Located in Brasilândia, a neighborhood in the Northern area of the city of São Paulo, the Ações Sociais Vó Tutu Institute distributes over 2,000 free loaves of bread every day. It also donates food and hygiene items, and provides professional training courses in partnership with the National Industrial Learning Service (SENAI), among other activities. To find out more, Camila S., a 12-year-old member of Clube do Joca, interviewed Vó Tutu, the person who created the organization, and Vânia da Silva, her daughter.

What prompted you to start the project?

Vó Tutu: Before the pandemic, I had started a restaurant, and it was our dream. I brought four of my kids with me, it took me eight months to set it up (…). The pandemic started two months later. (…) I was already doing some social work sporadically, helping children who had never had a birthday celebration, or an adult who had never had a party. I didn’t know how we were going to start over. I was alone in my bedroom when suddenly, I asked God what I should do with my life (…). Suddenly, a voice spoke to me: “Grandma, make bread” (…) And so it happened. At first, I made 200 loaves of bread. Then 20 people appeared and I gave them that bread. It worked out perfectly. Later, there were almost 50 people in line. And that is how this work began.

When did you learn how to make bread?

VT: Close to my house there is an 80-year-old organization that gives out soup and bread to a lot of people in the northern part of town. At a certain time in my life, I had an accident and was idle, so I decided to take a bread making course at this organization. At first, I was a student, and then I became a volunteer. The director called me and said that I was very good with people and that I had a lot of patience. Then he asked me to stay, and I was there for almost four years. When I left, I already had the idea of doing something along those lines. But I had no money.

Did you ever imagine that distributing bread in the neighborhood would turn into the project that it is today?

VT: I never did (…). I made bread, because, as a black woman from the suburbs, I know people’s aches and sorrows because they are mine too. The difference between Vó Tutu and the people getting bread is that I am on the side of those who make bread and they are receiving it. I have the same needs as they do, (…) I think that no family, no mother, father, should have to be in line to get bread. It’s such a simple thing, made from water, flour, salt, and yeast. It’s inhumane. So I think it was the pain, my life experience. It was something like: “Come on, woman, now it’s your turn to give back what someone once gave you.” We weren’t expecting it. I thank God every day. Not for the queue because that’s very sad, but because I know that eventually this line will end.

What advice would you give to those who want to help others, but do not know where to start?

VT: Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, sometimes grandma uses this phrase: no one is so poor that they can’t help, because help doesn’t just come from material things, it comes from a hug, from giving a minute of your time to listen to that what the person wants to say, that’s the main thing, because when you let a person communicate, you can understand what the other person is going through. The biggest gift is this, to show that we are all the same. We have to be aware that we don’t just help with concrete things; even when you are silent, you might sometimes be helping.

What are the biggest challenges you face at work?

Vânia: Our biggest challenges are to keep donations coming and making the people who are there every day aware of the opportunities that we offer. Today we provide courses, but people are sometimes not used to them, especially when they are free. So our challenge is to show this group that there are various opportunities and ways to get free training and improve their lives. It’s a daily conversation.

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