Tô na rede

I always say that I fell from parachutes in Tô na Rede, because I already took the tram on foot … But it was a fantastic experience, very enriching; I acquired various knowledge, and also, among them, many myths were destroyed. Many difficulties I had to relate to myself and to the other, the project really made me break, put out what was stored, stored inside me. With all this, Tô na Rede enriched not only me, but all the people who were part of it, and our city as well. We acquire not only knowledge, but also the grace to look to the future with hope, and to know that we can be instruments of change, transformation for our society, through our culture, education, leisure … And with all partners who, with us, make this happen in our daily life, in each place, especially in Arapiraquinhas.

I work with a specific area for the visually impaired, the Braille section of the Arthur Vianna Library. I’m in the Tô na Rede project from the beginning. But for me, at first the project did not have much credibility, because there have already been some projects here in the library and all halted. And Tô na Rede really came to make a difference, especially in the human issue. There was a union, there was a differentiated work in this relationship, not only inside the library but outside, with our partners, our partners. And this is a very important thing for any institution that works with the social issue. What struck me a lot was this: you can get to know your friend better, your colleagues at work, and also give your library partner a greater opportunity to interact. So, there is already a difference in the treatment …

There was a lot of change after Tô na Rede came here to the library. The servers are friendlier. Before, it seems that there was a separation, there was a wall between us; not now. And not just with security personnel, but with general service personnel as well. Because Tô na Rede is doing this program, it is much better the coexistence here. Even the uniform has changed, now it’s more presentable. Before, the uniform was very old, it was embarrassing for the associates they attended. And then they had no respect for us – they were afraid! We were going to talk to them and get very stiff because of that uniform. It’s much better now. They are behaving better, and they are truly respecting.

Before Tô na Rede, I always believed in something innovative. And I’ve always believed that working with the community is very strong, not only for me, but for all the people who came here daily in the library. So I’ve always been very close to this community. I think Tô na Rede comes to reaffirm this that I believe – that the strength of the library is in the community. It is not in an institution itself, but rather in the community, which comes every day here, in our work, in our library, to search for what moves each one: it is either a consultation, or a manga, a comic book … And we’re here. I am here every day, as if it were the first day of my work. Always open and always cheerful. Maybe it’s also because of what I do in the library, which is the ludic part. But it also has to do with my way of being. So the project comes to reaffirm what I feel and what I believe, what is this exchange of knowledge with the other – not only the technological knowledge, but from person to person.

I work in the works section and I am participating in the Tô na Rede project. We learned that we should not work between four walls, but rather leave the library and go to the communities. I had more difficulty in the area of computer science, because, as I am not very adept at technology … The computer modules, for me that I am an apprentice, were few, I needed more. I had never had contact with computers before Tô na Rede. So, I hope that more modules will come with other subjects so that we can continue with this project.

The Tô na Rede project offered me the pleasant opportunity to increase my incentive, my will and my willingness to verify that Brazil’s problems – if not all, a large part – can be solved with culture, with instruction and reading. So, 100 years ago Monteiro Lobato already stated that “a country is made with men and books”. If at that time books and reading were already so important for the transformation of society, imagine today! We need to encourage reading, education and culture to transform that society, which we can say, to a certain extent, degraded … Especially young people need this education, this incentive, this reading and culture to be transformed; Brazil needs this a lot. So, the project Tô na Rede brought this incentive, and I left with much more desire to work on this issue, which is something that will help transform this society.

Tô na Rede was a project that came to energize, to revolutionize, to shake off the concepts that I learned in relation to the community and to encourage the coexistence with our public. Soon after we started, we left the library and went to meet other places and communities … The project gave me a whole background, a greater professional knowledge. It was all good, meeting the teachers, the instructors, getting to know our colleagues better, in the experiences that were made here … I just have to thank this project, plus this knowledge in my professional and personal life.