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We invest so much time in doing that sometimes we forget to take a moment to celebrate. Without celebration, life becomes just a stack of days, one after another, where what is done is its own end. We lose sight of why we did what we did—or for whom it was all done. Without ritual, there is no community.
In the Elos Methodology, ritualizing the realization of collective dreams is as fundamental as putting hands to work to make them happen. This is the story told by Sítio Conceiçãozinha in Guarujá, one of Instituto Elos’ partner territories.
When each GSA Program ends and participants return to their cities and countries, we continue working with the territories that hosted that year’s cohorts. In 2024, São Manoel and Conceiçãozinha were the partner territories. We call this ongoing support technical advisory—the cultivation of permanent exchange between the institutional facilitation team and local leaders. Through this advisory, we map collective transformation projects for the short, medium, and long term, supporting strategies to make them feasible.
Sometimes this means creating a resource mobilization campaign; other times, it’s providing technical knowledge to enable an action. When the knowledge of Instituto Elos and the territories come together, magic happens—or rather, the dreams come true. That’s what was remembered during the Festa da Esperança over the past twelve months in Conceiçãozinha.
“Never have I felt the importance of the sixth step as we felt it now,” explains Priscilla Pereira, a 2014 GSA participant, resident, and facilitator at Sítio Conceiçãozinha. In the Elos Methodology, the sixth movement is Celebration: coming together to recognize and honor each person’s contribution to collective achievement.
Priscilla describes how they mobilized so many people to make an event happen that included everything: good food and drinks, decorations reflecting all beliefs and tastes, cultural performances showcasing community talents, and even a timeline inviting visitors to recall everything that had occurred up to the day when the Praça da Esperança was brighter, fuller, and more alive.
“A name more than symbolic to mark this cycle of collective achievements and hard work together,” she explains. Over the past year, residents met every two weeks for collaborative workdays, sharing their skills to care for the place. The results were already visible day to day, but it was necessary to leave a mark in time—a record. That’s how the idea for the event was born. “Praça da Esperança today reflects this commitment to well-being in the territory,” she summarizes, and it needed to be voiced publicly—that’s exactly what they did with this event.
Building this day involved community workdays for painting walls and organizing spaces for collective activities. Every step was carried out collaboratively: the community helped choose colors, distribute tasks, and manage logistics, making the preparation process dynamic and participatory.
Beyond the physical structure, the event prioritized community identity and expression. Wall paintings and decorations were designed to represent the history and values of the territory, while the program included moments celebrating hope and collective achievements. The final result strengthened bonds, expanded the sense of belonging, and transformed the celebration into a milestone of engagement and community pride.