Dom Phillips was a narrator. During his career as a journalist, he told the stories of those who could not speak and whose views were overlooked. His second book, How to Save the Amazon, aimed to do exactly that: talk about the history of the Amazon and the Indians within it, and offer solutions to preserve its culture in conjunction with society. current Brazilian.
For us, though, he was always Uncle Dom. He has been present in our lives since we were born and was very involved in our education when we were young children. He continued to be a positive influence, even when he moved to Brazil in 2007.
We have many happy memories with him. So many, in fact, that when we were thinking about what to write in this piece, we weren’t sure how to capture them. How do you find the words to explain how someone has been a constantly kind presence throughout your life? What memories do you choose to share?
In the end, we realized that the best memories we could pass on are the ones he shared with us through his usual emails about his life in Brazil. These emails, often accompanied by pictures or links to articles, were full of stories and anecdotes – about what he was working on, about going to Carnival, about adopting his first cat (and finally a second) , about visits to the Amazon, etc. and to meet Alê, whom he later married.
One of the first emails he sent us was on March 22, 2008. We were then nine and 11 years old, and Dom wrote to convey his new life in a way we could understand as children.
He told us: “Things are fine here. The people are very friendly and I have many friends to hang out with. There is also a lot of music, always something to listen to or go see. Brazilians are very sociable, they like to go out, be with their friends, be in a big group of people. I was lucky enough to receive many invitations. “
Dom had been to the Rio Carnival for the second time and had begun to establish himself and establish connections and friendships in Brazil. He had also become a little more familiar with Portuguese, “not fluently. But it’s enough to talk, read a newspaper, understand the news on television. ”Dom described the language as“ very musical and fluid, a bit like people. ”Rereading his words 14 years later, we heard that this phrase summed up Brazil for Dom and encapsulates her love for him.
Dom included some details about his swimming lessons in an outdoor pool: “I’ve almost learned to crawl. The problem is that my legs want to brace themselves because they’ve been doing it for so long. So my arms are crawling and my legs are spinning like I’m on a bike. Then my teacher yells from the side of the pool, “Leave the bike at home! You’re pedaling again. Oh well, keep trying.”
Just keep trying. Very Sun. He persevered in silence with everything he did, no matter the scale of the challenge.
On September 23, 2015 we were 17 and 19, slightly older than the first email. Dom had been in regular contact all this time, and we often met when he visited the UK. By this time, he had begun to explore and get to know the Amazon and the indigenous communities that live there.
Dom described Brazilian Portuguese as “very musical and fluid, a bit like people”
He wrote in detail about the people who lived in those isolated reserves, who even then “fought with the fellers” for their lands: “Among the nuts I saw was a truckload of logs, loaded with huge trees, totally illegal, without license plate … These trucks look like something from Mad Max, they leave the reserve late in the afternoon, in broad daylight.
Dom’s surprise at the Amazon deal is clear. The destruction of the environment was taking place in broad daylight, before his eyes.
During this three-week trip, Dom spent time with a tribe called Awá, who, he wrote, lived “very traditional lives, some still in the woods, very endangered.”
Dom described in detail how the inhabitants of the tribe shared a hut among seven people: “I saw a turtle tied up, two noisy birds on a rope, a large rodent in the forest and a small anthill. On a shelf were two monkeys that Then I saw a little hammock and thought, “Crikey, there must be a baby.”
“Another monkey, one of those huge, round, surprised eyes, looked up and looked at me. There was a baby, but he was sleeping somewhere else. As for his [Dom’s guide’s] aunt and mother, had tuberculosis and while recovering are still ill. It just shows how dangerous “contact” can be, as they call it, “.
Dom’s vivid description does not pass without concern for the safety of indigenous peoples and awareness of the risks, even those posed by their own presence in the reserve. Dom was well aware that this was not his land. His respect and awareness grew as he discovered more about indigenous tribes and his work shifted to environmental journalism.
Dom’s last email was on April 27 this year. Things had changed a bit: one of us was about to start a doctorate / master’s degree in criminology and the other, halfway through, a doctorate in environmental humanities. Rhiannon had sent Dom his first co-authored article, and Dom replied, “Very impressive how all your academic careers are flourishing, I will feel very uneducated the next time we find ourselves trying to keep up with all of you!”
Even in these short sentences, Dom’s sense of humor manifests itself, of course, it was anything but uneducated. He taught us a lot over the years and we are very fortunate to have had him in our lives. It is impossible to understand that there will be no next time we meet.
Over the past few weeks, Dom has become one of their stories. We, along with many others, will ensure that their narration continues.