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January 2007
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Members : 17360
Content : 3757
Content View Hits : 29521347
Content : 3757
Content View Hits : 29521347
In East Timor, southeast Asia, 8,500 children are health-assisted by a group of volunteers. Their mothers receive guidance about caring for their kids, regarding feeding, oral hydration and vaccination, among others. When the children are malnourished, they receive a food product made out of natural nutrients. The actions follow the model developed by the Pastoral da Criança (Children's Pastoral), a community organization connected to the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB). 
Between one and another sip of coffee, Aristóteles Martins de Oliveira, a coffee producer from the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, tells the story of how it was to produce the grain in the 1930s. He recalls how coffee farmers fought against a plague of tree borers that affected many crops. 
As several historical studies have proven, descriptions of rape and the subsequent effects on its victims can easily be applied to the Brazilian woman of color, be she of African or Indian descent. Since "the very idea of race implies that of inequality" (1), the treatment of women of color by white men places them in the category of "other" and thus "inferior". 
Brazil is the world's second largest consumer market for coffee. Last year, Brazilians drank the equivalent of 16.3 million bags of coffee. The country was second only to North America, which consumed 21.6 million bags. Brazil also boasts the world's highest consumption growth rate. Whereas the global consumption average increases 2% per year, in Brazil it increases from 4% to 5%.
In 2006, Brazil consolidated its position as the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee, contributing to the country's agribusiness Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was US$ 250.8 billion. According to the CNA (National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock), the gross value of coffee production last year was US$ 4.8 billion, 1.9% more than in 2005, when revenues amounted to US$ 4.7 billion.