George Esunge Fominyen
We were warned on arrival in Belem, that it rained here each day between 2 and 4pm local time. We were advised to buy umbrellas which we didn’t do. We learnt a bitter lesson on the opening march of the 2009 World Social Forum. However, that torrential downpour was unable to prevent the groups present from marching.
Samba after the rain at Belem - George Esunge Fominyen
On that 27 January 2009 everything looked in order. The sky was so blue and the sun could roast a baby. It had drizzled between 2.15 and 2.45pm. I thought the day’s daily shower from the heavens was done with. I put together my reporting kit (digital audio recorder, microphones and video camera).
I was off to Eschadinha where the opening march was set to take place. I looked up to the sky to see what the clouds were up to. All I saw was sunshine. The colours of the various groups made the place look like a flower garden. The chants and rhetoric on power to the labouring masses set the context.
Opening march WSF 2009 - George Fominyen
The closer I got to the stage hosting the key speakers, the more my ear drums protested. The loud-speakers were thumping. The crowd rose into frenzy when members of the African Diaspora supported by Portoguese speaking Africans from Guinea Bissau enacted African purification rituals and struck their Djembé (drums).
Most of the talking was in Portuguese. That excluded folks like me from getting the complete message immediately. But the few words I could understand told me they were talking about protecting indigenous people – including Amazonians and Africans. It was also about respecting diversity and most certainly about giving dignity and a chance to everyone on earth.
Of course, each time speakers switched there was a shrilling “uma utro mundo es possivel!” – meaning: Another World is Possible. That is the mantra of the World Social Forum. As the salvos of poetry and rhetoric against global capitalism rained over the very receiving and understanding folk beneath the platform that served as action point, another storm was brewing.
Goodness me – it was the rain.
rain in Belem 27 January 2007 - george esunge fominyen
For some unclear reason – I thought it would just drizzle and we’d get on with our stuff. I was wrong. It rained well and hard. The drops hit like lumps of puff puff released from an angry shot-gun. After 45 minutes of tropical rainfall, there was a lull and the he march started. The drums rolled to Samba tunes and I had the feeling we were re-enacting the Rio Carnival. Though the rain drummed its way back with gusts of chilly water it could not manage to beat the resolve of these anti-globalisation and anti-capitalist folk. They sang – and (practically) preached their way through it.
I was soaking wet, by time I was done with interviewing the few representatives of African Social Movements that I saw.
Management and compensation for the exploitation of extractive industries was the recurrent theme in their chats with me. Emily Tchiaka from Benin and Danny Sombo from the Democratic Republic of Congo felt that interests of multinational corporations and their states in mining resources and petroleum are the root cause of wars in Africa. These wars lead to violence against women (such as rape), children soldiers and continuous poverty. A delegate from Nigeria Niger Delta region advocated for partnerships and not exploitation by the multinational companies. He explained that this was the reason for the insecurity in that part of Nigeria.
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