PHOTOS BY KRISTEN BARTLETT
STORY BY JAMIE BRAUN
As the 11- year - old boy began shining Ernesto dos Santos Berges’s black leather shoes, Berges noticed the kid’s sneakers – torn and tattered from walking several miles a day through downtown Novo Hamburgo, Brazil.
“When you’re done shining my shoes,” Berges said, “I’m going to take you across the street and buy you a new pair.”
Once he finishes the right foot, Eliezer Santos Pereira taps the side of his wooden shoeshine box twice to signal that it’s time for Berges to switch feet. Eliezer first brushes the shoe, then polishes with a cloth. Another two taps on the box, and it’s time to wipe the polish off the right shoe and brush off any excess. He repeats the process with the left foot and collects his 1 real payment, or about 30 cents.
Ten minutes later, Eliezer proudly shows off his new shoes – gray, skater-style sneakers with bright yellow accents. At R$50, or US $16, the shoes were a luxury he and his mother could never have afforded on their own.
To supplement his family’s small income, Eliezer worked since he was just 5-years-old. He now works 12 to 14 hour days, and has not been to school in almost a year.
Up with the sun
Eliezer begins most days before sunrise, sometimes catching the bus for downtown before 6 a.m. The bus driver allows him to ride for free, so Eliezer ducks under the turnstile and slides into an empty aisle seat.
When he gets off the bus downtown, his attitude changes. He is no longer a little boy – he is a confident young man, tracing his daily route, working the streets like a pro.
With the heavy wooden box slung over his shoulder, Eliezer asks anyone and everyone with leather shoes for a shine. Each shoeshine costs R$1, or about 30 cents, and he does five to 10 shines a day.
All his shoeshine money goes to his mother, Helena da Silva, except for a little change he saves for video games or an occasional ice cream cone.
Helena and her son together earn R$200 a month, or $67. That includes the money Helena earns washing clothes and an extra R$50 Eliezer’s father, a carpenter, sends each month to help out with expenses.
After paying rent, they are left with R$70 to spend on groceries and other needs.
Their house in Vila Campus is tiny – no more than 200 square feet – with plywood walls, a tin roof and a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. The main room holds a small stove, kitchen cabinets and piles of their other belongings. The bedroom is just big enough to hold a twin-sized bed where Eliezer and his mother sleep together each night.
Still a boy
Sometimes, Eliezer decides he is not in the mood to shine shoes.
“It’s time to play,” he says after stashing his shoeshine box with a friend. Eliezer plays video games at the arcade, and then races to a nearby park to swing and spin himself dizzy on the merry-go-round. Other shoeshine boys show up, and together they run and jump off the swings, glad to not be working this afternoon.
Later that day, Eliezer stops in his favorite church downtown to pray. He silently sits in the church pew, head bowed and eyes closed, when all of a sudden he looks up.
“It’s time to go to work,” he says.
Eliezer picks up his wooden shoeshine box, throws it over his shoulder and goes outside, ready for another day.