Edcléia Santos: 30 years growing with the community of Passarinho

Credit: Personal Collection

By: Eduarda Nunes / Lupa do Bem – Favela em Pauta

Every body is a political body, but there are those people who dedicate themselves a little more to their actions. One of them is Edcléia Santos, a 64-year-old black woman, mother of four children, grandmother of six grandchildren and one of the main names in the struggle for housing in the city of Recife (PE).

More than 30 years ago, Cléia, as she’s known by her family, neighbors and activists partners, began to get involved in the fight for the right to live in a house and all the essential rights that come with this. Currently, she coordinates Espaço Mulher, in Passarinho, a territory given to families that, in the 1980s, lived on the barrier of Morro da Conceição in constant danger.

It all started when Edcléia was in line to get a ticket for the National Milk Program for Needy Children, created by the Federal Government in 1986, which guaranteed access to milk for families with an income of up to two minimum wages. While she was waiting, Vera Guedes, another resident of the neighborhood, invited her to the Morro Women’s Group. Since then, Edcléia, literally, won the world by trying better living conditions for women and housing for the peripheral population.

It’s from this group that Cléia begins to understand her political power. She actively participated in the conquest of the territory of Passarinho in the 1980s, and her family was one of those who built houses in that ceded area of ​​bush. Before that, Cléia was dedicated to her family and home work. She used to be a day laborer and, at the time, was already a domestic worker “with a formal contract and everything”, she reinforces.

It was on one of these roads to work, in 1999, in the Kombi with other workers, that the group “as kombeiras” emerged – an extension of the conversations they had daily on the way to work. Every day, the women went to and from work, talking about what was needed in the community and thinking about solutions together, until the husband of one of them joked that they should create a women’s group. “I came up with the idea because I wanted to!”, Edcléia jokes.

One of the main actions of the “kombeiras” was a project that sought to broaden the discussion on women’s health in the community.

Cléia says that the Domestic Workers Union was an important institution in this process of politicizing Passarinho. After them, organizations such as Casa da Mulher do Nordeste, SOS Corpo, ActionAid and Fase also came together to strengthen the fight of the women of Passarinho.

Edcléia Santos: leadership in the Passarinho neighborhood (PE)

In 2001 the group changes its name to Espaço Mulher and currently, with 50 participating women, they have already some achievements such as public lighting, a health center and a school, even though they are not even close to what would be the ideal and the that women demand daily. It is a constant fight with the public authorities so that the neighborhood has access to the basics of housing.

Passarinho is a neighborhood historically neglected by the city’s politicians. In its creation, the then governor of the state, Miguel Arraes, promised an infrastructure far from what was delivered. Only the main street and some others were paved.

Cléia has been growing personally with this movement for 30 years. It was from this space of identification and leadership empowerment that she appropriated her great value. She put an end to the psychological violence she suffered at home and, nowadays, lives with her partner in an environment free from sexist limitations – while trying to help other women also conquer their freedoms. “I see that I didn’t evolve alone, I evolved collectively because I’m inspiring other women too”, she comments.

She also went back to school, finished elementary school, and tried to attend social work, but was unable to pass the entrance exams she took. This is an idea that has not been abandoned, but she understands that the dynamics her life has taken, in a way, make it difficult for now. Its main source of income is the sewing and handicrafts that make up the brand of Espaço Mulher. Kitchen items, shirts, bags and accessories are the specialty of the business.

In 2021, Edcleia decided to have her first birthday party. At the age of 64, close friends, relatives and companions from Espaço Mulher were able to celebrate the life of this woman who fights for the well-being of their own, with cake and lots of samba music!