Men and Women

Ok I promise that I'm ALMOST done posting about our trip....just this one and maybe one more. Then, they're so much to catch up on about our life back in Anapolis. Thanks for coming along for the ride to the Xavante village with us!




Women........

Growing up in a household that had five women, I've always felt right at home among ladies, even when they're from a completely different world. One of my favorite parts of this trip to the Xavante tribe was being able to spend hours talking with, learning from, and sharing with the women.

Although I had a lot in common with these women, life is also VERY different for them. In the Xavante tribe, women marry at a much younger age. The young woman next to me is 16 years old, she married when she was 12 years old and already has 3 children. It's hard to imagine so much responsibility on such young shoulders.

In general the women were very reserved, but like in any culture, they loved talking among themselves. There is never an end to the things we have to say to a friend or sister, is there? It's the same here :)

The women were also VERY hard working. While we were visiting, a large truck arrived with heavy bags and boxes. We heard some of the men instruct the women to go and get the stuff...quite different from the way we're used to things! The women also cook, clean, etc, except there isn't even any water in their homes. They carried baskets of dishes and clothes to a water pump/river a good distance away to wash everything by hand. They also got water from the river and brought it back for the families, like this girl above.

These handy baskets are very important for the women. We also saw a young girl (no older than 10) carrying water home from the river in bottles inside her basket. She had 4 (2 Liter) bottles in her basket, being carried by her head, and one in each arm. By the way, it's and uphill walk from the water!

However, the main purpose for these baskets is not carrying water. Do you know what it might be?

Any guesses?

Carrying babies, of course :)

The women had a good time letting some of us try it out...with a baby inside by the way! I was SO nervous that I would drop it, can you imagine? It was really pretty heavy and not as easy as it looks. Oh, and if you notice, many of the women have short hair. That's because when someone dies they cut their hair short out of mourning. Interesting and very symbolic.

Men....

Providers, protectors, teachers of the sons....in some ways life is pretty similar for men here as anywhere, but like the women it is also quite different.

After spending only a short time in the Xavante tribe, we're not experts on the culture, but here's what we observed. Since the women are responsible for most of the household tasks, the men spend a lot of time talking together, it's a big part of the culture.

Here's a large group of them spending time with a visiting Xavante village as well.

This was really neat because it meant that Jeyson was able to spend hours (HOURS) just talking with the men. Many did not speak Portuguese, but some did and Jeyson learned so much from them and was able to share some about our relationship with God.

They spoke S-L-O-W-L-Y and thoughfully, after all what's the hurry? No long to-do list to worry about. This man is twisting up some husk into a rope. This is then tied around their arms in a special way.

This is one man Jeyson spent an especially long time with. He says he wants to come visit Anapolis and see where we live. We would love to host him and we hope he comes!

The men play soccer and volleyball together in the sand in the middle of the village circle.


Almost all of the men have piercings through their ears and larger sticks are gradually put through. Different kinds of wood through the ears have different meanings.

Although the roles of the men was a different than what we're used to, the love for their family and children was obvious.

Xavante Kids

The kids from the Xavante tribe were really sweet, and although we couldn't communicate in words (most didn't speak any Portuguese) we communicated easily through smiles, laughter, and gestures. There was one particular group from Asas that came with games and activities for the kids like this one....

Everyone grabbed a corner of a sheet and helped bounce up a ball on the sheet....

This was really different and a lot of fun for them

But even us, who weren't part of the kid's team, got to spend lots of time interacting with the Xavante children.
The houses in the village for a large circle...maybe about the size of one city block. The middle is covered with sand where the tribe plays soccer, volleyball, and the kids have fun. What a neat place to grow up!

And now for some faces.....

The kids really liked their tame/pet buzzard. He was really gentle and friendly, but as you can see from Jeyson's expression, it was a little hard to get used to the idea.

The puppy didn't mind though....they enjoyed eating a snack together.

Depending on which of Asas's bases we're sent to in the future, we may have many more experiences in tribes,but I know we'll never forget this first experience.

These sweet children and their beautiful faces will be imprinted on our hearts forever.

