"As part of an exchange Franco-Quebecois, I attended the World Social Forum which was held in Belem, Brazil from 28 January to 1 st February 2009. The delegation of the association representing mainland France STORY (Network of Citizens Schools, cf. www.recit.net ), the Quebec delegation, the Office Franco-Québecois pour la Jeunesse (OFQJ) and the Office Québec- Americas Youth (OQAJ) and other associations and the Guyanese delegation, the SEED Guyana DAAC (neighborhood association), the DDJS and ADER (Association for Development Education and Research). The goal was to get to know as well as our respective organizations and projects to eventually mount Francophone projects.
What is a World Social Forum?
A World Social Forum is a space for democratic debate of ideas, reflective thinking, formulation of proposals, exchange of experience and articulation of social movements, networks, NGOs and other organizations civil society opposed to neo-liberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism.
The World Social Forum 2009
The forum, taking place in the city Belém, situated on the banks of the Amazon, the Amazon has placed in the spotlight. Native Americans by their colorful feather headdresses and paint on the body have their voices heard and their demands for recognition of their rights. Many NGOs have also condemned the status of catastrophic deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
150 000 participants from over 120 nationalities and ethnic groups have toured the two large sites of the WSF to share their experiences and ideas. 2,000 self-managed workshops and conferences and they were offered on topics as diverse as education, intellectual property, preservation of the environment ... and political issues (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ...).
"It was a considerable human experience and regenerating. I have had exchanges, time on informal, rich with members of other delegations, mainly and made contacts with NGOs and other actors of the Environmental Education in Brazil with whom we share common values and we can build relationships, as Paulo Freire Institute (cf. www.paulofreire.org ) from Sao Paulo.
But I feel a frustration with my participation in the workshops of the WSF because we faced the problem of language barrier: the vast majority of them were offered only in Brazil. In addition, many were canceled, moved or replaced ... Finally, workshops were an open discussion of ideas, experiences and exchange of experiences in applying to make available the issues addressed in more depth rather than reflection. And, paradoxically, at the end of the Forum, the site was littered with waste: plastic paradise! So, to make another world possible, first we change even our own behavior! .
Gaëlle LUTAUD
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