This afternoon we had the opportunity to visit for the second time Amigas da Mama. It was our time to learn from them and to share some of the “wealth” of our Connecticut River Valley. Amigas da Mama is an 11-year old all-volunteer organization tucked away on an upper floor of an office building on Rua Ebano Pereira in Curitiba. With not a single paid employee, Amigas da Mama is a success story if there ever was one.
From wigs and home-made chemo hats and prostheses, to informational and educational services about mammograms, to choral activities and advocacy, Amigas da Mama is there to help the many many women (Valeria says that some days she arrives to a line at the the door) who pass through its doors each day. But it is the companionship of others who have traveled along the breast cancer path that stood out in my mind this day.
We were there on a day when Valeria was to explain all of the Amigas da Mama services to current and new participants. The President of the organization, who I hear is at the office everyday including most weekends, quietly made sure she greeted each and every person. Mariangela was floating through the room before the meeting gently coaxing women to join her upcoming music therapy group. The group of women who come regularly to get together to sing or sew items for sale were bustling around the room greeting us with huge smiles.
And then, in came a woman who had not been there before. She was sporting something we see all too often, the head scarf. She came into the room at the last moment and quietly sat down next to me just as Valeria began to explain what Amigas da Mama does. I did not understand the Portuguese being spoken, but at one point this woman found an opportunity to slip in a very short bit of information about her situation. Everyone listened intently, nodding knowingly.
When Valeria’s presentation was over, she brought in two bags, one that I had carried to Brazil and one that Cynthia and Judy had carried. These two bags contained the 100+ bras that I mentioned in an earlier blog entry and 20+ breast forms. These donated items will fill a niche in Curitiba that is hard to understand in the world I walk in back home. To see the faces of the women as we unzipped the bags and began to pull out the items…. Well, you just had to be there.
And then the fun began. As breast cancer survivors often do, the ladies all began to make lemonade from a life sometimes full of lemons. We all donned a bra and paraded around for a photo shoot. And our new friend, the one who had walked through the door for the first time not even an hour before, jumped right into the action.
A performance for the Americans of a couple of songs followed, as did food and drink. I had my first taste of the pine nuts from the Araucaria trees of Brazil. Yum, yum!!
Women gathered to provide informal support for each other in corners of the room. And clearly an overwhelming amount of community and support surrounded the newest member of the group. She quickly took off her scarf to show everyone her bald head and I could see from across the room that she had found a new support group who will fast become new friends.
We received hugs and kisses from each and every woman as we left. And as if all of this were not heart-warming enough, as we turned to say our final good-byes, we were left with a view of the newest member surrounded by her new friends, trying on wigs and getting all the oohs and aahs she might need to feel just as beautiful as she was.
Sometimes it is the hardest parts of our journey that leave us with the strongest memories of all of the warmth and love that we can experience in this life. Companionship such as I saw today cannot be purchased and is worth more than anything money could buy.
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