OUR LAND

The next morning, I got up at sunrise and walked to the spring for a drink. It was overflowing with a steady, small run of clear water into the gutter, which made it flow to the garden’s network of pipes placed all over the ground so they would deliver a few waterdrops to the various points in the soil. A variety of leafy vegetables were growing freely toward the morning sun.
I was still thinking about how little one needs to be happy when I saw Mário sitting on the ledge above the spring.
“Good morning, André! Come on and join me!’
“Good morning, Mário!”
“You know, this perch reminds me of Miradouro—a vista back home in Atlantica, overlooking the beauty of San Lucas Valley. It was at that location that Padre José inspired me as a young person to think about my life’s purpose. There, he encouraged me to contribute to make this world a better place and to help create a happier and just human family. If we think seriously about it, that’s the only plausible reason why persons like us should have a headful of dreams of justice and happiness for all, along with the wisdom, know-how, and determination to figure out ways to accomplish such dreams.
“Today, André, I compare this perch to Miradouro because I have begun to dream again! From here, I can take a look around me and imagine myself helping to transform this valley into a beautiful living place for others like me.”
“It’s so good to see that you have become your old self again, Mário! I was worried that now that you had created your own little paradise here, you might have given up trying to change the world.”
“This place has healed me, André! I no longer feel that it is futile optimism to continue to be an activist for social and economic justice, as I was inclined to do after the burning incident in the Santiago Flatlands. It is reenergizing to feel intense hope again! Instead of clinging to my good life here, I want to share it with those who are not as lucky as I am.”
“That’s the confident Mário I knew!”
“Yes, André, I feel upbeat again! Indeed, every time I look at this empty valley and I think of all the sem terra persons not far from here, I envision a world of possibilities! André, don’t you see what I see from here?”
I laughed. “Mário, I do not have your vision or your imagination! My thoughts have all been wrapped around financial statements and projections for days in a row, in order to prepare for my next encounter with Gilmore, in California!”
“Relax, André! Forget Gilmore for a little while. Look at the beauty and the potential of the valley before us. Those green elms along the creek bed remind us that that there is running water by their roots. Many small springs just like the one running down this cliff are feeding that underground stream. Like the elms, we figured out a way to capture one of those springs and were able to grow healthier lives here and make our world better. André, don’t you see how many opportunities such as ours there are just along this creek?”
“Mário, my mind is just as numb as my body! Come on! Just tell me what is in your mind and quit trying to make me guess your visionary ideas.”
“All right! That creek is to this whole valley what this spring is to our garden and our homes, André! With your help, and the help of any smart bank and a good government—the same kind of help you alone gave Joao and me—all your workers at the mine could become self-sufficient house builders and food growers on this valley, just like we have done.
“Within a couple of years, that creek could be dammed at the rock gate up there and capture all that wasted underground water, plus the rain overflow collected by the mountainsides. That would be enough to provide domestic and irrigation water all year round for hundreds of people. The whole valley down there could become a garden producing healthier food for all the people of Minas and perhaps many more!”
I sat quietly, with my elbows anchored on my knees, my head stuck between my hands, and my eyes staring at the bone-dry valley, trying to imagine it turning green.