A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
184. Saint Nicholas
DECEMBER 2008: Saint Nicholas
I’m not the only Dutchman who has decided to live in Brazil. For example, in Belo Horizonte at least a hundred Dutch live there. Some dozens of them are member of a small Dutch community, and call themselves the “Dutch colony.” A significant part of this group arrived in the fifties and sixties of the last century, as missionaries. most of these migrants have left the priesthood, and now have a family life. They are married to Brazilian women, and have children who were born in Brazil. The wives, the children and grandchildren are part of the Dutch community. They maintain the principal Dutch traditions, and it happened that I was invited to participate in the Dutch ‘Sinterklaas’ (Saint Nicholas) celebration, early December. One of them played Santa Claus, and he was assisted by two auxiliaries. These two helpers, with their faces made black, accused each other – to the delight of the children – of having eaten all the candies, that were intended to be given to the children. Fortunately, there were extra candies for the children that night.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2008, 2016
Inside Brazil 