Tribal Trip

By far, the most different thing we did during this trip was be part of a small group that went to a tribal village. This shot bellow is of a neighboring tribe we passed along the way....way WAY out in the middle of nowhere.
We arrived at the fairly small Xavante village...picture bellow. Neither of us had ever been to a tribe here in Brazil before, so this was an incredible opportunity and we were SO happy to have been chosen to participate. Most of the team was made up of dentists, a doctor, nurses, and even someone to cut hair. This was the official reason we were there and invited to visit by the tribe, but a few non-medical people (like us) were allowed to come along too. Mainly we played with the children, spent time talking with the adults who spoke Portuguese, helped with logistics, and were present to help the medical team where possible.

What was the purpose of this trip? To minister in what limited way possible now, and to open doors for future contact and visits by Asas and a church in the main city (somewhat nearby :). From what I understood, none of the people in this Xavante village are believers (about 100-200 people) so sharing about Christ's love would of course be the ultimate hope.

Here's a little info about the Xavante taken from good ol' wikipedia:

The Xavante (also Shavante, Chavante, Akuen, A'uwe, Akwe, Awen, or Akwen) are an indigenous people, comprising some 9,600 individuals (2000 est.) within the territory of eastern Mato Grosso state in Brazil. They speak the Xavante language, part of the Jé language family.
They were enslaved in the 17th century, after which they have tried to avoid contact. A temporary coexistence with westernized society in the 19th century in the state of Goiás, was followed by withdrawal to Mato Grosso. They were re-"discovered" during the 1930s. From 1946 to 1957, they were brought under dictator Getúlio Vargas’s National Integration Program, and experienced massacres and disease. Due to this history, they have a distrust of White or Portuguese men. Today they are still wary of any approach of non-Xavante, called "waradzu".

The people are renowned as aggressive and prideful. They may be most famous for their dualistic societal structure. Two clans, the Âwawẽ and Po'reza'õno compose the culture, and marriage is not allowed between members of the same clan. An example of inter-clan relationships are the traditional log races, where the two clans compete in a race to carry palm tree trunks weighing as much as 80 kg to a defined point.

The Xavante are also known for their complex initiation rituals for young males, such as when small wooden sticks are inserted in the earlobes at the age of fourteen. As time passes, the size of these adornments is increased for the rest of their lives.

If you made it through reading that, you can understand why the Xavante are pretty closed to the outside world, so this was a really unique opportunity that we had to treat with a lot of care.

There were 2 types of houses in the ring of about 20 homes that made up the village. About 1/2 were the kind of house you are seeing above, made out of palms and sticks (I believe) and about 1/2 had been constructed out of cement some time ago by the government.

There was also one REALLY unique structure that had been built by the government....a school. Each tribe that wanted a school built could pick how they wanted the structure to appear. One really creative man in the village named Agusto came up with the idea of making the school in the shape of a giant armadillo! He said that the previous generation used to hunt armadillos, but now they are getting harder and harder for the new generation to find so he wanted to build the school like this for the kids to know the tribe's history. How neat! We slept overnight inside the armidillo school. I don't think I'll ever forget this precious memory.

In the picture you can see Asas's mobile clinic where the dentists and doctors see patients.

Next up on the blog....Xavante kids. Stay tuned for LOTS of photos. Here's one to whet your appetite. This little cutie loved taking pictures and in this one accidentally shut his eyes, but I think it became one of my favorite pictures. The kids were so well mannered and sweet...but more on that soon :)

Poverty and Thankfulness

Poverty - we saw a lot of it on this trip.
There was an entire neighborhood of houses made out of sticks/straw.

Families just barely getting by - like this one.

The government has helped a little by building tiny homes for 50 families in this town (these houses are not pictured). It's hard to explain what these government homes looked like...they were really shacks. They had enormous holes above the ceilings where the walls meet the roof. The people had to fight for bathrooms to be built in the homes. Meanwhile, there are another 150 families who applied but were not helped with housing at all at this point. They live in homes like this one below.

The front "gate" in front of a property

Despite the poverty though, it is amazing to see how creativity and hope still survive. I think this is pictured well in the picture below.

Did you see the "basketball hoop"? Did you notice it is made out of rubber from a bike tire? :)

Here I sit in my comfortable living room writing this using my laptop. Sure, maybe our home is no where close to the type of home we might have if we lived in the States, but it's safe and my pantry and fridge are full of food. I have a bathroom in the next room :) As one team member so simply, yet so deeply stated, maybe we should all complain a little less and be a little more thankful....so true. That's the truth we've been wrestling with putting into action in our lives lately.

When you stop to think and take a second to look around, there truly is SO much to be thankful for, isn't there?