A Discussion with Agenaldo Lessa Leão, Coordinator, Pastoral da Criança, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
With: Agenaldo Lessa Leão Berkley Center Profile
June 14, 2014
Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice
Project, in June 2014 undergraduate student Adam Barton interviewed Agenaldo Lessa Leão, the Pastoral da Criança coordinator
for the state of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil. In this interview, Leão reflects on the past and future
of Pastoral da Criança.
Tell me about yourself
and how you came to work for Pastoral.
I am a teacher and administrator by trade, and entered Pastoral back in 1996 through a priest that I knew. At the time, I was thinking about entering the seminary, but decided to try out Pastoral work given my passion for social transformation. I deeply identified with Pastoral’s work and decided to stay. Pastoral has done so much for me, and that is why I work every day to try and repay them.
What have you learned about best practices in community health education during your time with Pastoral?
Pastoral gets us very close to the people that we serve. We create a close relationship with the community, and then with each individual in that community. And it is through this relationship that a deep trust is built, a trust that causes families to open up to their leader, to trust and listen to that person without reservation.
Pastoral is about small actions that, through the development of trust and community, can transform the lives of many.
As a state coordinator, what is your role in Pastoral?
In the structure of Pastoral, we coordinators are the least important individuals. The most important member of Pastoral is the leader, for without them we would have no children. So our work of coordinating is about organizing work, articulating actions, nurturing meaningful partnerships, and motivating those workers on the ground, both coordinators and leaders, to fulfill their mission.
In the day-to-day, my role involves visiting each sector in the state, getting a read on the difficulties and successes that each is encountering, and determining a plan of action based on our information system—evaluating, for example, if the need happens to be financial or material—with the ultimate goal of growing each and every sector in a healthy and meaningful way.
Can you talk to me about the idea of adapting Pastoral actions to meet the communities that you serve?
Let us use the Celebration of Life event as an example. Anywhere that you go in Brazil, the methodology behind the celebration is the exact same, but in every place it can happen differently. In one place it could happen inside of a church, and in another, it could happen outdoors, under a tree. Because of the different realities around the nation, Pastoral is sure to communicate the essential points of its actions without placing strict limitations.
The Celebration of Life, for example, is a community gathering; the key is to make sure that the community is together and able to exchange experiences and learning. When one mother has an issue, it is very likely that another will, at some point, experience a similar problem; at the heart of our actions, then, need to be a rich exchange of experiences, along with community building through children playing and families interacting.
What does the future look like for Pastoral? Where is it now, and where is it headed?
Pastoral is very dynamic; it is constantly working to adapt to changing community needs. When we think of these needs, we are not just talking about basic healthcare actions, but rather the other things that a child needs to live fully. Pastoral is very strong in this area—very complete—and will continue to provide services that complement one another in education, nutrition, and citizenship along with health.
Thinking about health trends, we see things constantly getting better. Pastoral’s actions, however—guidance, games and playing, nutrition—will always be needed. So I believe that Pastoral will continue for a long time to come with its same activities. Much improvement has been made in the 31 years that Pastoral has acted, the healthcare system has improved dramatically, but there is still so much more that still needs to be done. And it will all have to be done in collaboration with Pastoral through its leaders; through the solidarity of each and every one of them working together. That is how we will make change.
If you could communicate one message to an international audience about Pastoral, what would it be?
I would say that Pastoral is an act of love. It is because of the love of those people who give their lives for others that so many lives have been saved. These people that give are ones who often suffer themselves, but in their suffering feel joy by doing this work to save that other life. In this way, Pastoral one of the greatest acts of love, of solidarity, of hope.
The beauty in the work is seen when one who is saved by a leader turns and reciprocates that action, not out of obligation, but out of love.
When you go to lead a Celebration of Life or do a home visit with love, the impact that you make is like none other—it radiates out past yourself and past the other. That is how Pastoral manages to attract people when so many other organizations fail. We give testimony; the testimony that people see in us, in our hearts, it shows them something special within us that brings us to serve as we ourselves suffer. When you see us fulfill Pastoral’s mission with love, dedication, and joy, you cannot help but be drawn in by that testimony of caring.
