Terezinha da Silva is an active leader in her São Paulo community, helping her neighbors weather the region’s severe two-year water crisis, while empowering women to advance sustainable solutions. Terezinha has developed a low-cost rainwater harvesting barrel that helps save money and keeps water on-hand for use during times of drought shutoffs. She believes passionately in the power of women claiming their dignity and achieving economic independence, especially in a male-dominated nation that has high levels of violence against women. She has also co-founded a women’s collective called Bread and Art and local nonprofit, Movimento de Defesa do Favelado, through which she is teaching women how to build and install over 50 rain barrels in the community and advancing a new project on vertical community gardens. The community organizing effort has built awareness of water resources, put power in the hands of the community, and placed a spotlight on the lack of government accountability. Photo credit: Anne Bailey
