When one spends over 30 years in a country that is not their birthplace, with different cultures, different people, climate, food, etc., it is difficult to describe all experiences, good and bad, in a few words. Every event is a new experience for anyone open to learn and change their views and mentality. This does not happen in the blink of an eye but entails a lot of trial and error. I left Malta at the age of 28 as a young enthusiastic missionary and was recently ordained Dominican priest. As I’ve already said, it’s impossible to relate all my experiences but I will mention one that has marked my life. Children with helpers being trained by a volunteer at the school in Faxinal, Paraná, Brazil. During my home visits, especially among the poor in Faxinal, Paraná, Brazil, I came across many disabled youth and children ‘hidden’ away from society. I would always return home pondering: “What can the Church do for our brothers and sisters who do not have a public voice?” After discussing this with a pastoral group taking care of the poor and the disabled, an idea was born: to build a centre where such individuals could gather to receive, first of all, love and respect. The group met several times to brainstorm. After a long time of reflection, we concluded that the pillars of our dream project must be: love, humility, perseverance and providence. We met a national committee to receive directions about other centres of this type and received all support needed for this goal. Fr Vince Micallef with the school’s headmistress. Since I was the parish priest, I proposed to begin gathering these youth and children in our parish centre. We started to call these brethren and they accepted our invitation. They came with their parents or relatives. In the beginning, they were 12. Other volunteers came to help, including doctors, social workers, dentists, housewives and others, all trusting and believing in our humble work. A dream that became a miracle for our children and youth What a grace! All of the children and youth were content with just receiving love and attention. So we created an association with support from the regional association for the disabled. It was called APAE (Amigos e Pais dos excepcionais), which means ‘friends and parents of the disabled’. The following step was to have our own space and to free the parish centre for catechism and other parish activities. So we started a campaign to collect and store used paper. I used a van to collect it and store it in the church tower, which used to be our Dominican house. When we had collected a great amount of paper, we sold it at a factory which recycled waste. Besides, we started collecting used clothes, furniture and other useful objects and created our ‘Providence Bazaar’. Many parishioners contributed to this venture. The local mayor, however, criticised us and called us mad and that we were building castles in the air. To tell you the truth, Brazil was facing a financial crisis but our faith was bigger than the crisis. And so we continued with our campaign and the people continued collaborating for this just cause. In 1985, with our small sum of money, we laid the first stone of the building which was to become a school. Our dream was becoming a reality, and the people and businesses continued to donate.  In a few months, the first room was ready to be used. We inaugurated it and the children could start attending. The mayor kept silent and we joyfully continued constructing the building. Today, the two-storey school named after my mother, Mary Abela Micallef, welcomes 120 disabled brethren. For me, it’s a dream that became a miracle for our children and youth. Fr Micallef is prior provincial of the Maltese Dominican Order. 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Record exports are again expected this year mass soy production is wreaking havoc on traditional farming methods Brazil outpaced the United States last year to become the largest soy-producing country in the world Tarcísio Maistricz talks softly on the front porch of his wooden cabin He’s a young leader of a traditional community known as Marcondes in the countryside of the Brazilian state of Paraná Most of the families in Marcondes have been here since their ancestors emigrated from Ukraine a century ago Related: ‘We will not leave Brasilia defeated’: Brazilian Indigenous groups mobilize to defend land rights  “Our greatest threat today is the invasion of the monoculture of soy People don’t see our land as a territory and are instead privatizing the areas that were collective and negotiating to put in soy “Our greatest threat today is the invasion of the monoculture of soy,” Maistricz said “People don’t see our land as a territory and are instead privatizing the areas that were collective and negotiating to put in soy Maistricz says the size of their communal land has shrunk to a sixth of what it once was That’s in part because of the huge growth in soy Brazil outpaced the United States last year to become the largest soy-producing country in the world. Record exports are again expected this year. The country is looking to produce nearly 5 billion bushels Décio Teixeira, head of the Soy Producers Association for the branch in the nearby state of Rio Grande do Sul “Soy has been a huge catalyst for rural development around the country Brazil has practically been built around soy since the 1970s,” he said The bean is grown up and down the country. Since 1990, the total area of land planted with soy in Brazil has more than tripled.  