Every year, the African Union (AU), formed in 2002 from the Organisation for African Unity (OAU), celebrates Africa Day.

This year, people in Brazil joined in the celebrations all over the country on 25th May.

The streets were full of people singing to celebrate the contribution African people make to our country.

Nevertheless, we cannot forget that some of the social difficulties experienced by Afro­-Brazilians today are: low level of education, low wages and material poverty.

Unfortunately, the fact that most of the Afro-Brazilians have not the opportunity of attending school or learning a profession, according to the Brazilian Institute for Statistics and Geography – IBGE, is certainly a result of past (when nothing had been done to integrate their former ancestors, the African slaves) and of the straitened circumstances of the country.

We hope this situation will change in the near future. Let us be determined to contribute through our work to fraternity and peace world-wide.