From cold weather and domesticity to a Brazilian judge. A story of inspiration and mercy

Inspiration, drive and overcoming adversity sum up the story of this Brazilian woman who was a farm worker and housemaid and is now a judge in Bahia. Antonia Marina Aparecida de Paula Faleiros is the titular judge of the 1st Criminal Court of Lauro de Freitas, Metropolitan Region of Salvador.

At the age of 12, she cut sugar cane in the community of Barro Amarelo, Serra Azul de Minas (MG), then went to work as a housemaid in a big city, but never stopped studying. And he never forgot his mother’s advice. “Study was our only chance, he said.”

Obediently, Antonia Marina followed the instructions. Determined to follow the path of humility and justice, he preserves the old habits. “I walk, travel by bus and go everywhere,” he said. She is involved in social work and jumps at the opportunity to bring her own story to the suburbs, showing that dreams can come true.

overcoming

At the age of 14, Antonia Marina left for the big city, where her destination was Belo Horizonte. The job she got was that of a maid, and the girl imagined she could also put a roof on her boss’s house, but soon disappointment and prejudice set in. But nothing discouraged him.

The judge remembers her days as a housemaid. “The house had a maid’s room, something reminiscent of a slave quarter, but I couldn’t occupy it,” he recalls.

It’s just that the lady of the house was afraid of the presence of the girl Antonia Marina. “The boss said that I would be a ‘temptation’ for her husband, as if it is not the duty of a 60-year-old man to respect a girl,” said the judge, who was sleeping on the street without leaving. mother’s advice.

One day, Antonia bought a newspaper to look for a better job opportunity and stumbled upon a competition to become a court bailiff. According to him, the problem was that the legal part was a challenge.

The tender announcement also included the sale of legal materials and a course. Having no money to buy them and attend classes, Antonia went to a preparatory school. Under the pretense of getting some information, he verified that a local employee had mimeographed copies of the study notebooks and that some of the faded sheets had been thrown into the trash.

So, with the discarded sheets, the student collected the workbook. The employee would have noticed, Antonia suspects, but he didn’t want to embarrass himself and started leaving the blurred copies in another basket, separate from the general trash.

“We can’t make people happy, but we can minimize unhappiness,” says Antonia, referring to the act of the unknown.

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A lot of talent

At 21, Antonia was approved and in danger of being deemed unfit for office. After overcoming the written test phase, he had three chances to succeed in the psychometric test. In the first two, he was not approved for his speech, which he tried to impress. At the last opportunity, he won the vacant position by answering the examiner why he intended to become a bailiff.

“I told the examiner that there is a calling and a need. In my case, it was a necessity, because I lived on the street,” recalls Antonia Maria, who saw that life changed there. Necessity became talent and calling.

After being confirmed in the competition, the judge won another victory. enrolled in a law course at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, graduating in 1991. On December 22, 2002, he assumed the position of judge of the Court of Justice of Bahia. He has been working in the Lauro de Freitas region for ten years. At the Federal University of Bahia, he completed a Master’s degree in Public Security, Justice and Citizenship.

“I respect those who came before and celebrate the new generations,” said the judge humbly. “When talking about a successful woman, 90% refers to the one who stood out in the male-dominated universe,” he regrets.

With information from Conjur