Related: Copa America soccer championship in Brazil draws protest while coronavirus cases rise “Soy is the great engine of growth for Brazil production increases by at least 3%,” Teixeira said we planted 94 million acres of land in Brazil with soy Related: ‘Bolsonaro, get out!’: Protesters across Brazil call for president’s ouster a PhD candidate in environmental studies at the University of California has been studying the health of forests inside Paraná for several years Oliveira says the faxinal communities are a fascinating example of sustainable land use because residents have intentionally preserved their forests as a feeding ground for their pigs and other animals the pigs are raised free range and they wander around and the pigs need the forest to feed themselves the system has been an ally for forest conservation in the region because the pigs need the forest so the faxinal needs the forest standing up.” Residents of the faxinal communities often harvest pinhão nuts or maté locals have turned to the profitable soy crops it becomes harder and harder for residents to make ends meet Soy is not the only thing threatening these communities Land-grabbers and logging companies have long battled with small farmers over their resources And there’s the challenge of changing times Related: ‘Mining kills’: A gold rush in Brazil threatens the Yanomami Indigenous people Many newcomers are looking for a country home or a quick profit blocking farm animals from the forests; this makes it that much harder for those trying to live the way their families have for generations “I walked through the property of this one family and there were these beautiful forests ‘I don’t want to cut the forest down,’” Oliveira said but if I don’t have an economic return from whatever I’m doing with this area delivered to your inbox every weekday morning Thanks to our sponsor PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402. Volume 6 - 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2018.00011 This article is part of the Research TopicEcology and Evolution of Plants under Domestication in the Neotropics View all 21 articles Araucaria forest is a sub-tropical component of the Atlantic Forest Biome occurring between 18 and 30° S latitude and 500–1,800 m altitude in Southern and Southwestern Brazil and Northwestern Argentina this forest has undergone non-sustainable exploitation and reduction in area dedicated to agricultural and forestry use smallholders continue using several resources from this forest The main system is geared toward the production of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) under araucaria trees (Araucaria angustifolia) and social relevance for thousands of farmers Seeking evidence of domestication and conservation of the resources managed in this system we compared different landscapes on the Northern Plateau of Santa Catarina in Southern Brazil araucaria and caraguatá (Bromelia antiacantha)—we characterized management practices (interviews and guided tours) demographic structure (permanent plots in farming zones and in a protected area) and genetic diversity in populations from the same places Demographic structure and genetic diversity from different landscapes were compared to evaluate the system potential for conservation The results indicated that the three species are intentionally promoted with practices of protection in different ways and with different functions (caraguatá hedges and collection of pinhões—seed like nuts—of araucaria) Landscapes are managed for yerba mate harvesting and cattle raising with a consequent reduction in the density of most other plant species In all cases the genetic diversity of the species was high for most of the sampled properties and the set of farmers' populations did not differ from the protected area The set of populations of each species operates as a metapopulation and local management practices contribute to conservation the farmers' management systems and practices maintain the landscape with productive forest fragments favoring the conservation-by-use of these species The system requires these management practices which bring about changes in various species and are motivated by cultural and economic factors in order to maintain the landscapes domesticated These advances encourage a new perspective on the dynamics of supposedly natural ecosystems and the ecology of species as well as possibilities for conservation and use The marks of domestication processes on numerous species and landscapes with models specific to different cultures in several environments The fact of landscape and species domestication in different environments can be present and currently active at the interface of agricultural and forest environments and produced several legal restrictions