Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Let me see if it is here
I´ve brought it once, twice... so that you can take a look at it
I don´t know if you´ll like it
- let me see
- And have you always liked sewing?
Always. Since a long time ago. To tell the truth, when I began...
- Hi Leni, how are you?
I´m fine
- Is the dress ready?
I´m finishing the dress, it just needs some trimming in the neckline.
- At what time do you leave?
Oh, probably after 5 pm
- Well, I´m not sure at what time I can come here again.
- Well I´m going to ask [a friend] to come and get it, 5pm or a quarter past 5.
Yes, a quarter past 5.
She can come by.
- bye
bye
So, they want to throw a party but I told them not to.
No money, no party. We throw a party when only when we can.
my name is Osleni
- but people call you Leni
Yes, I am best known as Leni
- and you work as streamstress for 10 years already
more than 10 years
- here in Brasilia?
to be accurate, in April it will be 6 years working in this place
before that, I worked at home
- What kind of job is the most usual here?
In general they ask me to sew the hemline
put zipers, these are the most asked jobs
adjust pants, loose them
darning pants
darning pants is very interesting, people really recycle those pants
- both men and women?
yes, men and women
- yeah, that´s a powerful skill these days [laughs]
yes, it´s true
- and with whom have you learned this craft?
In fact, I did take a course to learn this craft
I looked for a course to develop another skill
At that time, I didn´t think I would make a living out of it
I pursued that because I was pregnant
to avoid staying at home resting, I went to study
and here I am, I did learn and I still work in this field
there are pants that are in the hearts of some clients
when we darn them, and they thought those pants were lost but we can recover them,
then the customers are satisfied
those who ask for our services are satisfied with our work
- do you notice people happier after that?
yes, I do. [laughs]
there are others, like this customer, she is going to a party tomorrow
and asked me to fix this
so, we are doing this last minute job
in general I schedule those jobs
I schedule
- and during your free time, what do you like doing?
staying with my family, playing with my grandson
he calms me down, he relaxes me
and now he is like a parrot repeating everything we say
so I like to be with my family
- does your grandson help you threading the needle?
no, I don´t let him play with that. I say "don´t touch it"
and he repeats "don´t"? I repeat - "no, don´t touch it"
otherwise he will ruin my things!
he is only two.
- do you believe this graffiti van added style to your craft?
yes, I do. when it was owned by another person, it wasn´t this way.
I ended up making it my own style with the graffiti
- what can you say about the neighborhood, are they friendly?
yes, they are very friendly
- were they receptive to your work?
yes, because they appreciate recycling materials
they don´t want me to leave this place
- would you trade the streets for a shopping mall?
I... I don´t think so
well, I needed a more comfortable place, with a bathroom, not so hot
maybe a kiosk with due time, if I had the chance
- how do you deal with the heat?
well, we just live with it, deal with it
the past days have been very hot, but we have to deal with it
- and do you have any curious story about pieces of clothes you have recovered
and people at first deemed lost?
oh, I cannot recall any... can´t remember...
the most curious stories I know
someone rips off the clothes on the streets
then runs and stays in the dressing room
there is a dressing room here
in fact, today there was a case like this, people stay in the dressing room while we fix their clothes
in other cases, the zipper is ruined in the streets and the person stays in the dressing room while I fix it
- oh, takes off the clothes and stays in the dressing room
yes, stays in the dressing room while I work
others prefer to stay in the car
today there was a customer that stayed in the dressing room
it was raining a lot but there is this cover, so he stayed there waiting
- so you appeal to a niche that probably wouldn´t get in the malls with spoiled zippers
I believe so, the first thing they would look for is a bathroom [laughs]
this one was grateful we were here today
- what makes you proud?
my work
the ability to work
the way I see it, when we want to work we don´t measure our efforts
we work
even if we are in the streets and in such precarious conditions
those who want to work, go for it
Subtitles by the Amara.org community