Retired worker Geraldo de Andrade remembers June 17, 1977, winter in the still small city of Foz do Iguaçu. That was when he arrived to work on one of the largest engineering projects in the world and never left the city. On Tuesday the 29th, Geraldo, known as “Feijão”, passed away at the age of 81 due to health complications.
He leaves behind his lifelong companion, Juraci Ferreira de Andrade, and his children Gislaine, a psychologist; Márcia, a banker and art educator; Patrícia, a travel agent; and João, a circus artist and art educator. He also leaves behind his grandchildren Diego, Maria Fernanda and João Arthur. The wake will be held on Wednesday, the 30th, at Jardim São Paulo Cemetery, at 11 am. The burial will take place in Ipaussu (SP).
In almost half a century of life in Foz do Iguaçu, much of it was dedicated to Itaipu Binacional, from 1977 until near the end of the project. First, in the construction of the plant, operating large cranes, a very special service at the time. Then, in the tourism program for former dam workers, at the then Itaipu Technological Park (PTI), sharing reminiscences with visitors.
In Itaipu's 50th anniversary, in 2024, Geraldo de Andrade was entrevistado in the Marco Zero program, produced by H2FOZ e Radio Club FM 100,9, in which he exposed the view, from the workers' perspective, of the grandeur of the concrete and steel work. And he reported the difficulties and transformations that occurred in Foz do Iguaçu that he saw and experienced.
Foz, other times
When he arrived in Foz do Iguaçu, he brought with him the experience of having helped build the Ilha Solteira hydroelectric plant, one of the largest in the country in terms of capacity, between the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul. Once here on the border, he worked for companies in the Unicon and Conempa construction consortiums, both Brazilian and Paraguayan.
He joined the Itaipu construction site when the activities were still in their early stages, helping to assemble the overhead cable tracks for the cranes, he said. He lived downtown and in Vila A, one of the complexes designated for the plant's employees. He then bought a house in Cohapar II, in the Libra and Campos do Iguaçu area. Those were different times in Foz do Iguaçu.
“It was just dirt road to get there. I had a green Beetle. When it rained, when I passed the ABC Stadium, the little thing would spin, skid, skid and not go,” he recalled, describing what the infrastructure of Avenida República Argentina was like at that time. Today, the road is one of the main connections between the central part of the city and the eastern area.
“The Beetle wouldn’t go up. I had to go back, go around Vila Yolanda to get home,” Geraldo de Andrade said humorously, as he recalled the hardships in a city that was experiencing expansion without proper planning.
During the first two years at Itaipu, the work was intense and there were almost no days off. “I worked on Sundays and during the week I worked 24 hours a day. There was no time for anything,” recalled the dam worker. After that period, the work eased up, allowing, for example, trips to the Iguaçu Falls, the main – almost the only – form of entertainment at that time, he revealed.
The city, in the late 1970s, was small, Geraldo recalled. There was a movie theater, which he listed as a landmark. In the center, however, the “neatest” part of the city was the old bus station, in the opinion of the veteran of major construction projects. The limitations in the areas outside the center were even greater, including access to schools and other services.
Itaipu Rocks
As for the day-to-day life at the plant, Geraldo Andrade gave some details about the routine of thousands of workers who, like him, embarked on a period of individual sacrifice and collective effort. Regarding workplace accidents, he only saw one, when a colleague fell 17 meters from an overhead crane. “That was the only case. We mostly saw ambulances going to the hospital.”
Geraldo, experienced in the human labor capable of changing realities, reserved space in his testimony for a playful aspect of the history of Itaipu. He mentioned the meaning of the name of the work, chosen from the stones that made up the landscape that gave way to the immense dam, in Tupi-Guarani: “singing stone”.
When faced with the achievements of thousands of workers, which shaped his own trajectory, he made a point of showing gratitude. “I have a lot to be thankful for. It was worth it. I dedicated many years of my life to working on the Itaipu project. In fact, I still do so now,” he concluded, smiling, with his badge in hand for his role as a dam builder and storyteller of the binational company, Foz do Iguaçu and the border.
