value in our lives because we can exchange information about our work, give one another ideas and at the same time get to know women who are so special and who feel like warriors as I do, fighting for sustainability and survival.

I say the word survival because this week I went through some difficult days in the favela where I live concerning the war between the police and the drug traffickers. On the very same day that I wrote a little about my life using Web 2.0 and was feeling happy thinking that maybe sharing my thoughts could change some women’s lives, I arrived at home and came across a dead man in front of the door to my house. It certainly shook me up and I began thinking that my life could end that very day because of the wars between the police and the Brazilian drug factions, with all the bullets that could enter my house, but thanks be to God, nothing happened to me.

I think that if women of the whole world unite their work, their ideas and their words, it serves to give force and courage for other women. This is already a grand solution Web 2.0 has presented us.
It would be great to have opportunities to meet each other and exchange many ideas, counsels and who knows, maybe create courses to teach someone else. Web 2.0 certainly serves to show us that we are women warriors and yes we have our independence and we could have the certainty that, yes, we are the owners of our own businesses and we create these businesses with so much caring and love. Thank you for this opportunity.
Independent of religion or belief, we are warriors and deserve our space!