A Brazillian Hero, Poor but Wealthy

This Illiterate Brazilian's Home Speaks Volumes
By Henry Chu
LA Times Staff Writer

SAO GONCALO, Brazil — Carlos Leite can barely read a word, but books revolutionized his life.

Two years ago, he was doing construction work for a man who was about to toss out six thick, red encyclopedias. Leite asked whether he could have them instead. Thus a dream was born.

Within days, he hit the pavement, knocking on doors, begging people for more unwanted books. No contribution was too small, too big or too arcane. Skeptical members of Leite's cycling club were dragooned into helping him collect donations.

His collection quickly multiplied. The original six volumes turned into 100, then 1,000. Soon, his humble home was bursting with 5,000 books of all types — worn classics, chemistry textbooks, dog-eared thrillers.

To Leite, though, nearly all the books are mysteries. Born into a poor family, he dropped out of school after third grade and, at 51, is practically illiterate.

But books, he knows, are the gateway to a life of greater possibility and more promise than his own. It might be too late for me, a working man, he reasoned, but not for others.

So bloomed the passion that has consumed Leite's free time over the last two years: transforming his home into a public library, free and open to all in this poverty-stricken neighborhood outside Rio de Janeiro. The streets here are unpaved and unweeded, daily life is a struggle and even a single book is an enormous luxury that can cost up to half a week's wages.

Rather than whining and moping about the lack of government money, this guy saw a need and did something about it. This is how America is supposed to work. We have become fat off of the government pork barrel. This guy had virtually nothing but a house, a thought, and some initiative. He's not asking for money for himself, he's seeking to improve the future for his town. He probably won't ever get wealthy in a material sense, but he has wealth beyond measure. This is the antithesis of the ideal that liberals promote. This is freedom in action.

Full Story: Brazillian's Initiative

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