to its use According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, 2014), in 2014 Brazil produced 333,017 tons of native yerba mate, and it was the main non-timber product in terms of production volume (IBGE, 2014). Production of native yerba mate is carried out in 5,150 establishments (predominately family farmers) in Santa Catarina State (EPAGRI/CEPA, 2016) In this context we investigated landscapes with NYMS characterizing the principal practices and motivation of family farmers seeking evidence of landscape domestication and evaluating whether the system conserves the principal resources managed Our study has focused on three species in the NYMS: yerba mate (I and caraguatá (Bromelia antiacantha) If on the one hand these species represent significant resources for the subsistence of family farmers on the other hand they are interesting case studies to exemplify how these farmers play an active role in the conservation of plant populations in order to evaluate whether the NYMS can conserve genetic diversity of the studied species we analyzed genetic diversity in the yerba mate araucaria and caraguatá populations from NYMS and from a protected area Study area – Northern Plateau of Santa Catarina State including localization of Três Barras National Forest (Protected Area) This study integrates different field methodologies as well as demographic and genetic studies of the above-mentioned species in a Protected Area and on farmers' properties In all cases the plant populations sampled were the same as in the demographic and ethnobotanical studies The results are presented in a descriptive interpretative form and expressed as percentage of occurrence or average values with standard deviation sampling was carried out in two different situations on the farmers' properties according to the local management mentioned in the interviews paraguariensis gathering and few interventions (8 plots on 4 properties) and cattle grazing (19 plots on 5 properties) paraguariensis gathering and no other interventions (12 plots) 30 on farmers' properties and 30 in the PA was evaluated annually (2010–2012) in terms of number of pinhas (reproductive structures) per plant permanent plots of 20 × 40 m were used in forests and 20 linear meters to study the caraguatá hedges classified as vegetative or reproductive (considering the presence of inflorescences or infructescences) and leaf length was measured Bromelia antiacantha populations were studied in the following areas: harvesting of yerba and mowing (3 plots in Farmer 1 and 2 plots in another area in farmer 2) Unmanaged: areas that have been characterized for not having undergone any of the activities previously mentioned for at least 10 years previously in the case of farmer properties and 50 years in the PA (3 plots in farmer 3 and 12 plots in PA) Hedges: characterized as “strips”/linear bands of B established and administered by local farmers (26 plots in farmers 1 and 2) Considered the areas with most human interference The results are expressed as average frequencies estimated per hectare Three buffers were utilized in the electrophoresis process: Tris Citrate pH 7.5 (Tris 27 g.L−1 and citric acid 16.52 g.L−1) Morpholine Citrate pH 6.1 (7.68 g.L−1 citric acid) and Histidine pH 8.0 (105.82 g.L−1 sodium citrate tribasic) Enzymatic systems used for genetic characterization of Araucaria angustifolia Leaf tissues were collected from 50 individuals in each population paraguariensis sampling respected a minimum distance of 50 m between individuals adults/mature rosettes (leaves more than 2 m in length) were sampled respecting at least 15 m distance between them and avoiding the collection of ramets from the same plant In order to evaluate whether farmers conserve species genetic diversity for groups of populations inside the PA and on farmer's properties in order to evaluate possible differences between landscape units as described in the Demographic studies item all genetic descriptors were also estimated for groups of populations in each landscape unit Possible genetic differences between farmers' properties and PA, and between landscape units were tested through confidence intervals (95%) for Ân, jackknifing the values across loci in R language (R Development Core Team, 2015) and for ĤE and ĤO through 1,000 bootstraps of individuals within population/group, also in R language, but using the “PopGenKit” package (Paquette, 2012) The forest structure of the landscapes with NYMS in the region is presented in Table 2, which also includes information on the total number of species, density of the araucaria and the total number of individuals of Myrtaceae and yerba mate, considered as structuring species of these landscapes (Assis et al., 2010; Mello and Peroni, 2015) Structural characteristics of landscapes with Ilex paraguariensis the presence of cattle in many areas is a determining factor of this system due to the value added by the sale of livestock potreiro and invernada are areas with some degree of Araucaria forest cover and yerba mate management; in the first there is no livestock production Most of the NYMS areas (ervais) are located in places (soil