Read the following statement from school cook Tamires Mendes Alves, from the Quilombola Community of São Lourenço do Sul (RS):
“For me, moving on to the second phase of the programme was a mixture of happiness and anguish. Competing with the other quilombola school cooks was certainly difficult. We are representing our culture and having to compete against each other was very hard.
I am happy to have moved on to the second phase, and I hope to honour my roots and my colleagues who left the competition. I hope to bring a wealth of knowledge and experiences into viewers’ homes through my story and my participation in the reality show. We are one people, united by a common goal, which is to elevate our culture and our ancestry, to make the whole of Brazil aware of the richness of Quilombola culture and the other cultures represented in the programme.
I am because we are. I carry the ancestry of all those who came before me. I will give voice to all those who have been silenced, bringing the quilombola culture and the joy of my people into the homes of everyone who watches the programme.”