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Ilca Márcia Albino da Silva
21 years old
Peer Educator, Grupo Curumim
Brazil

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A high school graduate, Ilca has been a member of the feminist organization Grupo Curumim Gestação e Parto since she was 17. Within the organization, she is a member of the Youth Center of the Cunhatã Program - Grupo Curumim. She is an activist in the feminist, teenager, and black movements. She represents Curumim in the Group of Black Youth (Articulação de Juventude Negra).

Ilca has participated in events including the Festival of Youth (Festival da Juventude - Recife - 2006), Forum of Human Rights of Recife (Fórum de Direitos Humanos do Recife - 2006), Theater Course with the Grupo Loucas de Pedra Lilás (2005 - 2007), Social Forums (global, national, and regional), State Conference of Public Policy for Women (Conferência Estadual de Políticas Publicas para as Mulheres, Pernambuco - 2007), State and National Meeting of the Black Youth (2007); Conference of Race Equality (local and state-wide), National Meetings of Teenagers, Meeting of Feminist Youth of Pernambuco, X Feminist Meeting of Latin America and the Caribbean (São Paulo - 2005), National Meeting Of Brazilian Women - AMB, and the National Meeting of Rural Youth (Brasília - 2007), among others.

IWHC: What are some of biggest problems facing women and young people in Brazil today?

Ilca Márcia Albino da Silva: I think one of the main problems in my community is pregnancy, which is very common among teenagers and young girls—for those in school as well as those who are no longer studying.  This is in addition to HIV/AIDS infection rates which are high due to the lack of information and access to contraceptive methods, as well as a lack of education about how to negotiate with one's partner. Paulista, where I live, ranks fourth in the state with the highest numbers of HIV cases—that's very high for a municipality so small.


IWHC: Why is that a problem?

IMAS: There is a lack of access to information. Young people don't have information about pregnancy or contraceptive methods. They don't have access to the "morning after" pill. Early pregnancies result, and often the family doesn't want the pregnancy. The girls are either forced not to have the baby or to have the baby. Either way, it's a problem.

IWHC: What is your first memory as a young girl or young woman of a situation where you were personally aware of or effected by gender inequalities or a lack of rights for girls and women?

IMAS: I don't have any recollection of being negatively impacted when I was a child because in my house there were only women.


IWHC: How did the experience of growing up in your community differ for girls and boys, both as young children and as teens? Did the activities, interests, and perception of the future differ for girls and boys?

IMAS: My experience differs from some of the young people in my community because I think I grew up with more awareness about the issues affecting the community and I was able to motivate other young people to think of how they carry their lives.


IWHC: How did you start to work with Curumim?

IMAS: I began to work with Curumim through the Adolescents and Young Women Project by contributing to the movement for gender equity and end of violence supported by PACIFIC in 2006. 


IWHC: Why is the work of Curumim, and of IWHC, so important? Why is it important for you to work at Curumim?

IMAS: IWHC is important because it strengthens Curumim, so that Curumim can provide strength to young people. And those youth can empower other young people who didn't have the same access to organizations like Curumim. Both IWHC and Curumim make this possible.

Also, having money to do what you need to do is important. IWHC provides funding for Curumim, and Curumim pays young people like us for our work. Receiving funding as activists helps us as individuals while facilitating our work externally in the context of the feminist movement, the Afrodescendant movement, and the youth movement. We are stronger as an institution, which makes us stronger in the larger movement.


IWHC:  What are you most proud of?

IMAS: To be able to take information to other people and with that empower them with the hope that they will reflect about their positions and about their life conditions—so that each person will be able to make a positive change in their own and other people's lives.


IWHC: How do you imagine your future?

IMAS: To graduate from university with a focus on the area that I work on, which is health; being financially secure; and of course doing what I like.


IWHC: What do you see in the future on the issue of sexual and reproductive health for Young people? If you succeed, what is the world going to look like?

IMAS: Plenty of empowered, autonomous women who don't have to deal with violence or violations of their rights. I also hope to see more government support to carry out educational initiatives in the most diverse communities so that we can reach more young people.


Interview posted 2/28/08.