Summary

The São Francisco River crosses the Brazilian hinterland, lands marked by extreme aridity. This great river that was once impetuous and generous is now very fragile. Deforestation of its margins and overexploitation of land by intensive agriculture endanger the great diversity of its ecosystem. The lives of riverside dwellers are affected in its deepest integrity, as well as their areas. The São Francisco River is the vital flow of their existence and the central place of their hopes and imagination, but the general feeling is that if the river dies, everything will disappear with it. Women are at the forefront of resistance. They struggle daily to allow for the possibility of a future. Their children also claim this identity, which it is up to them to renew and make fruitful.