topography) of excellent to good agricultural aptitude with high pressure for conversion into crops Yerba mate is cited as one of the main reasons for non-conversion in 80% of cases On the Northern Plateau (SC), yerba mate is managed in several situations; for instance, Marques (2014) identified 13 typologies (including situations with planted yerba mate) the main landscape is considered to be forest All farmers considered yerba mate important mainly because it is a low-risk activity associated with landscapes which have different uses the NYMS constitutes a stabilizing element on their property capable of generating resources for forest areas and linked to strong cultural aspects as well as being a pleasurable activity for the great majority of farmers These aspects reinforce the role of these family farmers as maintainers of Araucaria forest fragments nowadays An additional relevant aspect is the preference shown by Brazilian consumers for a product (ground tea-like leaves for chimarrão) with a milder flavor (de Oliveira Suertegaray, 2002) from herbs grown in shade (native yerba mate), implying higher prices paid by the industry for the raw material originating from this system (EPAGRI/CEPA, 2017) rather than generating significant income in relation to total gross income yerba mate constitutes an important reserve for 72% of the families with the characteristics of a savings account since the farmers tend to prune all the plants without worrying about leaving seed trees evaluated by a sample of 30 trees from farms was 11.1 pinhas/tree between 2010 and 2012 Average productivity over the years was 71.1 kg/ha 54.9 kg/ha in 2011 and 135.3 kg/ha in 2012 In the PA sample observations were made in the years 2011 and 2012 and the average production for these was 17.5 pinhas/tree with averages of 11.8 in 2011 and 23.2 pinhas/tree in 2012 The average productivity of 2011 and 2012 was 333.0 kg/ha varying from 224.3 kg/ha in 2011 to 441.7 kg/ha in 2012 The number of female plants producing pinhas varied between years; considering the entire period evaluated the average number of female plants in production was 13.9 on farms An important aspect is the great variation in pinhão productivity in different years of production, as already mentioned by Mattos (1994), Mantovani et al. (2004), and Vieira-da-Silva and Reis (2009), and even between relatively close sites (Zechini et al., 2012) This variation reflects the unpredictability of production that is also used by farmers as an argument for the lower value of pinhão as a trade product in the region Considering the management practices carried out by farmers the population structure of yerba mate and structure of the forest fragments (considering the set of structuring species—araucaria Landscapes without cattle: areas used with few anthropic interventions (no livestock presence and no mowing) such as pruning with shears every 3 years or less drastic such as “hand” pruning every 4 years Landscapes with cattle: areas used with more intense interventions Includes the same management characteristics for herbaceous plants as the previous group In both cases there are practices for protection of yerba mate plants including possible transplanting and enrichment with plants from the same forest fragment or seedlings produced by farmers Caraguatá has been used for a long time in the region, for various purposes (Filippon, 2014). The fruits of this plant are used for medicinal treatment of, for example, pulmonary diseases (bronchitis/asthma) and influenza (Filippon, 2009; Filippon et al., 2012a). Uses of the species for making liquor and jelly were also cited in Filippon (2014) but the most frequently cited use (60%) was for hedges Caraguatá hedges were very common in the region from 1900 to 1960 this kind of fencing was used especially for pig farming; animals can't pass through the hedge due to the high density of rosettes and the thorns in their leaves Caraguatá hedges are also used in other kinds of animal breeding like sheep Nowadays this type of pig breeding is no longer common; however Some farmers still plant new caraguatá hedges and taking advantage of the efficiency of this type of fencing to hold animals in and establish property boundaries The density of B. antiacantha rosettes varies between studied areas. The unmanaged area presented the greatest density of rosettes and reproductive rosettes per hectare when compared to the managed areas (Table 3). Hedges possess, on average, the highest population density of all the sampled areas (316 times greater than that of the population in the unmanaged area), and also the highest number of the reproductive rosettes (Table 3) Rosette density (per hectare) of Bromelia antiacantha in unmanaged made with rosettes harvested from the Araucaria forest fragments paraguariensis is extracted and where cattle graze Sometimes the ramets used in hedges are donations from neighbors who want to “clean” the area to improve pasture for cattle or want better conditions for working with yerba mate since the caraguatá thorns make the farmers' work more difficult On these occasions the number of rosettes removed is generally high and