Case Study
Mídia Quilombola’s Discussion of Untapped Resources for a Healthier World
Overview
Amid the increasingly alarming effects of climate change, it is more important than ever to shine a spotlight on voices that have been historically underrecognized in the continuous struggle for environmental justice. Perhaps nowhere is this need starker than in the Amazon region covering the Brazilian state of Maranhão, where Africans who escaped from enslavement found refuge and created their own communities as a form of resistance against colonization. Recognizing that many of the climate-change solutions we seek today lie within the traditional knowledge and practices of Quilombola communities, we partnered with Mídia Quilombola to make these narratives accessible to a more global and diverse set of stakeholders and to build bridges to purposeful impact.
The Challenge: History Untold, History Repeated
Climate change is an issue that can no longer be ignored. Not only that, but we must take deliberate actions to combat its adverse effects. Some of the most effective solutions come from the most adversely affected populations, such as Quilombola communities, and thus remain largely untapped. Mídia Quilombola’s mission is to honor the stories and traditions of Quilombola communities in the Amazon region of Maranhão by keeping them alive in contemporary discourse and pointing to them as true solutions to climate change.
Without awareness of the history and environmental acumen of Quilombola communities, the world is missing out on a crucial element that could make an effective contribution in mitigating the environmental crises we currently face and even lead the way to ensure our planet and future generations thrive.
The Solution: Interpreting for Positive Environmental Impact
Our goal at Enharmonic Encounters was to enable these narratives to be brought to the fore, which we did by inviting Mídia Quilombola’s founder, Juliane Sousa, herself a native of Quilombola lands in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, to present on the work of her organization and the current state of affairs for Quilombola communities in the Amazon region. Juliane’s presentation, a 20-minute talk in Portuguese for which we provided simultaneous interpretation into English, took place within the wider context of an interpreting conference and involved:
✔ Close coordination with Mídia Quilombola’s founder, Juliane Sousa, to ensure maximum cohesiveness between speaker and interpreter.
✔ Adequate subject-matter preparation via deliberate study and creation of a glossary.
✔ Logistical agility in covering every aspect of the event planning process, including running the event itself, together with our interpreter colleagues.
By bringing Mídia Quilombola’s message to English-speaking stakeholders via our interpreting services, we are bringing critical voices to the fore that have real solutions, inviting the world to engage in more inclusive exchanges, and building bridges to purposeful impact in the global fight against climate change.
The Impact: Greater Visibility, Stronger Collaboration
✔ Increased awareness of the history and environmental contributions of Brazil’s Quilombola communities among the interpreting conference’s nearly 70 registrants.
✔ Stronger international engagement, fortifying collaboration and understanding between Portuguese-speaking and English-speaking stakeholders united for people and planet.
✔ Growing trust with key stakeholders, thus cementing our position as a key interpreting partner for Mídia Quilombola.
Future Opportunities: Bringing our Interpreting Services to Larger Platforms
This initiative has laid the groundwork for even greater impact. We are now exploring:
✔ Live interpretation for conferences uniting Brazil and the United States, including at conferences and events held by Mídia Quilombola and Sistema B Brasil.
✔ Expanding interpreting services to additional markets and language pairs, including Arabic, and strengthening global connections for positive social and environmental impact.
✔ Becoming a strategic partner for diversifying the visibility of voices in the global fight against climate change.
Juliane’s Perspective:
Environmental justice will never be achieved without deliberate protection of indigenous and traditional lands. That’s why we’re keen on bringing more awareness to our mission at Mídia Quilombola to leverage the advent of social media to tell the stories of our Black, Quilombola ancestors in the Amazon region covering the state of Maranhão. The strategic partnership that we have established with Enharmonic Encounters puts us in a better position to ensure our ancestors’ stories live on forever.
By recognizing the importance of language accessibility in the fight against climate change, we have not only amplified the work of key stakeholders on the ground in Brazil but have shined a light on untapped resources and solutions crucial to the world’s survival.