leandro pinto junior
playing politics with your hands in the earth
“Each of us must do his part to rebuild Guinea Bissau. We have to stop waiting for international aid and start from concrete things: education, food sovereignty, social justice. We do not do politics in parties, but we do politics, starting from food”.
Leandro Pinto Junior has always had clear ideas. Ever since he left Guinea Bissau to Cuba, promising himself and his land that would return home, after finishing his studies. Therefore, he did. After graduating in agronomy, with his friend of life Armando, returns home and decides to take active steps to contribute to the development of Guinea Bissau. It opens an agricultural cooperative, Coajoc, which has as main objective to make policy that is creating social value and collective wealth through work in the fields.
The commitment of Armando and Leandro is on the ground, with hands in the earth. First create a school of agronomy, and then a radio and a community television, through which they transfer the “knowledge” he learned at the University of Havana to the boys of the village of Canchungo, north of Bissau. To not only take them off the road, teaching them a trade, but also mainly because Leandro and Armando feel they have to give back to their communities what they and a few other lucky they received from the government that is the possibility of studying abroad. From flower growing to rice growing, the use of some small machine to the radio broadcasts to explain to the community what food sovereignty is and how you feed properly. It seems obvious, and yet it is not in a country that has suffered decades of monoculture that destroyed the territory and knowledge farmer. Coajoc now also sits on the government worktables: “There is a card dedicated to agricultural policy - explains Leandro - The cooperative is part of the regional Cabinet and we are always invited to participate, to give input and ideas”.
The future cannot be delegated to others. Leandro is deeply convinced and the sense of the cooperative is just that. The years ahead of Guinea Bissau depend on the commitment of everyone, of any social class: “Each of us must do his work while respecting the idea of the Republic - reflects Leandro - It takes comparison, a common purpose and constructive spirit”.
“We have to change our way of thinking, to stop hoping in international aid and understand that we have to help ourselves, our country. We have to be realistic about what we can accomplish, and each of us must do his part”.
“What does Guinendadi?” Leandro laughs. A smile almost stunned, as if the answer was obvious: “It means being Guineans, love Guinea Bissau and hear it in the skin. These are values, good ideas, a group of people who speak the country and how troubleshoot. It’s work, joy, love, economic growth”.