the farmers who receive them have an abundance of ramets to plant so they can generally choose the strongest lushest and youngest rosettes (0.8–1 m leaf length) This intention of making a hedge and the selection of rosettes allows us to highlight a domestication process These management practices (choosing rosettes and hedge maintenance) employed by local farmers generate a change in landscape tending toward greater productivity and convenience In these areas caraguatá is not the main focus but a means of adaptation of the landscape to facilitate the development of activities that generate income for the property such as the harvesting of yerba mate and cattle grazing management (mowing) of caraguatá can be seen as a consequence of this domesticated landscape for the production of yerba mate and/or cattle grazing Genetic descriptors for groups of populations in PA or on farmers' properties (the same for the three species) are presented in Table 4 the data indicate that genetic diversity of the three species is being better maintained on the farmers' properties This result can be interpreted as arising from the common effect of past overexploitation; however it is also an indication that the medium-term possibilities of maintaining diversity are similar in both situations reinforcing the possibility of conservation by use Genetic descriptors estimated for Araucaria angustifolia (A.a) and Bromelia antiacantha (B.a) populations grouped per occurrence in Protected Area (PA) or on Farmers' Properties The estimated values were lower than the mean values obtained in a large study in the SC (Reis et al., 2012) angustifolia populations (13 allozymic loci) The values found were lower than the SC average for ĤE (0.124) and total number of alleles (51) but similar in terms of regional (Northern Plateau) ĤE mean (0.104) and total number of alleles detected (30) there were no differences between the diversity maintained in PA and on farmers' properties the practices associated with the species are similar involving maintenance of the adult individuals and cone collection Unique alleles were found in two situations 4 in non-managed populations and 3 in populations with yerba mate management and cattle grazing Genetic descriptors estimated for Ilex paraguariensis in different landscape units Caraguatá populations presented some differences in heterozygosities (ĤO and ĤE) between landscapes. Mean values of ĤO and ĤE for hedges were significantly higher than those estimated for unmanaged landscape (Table 6) Hedges also presented higher numbers of alleles (k^ = 28) unique alleles (Âun = 3) and allelic richness (Ân = 2.15) than all other landscape units Fixation indexes were significantly different from zero in the unmanaged landscape the reduced number of rosettes when compared to the hedges may contribute to more crossing between relatives Genetic descriptors estimated for Bromelia antiacantha in different landscape units Âun and Â48 values and the non-significant f^ estimated for hedges could be related to the origin of the plants (from the same or different locations) used for hedge construction and to the selection of plants for hedges on many occasions neighbors donated the seedlings for hedges so any single hedge could have been made with seedlings from different populations possibly increasing their number of alleles and heterozygotes In this context, observing the genetic diversity indexes obtained for B. antiacantha, it can be inferred that the hedges presented greater genetic diversity than populations that had not been managed for over 50 years, in accordance with results from other studies (Otero-Arnaiz et al., 2005; Zizumbo-Villarreal et al., 2013) This aspect is possibly due to the way the hedges are constructed with rosettes from sites of natural occurrence of the species (forests) Demographic studies showed that either by greater exposure to light in the hedge or other factors such as soil and temperature, the hedge had more reproductive rosettes (Table 3) The rosettes may come from various populations/farms with different genetic characteristics which may contribute to greater diversity in hedges caraguatá fences can be seen as a metapopulation of the species where each population of a landscape unit is a subpopulation it is possible to argue that the decrease in genetic diversity as one of the indicators of domestication generally suggested in the literature must be taken into account in relation to management practices the fact that intensively managed populations present greater genetic diversity than unmanaged ones does not imply that they are considered less domesticated than the others in the sense of human intervention in the population and in the landscape the farmers' way of life related to the gathering of rosettes in different populations is a result of management of the ervais (NYMS) In this sense there is an opportunity to “collect seedlings” from an activity directed by other managements which generate income for the property This fact differentiates the caraguatá from other plants cultivated and used in hedges: the use of these seedlings is desired and in turn they are collected