On our friends arrival we discussed what to do and I suggested I would like to see some Brazilian Furniture. (Queens around the world love to look at furniture). So off to the furniture Mega mall we went.
Along the way we were confronted yet again with the blinding poverty that is Brazil. It had already welcomed us at the airport with Favelas lining the runway. It was morning and people were beginning to emerge from their cardboard existence, lodged under freeway overpasses, doorways, anywhere that could keep them dry as in Sao Paulo it rains a lot. The plight of the poor and homeless is an aspect of Brazilian Culture that saddens me deeply.
Our friends like so many good and kind Brazilians appear to have become oblivious to the poverty of the nation. Perhaps it is because they know it only takes a loss of a job or a prolonged period of ill health that they too, without family assistance can fall into the poverty trap. After all self preservation is a basic human instinct. Yet still in this great Country there are many who choose to do nothing.
This lack of caring is what holds Brazil back from becoming a truly first world, great nation. Brazilians dont seem to understand that by growing the wealth of the poor by even a small percentage will benefit the whole society.
The rich would ironically benefit the most from the eradication of poverty. No more life behind electric fences with 24/7 Security, no fear to walk the streets no matter what time of day or night, but most of all that fellow Brazilians were free from the chains of poverty.
Many Brazilians think that this is not possible but just like many Australians they only think in the now. With solid planning and good economic management this could happen within a 10-20 year time frame. Just look at what Countries like Korea, China, India and most importantly the neighbour to the south, Chile have done improving the standard of living for all in relatively short periods of time.
It was not long before we were entering the car park of the furniture mega mall (I did tell you that everything in Sao Paulo was mega) and looking at the different styles of Brazilian furniture, fresh with images of the "Cardboard People" still in my mind.
Many fine examples of Brazilian Furniture were to be seen with price tags that were extreme. I have never such expensive furniture anywhere in the world ( my mind quickly flashed back to the homeless and their despair) Then took another look at the price tag of the dining chair I was admiring. Just one chair was $1200 Australian Dollars!!
We continued through the mall $7,000AUD for a dining Table, $10,000AUD for a lounge, I was left speechless.( which believe me does not happen often). I then thought to myself if there is a whole mega mall of this overpriced furniture there must be a whole class of people who are prepared and able to pay for these overpriced symbols of status. Yes consumerism has hit Brazil. I wonder how the homeless person under the freeway would feel sitting on a $8,000AUD Lounge chair? I also wondered if the same chair really makes the purchaser all that happy? I guess this really displays the disparity between the wealthy and the poor. It also to me displays rather vulgar behaviour.
Soon we exited the Mega Mall car park and were on our way to the heart of modern Sao Paulo. "Paulista Avenue". Brazilians would have you believe that this is the Champs-Élysées of Brazil. It is not. It is a pleasant enough street with a splattering of ageing shopping centres and a truly beautiful park but nothing special. Here we found the The São Paulo Museum of Art which had a spectacularly unimpressive exhibition of photographs. We sped through the exhibition and found another exhibition in a tent outside the Museum by a Brazilian Artist( Sculptor) "Abelardo da Hora" and the exhibition "Amor e Solidariedade 60 anos de arte" This in contrast was spectacular celebrating the curvaceousness of Brazilian women and oddly enough sculptures that told the stories of the impoverished.It was these sculptures of the impoverished that left sombre memories of what life is like for some in Brazil. Children abandoned by their fathers, women trying to feed malnourished babies when they themselves have not enough to eat and a woman trying to bring her dead child back to life. The sculptures had an angst of sorrow.
We left the exhibition in a sombre mood. We headed back to the hotel for siesta before heading out to dinner about 9:00pm.The day had left us thinking about life in Brazil and how fortunate we are. It made me more determined than ever to help those who are less fortunate. Even is it is only by raising other peoples awareness
