Superwomen!

I have been blessed to know a lot of amazing women in my life and I have learned so much from the incredible examples they have provided for me.

My mother worked tirelessly to care for her children- not just her two biological children but her classes of 20+ students. Never once did my mother miss anything of mine- a gymnastics meet, a tennis match, an awards ceremony, nothing- because she made her family her top priority. But, never once were her students neglected. How she juggled all her responsibilities will forever remain a mystery to me.

My grandmother is possibly the only person I can say I love unconditionally (unfortunately that says more negative things about my personality than about her beautiful personality). She is one of the kindest and most gentle souls I have ever met, and her naivety makes her completely adorable and irresistible.

The nuns, teachers and counselors that I taught with on the Navajo Nation taught me acceptance, forgiveness, inclusion and persistence better than anyone else. Their selfless act to give themselves to the work of Christ and to become one with the Navajo people spoke volumes to me.

The list of inspiring women goes on and on and on.

But here in Brazil I have met some Superwomen. Women who thrive in conditions that I as a (spoiled- see last post!) 21st century American woman could not have imagined ever struggling through. Women who do not utter the word “can’t” or see anything as “impossible”. Women who see only the need to attend to their families (biological as well as the entire community) and will stop at nothing to provide the best they can offer. These are truly Superwomen.

Take for example Dona Martha. She has raised 8 children, has cared unceasingly for her husband and has welcomed 2 grandchildren in to her family. She has also helped to initiate the Boa Vista EPC. She has watched as her husband and 4 children have left home to study at the university and only return to their community on the weekends. She has welcomed in to her home countless wanderers (ME!) as we come to visit and volunteer with the PRECE movement. All of this she has done without running water and by using a wood burning stove. Can you imagine washing dishes for a family of 8 by dipping water out of a bucket? Can you imagine cooking enough rice, beans and meat on a wood burning stove? Can you imagine hand washing clothes for 8 people in basins of water from the reservoir? Only a Superwoman could accomplish this.

And, take for example Dona Fransisca and her daughters. Never have I seen a woman build a church on to the side of her own home because she saw that the community needed a house of faith. Never have I seen a woman welcome 18 strangers in to her own home- putting out blow up air mattresses and preparing 3 meals a day (including snacks)- so that they would feel welcome as they observed and participated in the PRECE movement. Never have I witnessed a woman who builds additional rooms on to her own home so that her own grown children can return and find a place to call home once again. Never have a watched a woman open up her own kitchen and cook all through the night in order to prepare 700 hot meals for students preparing to take the ENEM the next morning. Only a Superwoman would extend herself like this.

I am so grateful that I have the example of these women in my life. But, the amazing thing is that Dona Martha and Dona Fransisca are not unique here. They are the women of Brasil. They are the women of PRECE. And, to me they are SUPERWOMEN.