from different populations the fact that the yerba mate areas are managed together with the existence of farmers interested in making caraguatá hedges increases species diversity this domestication process has a tendency to increase genetic diversity These distinct fragments of a wider landscape form a unique situation that allows a high level of gene flow between the various units favoring maintenance of the genetic diversity of each species and of the whole Each landscape unit studied has structural peculiarities that influence ecological and genetic patterns The units also have an interconnection with allele movement (pollen seeds and individuals) mediated by fauna and man allowing the maintenance of diversity in the metapopulation such metapopulation is created and maintained for cultural and economic motives The system requires these management practices in the landscape with changes in various species motivated by cultural and economic factors in order to maintain domestication of these landscapes domesticated landscapes for the production of yerba mate did not lead to an important reduction in genetic variability since there is no conscious selection action in the species studied the perspective of conservation-by-use of the multispecies system described here depends heavily on valorization of cultural aspects of the region as well as on the economic valuation of yerba mate from this artisan system Mechanisms of certification of origin could be an alternative of great regional importance on-farm conservation of several autochthonous species from these Araucaria forests codirected AdCM thesis and wrote the manuscript analyzed genetic data and wrote the manuscript AGM: Conducted field work (including interviews) analyzed part of data and wrote the manuscript SF: Conducted field work (including interviews) analyzed part of data and provided comments on the manuscript AZ: Conducted field and laboratory work and analyzed part of data was responsible for resource acquisition and provided comments on the manuscript This research is the product of AZ master's thesis and AGM This study was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC – process no 4448/2010-2 and 11939/2009) and Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA – Macroprojetos 2/2009) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico provided a Productivity Scholarship for MdR (CNPq – 309128/2014-5) and NP Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) provided doctoral scholarships for TM and SF and a master's scholarship for AZ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) supported AL The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest We are profoundly grateful to all farmers for their kindness in sharing their knowledge with us We would also like to thank Núcleo de Pesquisas em Florestas Tropicais (NPFT) Laboratório de Fisiologia do Desenvolvimento e Genética Vegetal (LFDGV) and Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for logistical support The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2018.00011/full#supplementary-material use and management of ethnovarieties of Araucaria angustifolia (Bert.) 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Maurício S. Reis, bXNlZHJlekBnbWFpbC5jb20= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Curitiba finalised its first set of public housing units with solar power generation on March 27th Mayor Rafael Greca delivered in the Santa Cândida neighborhood a social housing solar project comprising of 26 houses equipped with photovoltaic panels – which transform sunlight into electric energy for domestic use “Curitiba reaches 325 years with its eyes on the future These units are the first of thousands that we intend to implement this year” – said Mayor Rafael Greca “the Cohab Solar project brings advantages to the residents who will save on the electricity bill and also to the environment because it uses clean and renewable energy” The 26 housing units are part of the Faxinal Housing project developed in Santa Cândida and are intended for low-income households Each dwelling has been provided with a panel of 2×1 meters The composite glass and silicon plates capture the solar radiation and send it to a converter which then turns sunlight into electrical energy for home use The production capacity of the system installed in each dwelling is up to 120 kWh per month “A cloudy day like today in Curitiba has more sunlight than any sunny day in Germany which is a reference country in photovoltaic energy When we use clean energy we are helping not to heat the planet Our Curitiba will do its part for the environment” By combining the promotion of renewable energy with addressing social issues this project has a large potential for scale-up in the city We use cookies. Learn more about how in our Privacy Policy. Since the tragedy that struck the Southern Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul, in May, christians have been gathering in mountain vigils, led by Pastor Joel Engel. They meet at a city called Faxinal do Soturno. The 24/7 prayer shifts, intensified after the onset of the floods, have been a true ‘wall’ for