Celebrating November 16, instituted by the United Nations as the International Day of Tolerance, the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Missions (FIHM) reminds us of the important of tolerance in encouraging peaceful coexistence among different cultures, peoples and ethnicities.
In the context of forced migration, the Venezuelan indigenous peoples who currently live in Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil, are an example of how to remain peaceful and respectful in the face of cultural differences and in spite of constant immigration challenges. They have shown us that tolerance is an essential element for fostering mutual respect and valuing cultural diversity.
The humanitarian volunteer, Aajhmaná, of the Coordination of the Roraima Humanitarian Mission (MRH), tells us about how the different facets of tolerance are encouraged at the Indigenous Cultural and Training Center (CCFI) where the Mission takes place, and where a diverse group of tribes are present during the activities: cultural tolerance, both of gender and generational.
Tolerance also consists in being patient and practicing active and focused listening to whoever is beside us, beyond the differences that may or may not exist. She shared that “the importance of the International Day of Tolerance, for humanitarian missions, is not only in the broader sense, but also in the smallest actions, in the way in which we listen to others and in the small gestures to the people we work with, our families, the people we see every day and come across at the bus stop, in the pharmacy or on the street, and also in our thoughts.” Based on this, the Roraima Humanitarian Mission seeks to promote tolerance and dialogue among the indigenous peoples and the sheltering community in Boa Vista.
As a strategy for encouraging an intercultural dialogue, various events and activities are proposed, such as workshops about traditional wisdom, and indigenous intercultural fairs where each indigenous people can share their own knowledge and learn together with neighboring tribes.
The workshops on traditional wisdom include medicine, handicrafts, clay pots, cotton and weaving, leather graphics, bio-jewelry, and dances. In these events promoted by the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), each tribe brings their knowledge, techniques and approaches learned from their ancestors. The other tribes that participate in the activities learn through that shared know-how, and contribute with their point of view, coming from their own cultures and traditions. This exchange generates room for patience, tolerance, and resilience in which the participants give, share, and receive.
The Indigenous Intercultural Fair, which has taken place since 2021 in the Roraima Humanitarian Mission, is an excellent example of this kind of place, where people of various nationalities, indigenous and non-indigenous, come together. In this way, the indigenous culture is shared among the different original peoples, and also among the non-indigenous people, such as those who live in Boa Vista and the humanitarian volunteers from different institutions and agencies. All of them get together in this space to learn and admire indigenous skills and the traditional knowledge presented in the form of handicrafts, medicines, food, and cultural presentations of music, dance, design, and art.
Besides the promotion of traditional wisdom workshops and indigenous intercultural fairs, the CCFI further contributes toward the strengthening of tolerance for the cultural identity of the indigenous peoples through various exchanges, such as mentoring, support for indigenous entrepreneurs, and a sewing studio.
Aajhmaná points out that one of the main things she learned was understanding the space and the time of others, in this case, of the indigenous peoples. Understanding how time flows, which is also different among the nationalities, was one of the main challenges for the humanitarian volunteers of the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), who have been active among the indigenous peoples in Roraima since 2016. She explains that the notion of time of the indigenous peoples who began to take refuge in northern Brazil was very much related to nature’s time, the sun, the plants, the food produced. Under this criteria, there is no delay, because the moon, the sun and nature do not get delayed.
However, this begins to contrast with another kind of idea of time in the context of social interactions, for example, in the school, medical and public services environments. The approach to the challenge, in these cases, was based on dialogues and adapting. The Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM) supported the indigenous peoples in their learning process, adaptation and understanding of time of the local Roraima culture. But assistance in this process of adaptation always looked to maintain the idea of time and the reality of the indigenous peoples, so that they could continue to experience that time in the moments when they do not depend of a service associated with the local culture.
The humanitarian volunteer Aajhmaná summarizes this great learning: “To obey a different rule doesn’t invalidate one’s own; they coexist. I understand the other and the other understands me, which means to coexist with our differences.”
Within this context, the representatives of the Taurepang indigenous people – Ovelio Rodriguez and José Casado (Amayikok) -, share their perceptions and feelings with us about the encouragement of tolerance among their communities. Ovelio tells us that, for them, this means to recognize the differences among the indigenous and non-indigenous people and respect them. He mentions that an experience of tolerance for him was when he immigrated to Brazil, when he integrated and shared with the brothers of other ethnic groups and other peoples and learned with them about their opinions and their cultures.
Amayikok believes that to respect cultural differences is important for the coexistence of the peoples and communities. For Amayikok, tolerance is experienced in daily life, in church, in school, in the place where he was born, but now also in Brazil, where he learned to value new cultures and lessons learned. He tells us that tolerance can contribute to the preservation of his traditions through acts of union and of teaching children about respecting the cultures, to know their identity and their history, so that, in this way, they will be able to rescue their ancestral knowledge.