This network of solidarity that Pastoral possesses is a direct result of this testimony. Sometimes people leave that community, but they always come back when they begin to realize that something in their lives is lacking. So that is Pastoral; it is a great act of love that we have between ourselves and our neighbors.
I am a teacher and administrator by trade, and entered Pastoral back in 1996 through a priest that I knew. At the time, I was thinking about entering the seminary, but decided to try out Pastoral work given my passion for social transformation. I deeply identified with Pastoral’s work and decided to stay. Pastoral has done so much for me, and that is why I work every day to try and repay them.
What have you learned about best practices in community health education during your time with Pastoral?
Pastoral gets us very close to the people that we serve. We create a close relationship with the community, and then with each individual in that community. And it is through this relationship that a deep trust is built, a trust that causes families to open up to their leader, to trust and listen to that person without reservation.
Pastoral is about small actions that, through the development of trust and community, can transform the lives of many.
As a state coordinator, what is your role in Pastoral?
In the structure of Pastoral, we coordinators are the least important individuals. The most important member of Pastoral is the leader, for without them we would have no children. So our work of coordinating is about organizing work, articulating actions, nurturing meaningful partnerships, and motivating those workers on the ground, both coordinators and leaders, to fulfill their mission.
In the day-to-day, my role involves visiting each sector in the state, getting a read on the difficulties and successes that each is encountering, and determining a plan of action based on our information system—evaluating, for example, if the need happens to be financial or material—with the ultimate goal of growing each and every sector in a healthy and meaningful way.
Can you talk to me about the idea of adapting Pastoral actions to meet the communities that you serve?
Let us use the Celebration of Life event as an example. Anywhere that you go in Brazil, the methodology behind the celebration is the exact same, but in every place it can happen differently. In one place it could happen inside of a church, and in another, it could happen outdoors, under a tree. Because of the different realities around the nation, Pastoral is sure to communicate the essential points of its actions without placing strict limitations.
The Celebration of Life, for example, is a community gathering; the key is to make sure that the community is together and able to exchange experiences and learning. When one mother has an issue, it is very likely that another will, at some point, experience a similar problem; at the heart of our actions, then, need to be a rich exchange of experiences, along with community building through children playing and families interacting.
What does the future look like for Pastoral? Where is it now, and where is it headed?
Pastoral is very dynamic; it is constantly working to adapt to changing community needs. When we think of these needs, we are not just talking about basic healthcare actions, but rather the other things that a child needs to live fully. Pastoral is very strong in this area—very complete—and will continue to provide services that complement one another in education, nutrition, and citizenship along with health.
Thinking about health trends, we see things constantly getting better. Pastoral’s actions, however—guidance, games and playing, nutrition—will always be needed. So I believe that Pastoral will continue for a long time to come with its same activities. Much improvement has been made in the 31 years that Pastoral has acted, the healthcare system has improved dramatically, but there is still so much more that still needs to be done. And it will all have to be done in collaboration with Pastoral through its leaders; through the solidarity of each and every one of them working together. That is how we will make change.
If you could communicate one message to an international audience about Pastoral, what would it be?
I would say that Pastoral is an act of love. It is because of the love of those people who give their lives for others that so many lives have been saved. These people that give are ones who often suffer themselves, but in their suffering feel joy by doing this work to save that other life. In this way, Pastoral one of the greatest acts of love, of solidarity, of hope.
The beauty in the work is seen when one who is saved by a leader turns and reciprocates that action, not out of obligation, but out of love.
When you go to lead a Celebration of Life or do a home visit with love, the impact that you make is like none other—it radiates out past yourself and past the other. That is how Pastoral manages to attract people when so many other organizations fail. We give testimony; the testimony that people see in us, in our hearts, it shows them something special within us that brings us to serve as we ourselves suffer. When you see us fulfill Pastoral’s mission with love, dedication, and joy, you cannot help but be drawn in by that testimony of caring.
This network of solidarity that Pastoral possesses is a direct result of this testimony. Sometimes people leave that community, but they always come back when they begin to realize that something in their lives is lacking. So that is Pastoral; it is a great act of love that we have between ourselves and our neighbors.
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