The Bititinga Reading and Arts Engenho is a project created by journalist Vanessa Omena, to encourage reading, art and entrepreneurship in rural areas through recreational activities and lectures involving children, teenagers, young people and adults from the Bititinga village, where a sugar mill and a sugar mill operated, located in the rural area of the municipality of Messias, in Alagoas. the early 90’s when the plant was sold, and a few years later deactivated, what used to be a very dynamic place was almost abandoned. Vanessa is committed to restoring this location.
Diogo is one of the children who participates in the cultural activities of the Bititinga Reading and Arts project.
Your project team is still small, but determined. With the support of their mother Lena Omena, who lived at the plant until 1969, and their son Louis, who is currently 11 years old, they decided to start visiting Bititinga, talking to some old residents, and decided to do the project together with the donations. of books to form a community library. Vanessa is a journalist currently focused on research on her family’s genealogy, and this project has been very important to rescue family memories and to be able to contribute to this place that she and her family love so much, Bititinga.
Journalist Vanessa Omena, creator of the Bibitinga Reading and Arts Engenho with Rayanne, one of the community’s children
The Bititinga village, where the Reading and Arts Engenho project is being carried out, is located in the rural area of the municipality of Messias, in Alagoas, located in the Zona da Mata micro-region of the state. It is located along the BR-101 highway, 33 km away from the capital, Maceió. Messias is known as the “sugar cane capital” due to the expressive plantation of sugarcane plantations since the first centuries of Portuguese colonization, with the installation of sugar cane mills, which predominated in the region until the last century , and then were turned into power plants. For Vanessa, the implementation of the Bititinga Reading and Arts Engenho “was very interesting, as we feel more and more involvement from the community in the activities we do”. A couple who live in the community (Geraldo Lino and Aparecida) are responsible for the library’s collection, which has been supplied by collections and donations that Vanessa and her team promote. In addition to the books, Vanessa and her son Louis took seedlings of sapodilla, seriguela, yellow, purple, white and pink ipe, and several other species that will give more beauty and awareness to thepreservation of the region’s flora. Part of the project’s actions is to get a handicraft course for the women of the village. They have even taken some ideas to community residents who like the art of sewing, making jewelry, flower arrangements, among other handicrafts. For now, there is no internet signal in Bititinga, but Vanessa is confident that it will arrive soon.
Louis, Vanessa’s 11-year-old son, took material and did a workshop on how to work with small wooden boxes, an incentive for handicraft to become a profitable activity in the community
Anyone who wants to know more about Bititinga Reading and Arts Engenho, and see photos of the actions carried out, can access the project’s blog , or contact Vanessa to help with book donations through the following emails: vanessaomena@hotmail.com and engenhodeleitura@gmail.com