Story told by Helena (volunteer from Portugal)

I shared my volunteer project with a homosexual volunteer. The situation in question is not yet well accepted in the City of Tarrafal, which means that they do not accept very well the differences in one’s sexual orientation. I witnessed various discriminatory attitudes towards my colleague from some children, young people and adults. In one particular situation, a child came to me and told me that the volunteer in question should leave Delta because Delta was not a gay place, he added that she didn’t like him just for that reason, stating that he danced like girls and that boys can’t dance the same way. Together with another volunteer we tried to explain that it is important not to judge someone for their feelings, since liking girls or boys does not change someone’s qualities, and this option does not define whether someone is a good person or a bad person. We also explained that this situation should be seen as a normal thing because we are all different and we don’t have to like all the same things. The child in question again insisted that being gay was being abnormal and ugly because there are things only girls do. Again, we try to explain that liking boys instead of girls or vice versa is not something we choose, but it can happen to anyone. We said it was something that could happen to her and that she should put herself in someone else’s shoes and think how she would feel if anyone makes these nasty comments about her. At the time, she was thoughtful and left. Days later, on the last day of the Delta volunteer, the child went to him and apologized for what she said about him, giving him a huge goodbye hug.