the affected community. Speaking to christian news website Guiame, Pastor Joel Engel shared how the continuous prayer has made a difference in this critical moment: “Our ministry has a 24/7 prayer tower (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). It serves as a shield of protection for families and for the city. Our State is now facing a battle, so we have intensified our prayers and called brothers to join us in continous prayer. We understand theres is a gigantic spiritual battle happening in the South of Brazil,” he says. The practice of uninterrupted prayer has been essential for Engel Ministry. The pastor described the importance of this incessant activity: “24/7 prayer builds a wall around the city. We witnessed this on the day the rains began; we were in a fervent prayer meeting in the city of  Santa Maria. That’s why it’s important to have 24/7 prayer in all cities because it serves as a protective agent,” he observes. The pastor witnessed answers to prayers even amidst calamity: “We prayed for God to stop the rains and the winds, and we saw God respond during the following days. Intercessory prayer is very important to block the enemy’s decrees. The devil made decrees to take our State and our nation.” Joel Engel mentioned events he considers part of a spiritual attack against the nation. “We saw a true satanic ritual in Rio de Janeiro during Madonna’s concert in early May, when the floods began”, he stated. The pastor added: “We have seen doors opened to thousands of demons, who are attacking our nation in various ways, using governments and authorities to make legal drug usage, abortion, etc. When all of God’s people come together to pray, we can prevent these designs of the enemy.” In addition to prayers, the Engel Ministry has been mobilizing practical relief efforts. Intercession and action groups have been distributing aid to families affected by floods, demonstrating both spiritual and material commitment to the community. For Engel, the tragedy has been a moment of profound reflection, emphasizing that God is present during the crisis.  “Where is God in the midst of tragedy? God is saving lives and using people as sent angels. Many are working to provide relief,” he says. The pastor also highlighted God’s ability to use common people to make a difference: “It’s amazing how God is using regular people to bring blankets, clothes, and food to those affected. This tragedy has generated a commotion like we’ve never seen before.” Pastor Engel sees in the relief efforts and mobilization in prayer a “chance for revival”. “This movement came from God and can generate a great revival. When we bring help to people, we have the opportunity to preach the Gospel, and these people are encouraged to make a covenant with Jesus”, he added. When ministering to those affected in Rio Grande do Sul, the pastor says he shares a message of hope: “I usually give the following message for these people: God did not plan any disaster for us, on the contrary. God says, through the prophet Jeremiah, that his plans are for peace, prosperity, and a happy future.” So, where does a disaster like this come from? Engel says the answer is in the Bible: “We live in a world where there is the action of God and the action of Satan. Just as God uses man as His agent, Satan also uses man as his agent. The actions of man also produce violent disasters, and these men are inspired by the enemy”. Engel reinforced the vital importance for prayer to face and overcome the crisis: “At this time, prayer is fundamental for God to raise up help”. The number is much higher than the Brazilian average of 12 piglets on commercial pig farms Embrapa Suínos e Aves researcher Osmar Dalla Costa reveals that he does not remember another case with the same numbers in 37 years dedicated professionally to pig farming A high-performance sow usually generates 36 piglets over a whole year with an average of 2.4 farrowings each 12 months The best commercial farms reach averages between 14 and 16 piglets “It is a very rare phenomenon that can only be explained by a set of factors such as hyperovulation and high-quality semen in addition to good environmental conditions and nutrition” The sow gave birth to 41 piglets in a procedure that lasted almost 5 hours says the super result is rare but also a consequence of improvements carried out in recent months the highest number ever obtained in the unit in a single farrowing reached a maximum of 26 piglets A female sow normally has 7 pairs of teats and 14 or 16 teats are far too few to feed 41 piglets The recommended procedure in these cases is to use nursing sows and alternate feeding shifts between the piglets the animals are quite small and most of them may not survive” Other cases of hyperprolificacy occurred in April 2020 when a sow gave birth to 36 piglets in the municipality of Saudades and in July 2020 in the municipality of Herciliópolis Litters with a large number of piglets are not usually profitable Despite indicating good reproductive conditions the development possibilities of very small piglets are fatally compromised affecting zootechnical indices and productive performance