Down on the Farm

As part of an interdisciplinary field trip, the 9th grade class took a day trip to a historic coffee plantation about an hour from Campinas, known as Fazenda Ibicaba. Built in 1817 and run by a Senator by the name of Nicolau Vergueiro, the plantation has been preserved as an example of this era of coffee agriculture as well as to tell the story of the slaves and immigrant workers who went on to make up a large part of the Brazilian demographic.

The great thing about the tour was that the students were divided into small teams, each with a map and a different sequence of locations to visit around the massive area of land. At each location was a placard with information to read and gather. Several locations even had actors in period costumes who would appear from behind corners or closed doors to ask what we were doing there and then proceed to tell us their stories.

My group began with the plantation house, meeting Senator Vergueiro himself, who invited us to sit at his massive dining room table in the great room of the mansion where Queen Isabel and Dom Pedro had once dined. We all agreed we were the most impacted by the slave we encountered beneath the barn where the coffee beans were stored who showed us the dirt floor where he slept while shuffling around barefoot and shackled.

A view of the plaza-like area where the coffee beans were spread out to dry in
the hot Brazilian sun before being stored in the large storage barns to the right.

My awesome little group for the day.

The actor playing the watch-tower guard whose job it was to keep an eye on
slaves and migrant workers in case there was trouble or an escape attempt.

Eventually the immigrant workers from places such as Italy and Germany got
wise to workers' rights and demanded better working conditions than the African
slaves and were granted these modest houses in a far corner of the plantation.

Class of 2018 in front of the plantation's mansion.
This group, from places as diverse as Brazil, Korea, Canada, India, Japan,
Mexico and the US really come together for whatever adventure.