For her,
every dream that comes true
will be a victory.

Stories in Light – Brazil.
Episode 7: Ana Vitória.

“Can you teach me how to swim?” she asks as we walk toward the river.

She doesn’t know us,
yet walks straight up to us,
full of questions.

Ana Vitória is twelve.

She has never learned how to swim.

Her father works two jobs.
Her mother takes care of the home.

And Ana helps.

As the eldest daughter in a family of seven, she is needed at home.

She cooks, runs errands,
changes diapers,
and looks after her younger brothers and sisters.

There is no time
that is simply hers.

I think of my daughter —

two girls full of dreams,
yet living
very different lives.

Because in Brazil,
where the color of your skin often says more about your chances than your grades,
not everyone grows up
with the same opportunities.

And still —

she wants to become a doctor.

And one day, she says,
she wants to see the ocean.

“The name says it all,” the English would say.

Ana Vitória.

For her,
every dream that comes true
will be a victory.