Teraka tany Hwash tanàna ambanivohitra any amin'ny faritra andrefan'i Syria any amin'ny faritanin'i Homs i ‘Sito Badia’, ‘Bebe Badia’ amin'ny teny Arabo – araka ny ilazan'ny zafikeliny azy. Nifindra tany Brezila niaraka tamin'ny fianakaviany izy 80 taona lasa izay, fony fao 13 taona monja izy. Ity tantara manaraka ity no mampahatsiahy ny fifindramonin'i Arabo anisan'ny voalohany tany Brezila sy Amerika Latina.

Badia, aged 93 years, and brother Michael, aged 91 years, holding a family photo taken in Christmas 2011. Used with permission.

Ny taona 1932, nanapa-kevitra ny honina any Brezila ny rain'i Badia antsoina hoe Habib rehefa nifindra nankany São Carlos, any amin'ny fanjakan'i São Paulo ireo zokiny lahy:

My Grandfather Farah was in Argentina with my eldest uncles, [aged] only 10 and 12 years old. When he knew that his brother had settled in São Carlos, Brazil, he decided to leave the boys with him and went back to Syria and lived there until his death. My father went to Brazil alone to see his elder brothers; he stayed for a year and went back to Syria. He compared life between Brazil and Syria and decided to settle in Brazil and ask us to join him. I was with my mother and two young siblings, Michael, 11 years old, and Adib, 9, when we left Beirut port in Lebanon heading to Santos port, on a 40 day cruise journey to Brazil. I felt sick in the sea; we stopped in Genoa, Italy where I remember the cemetery, and that they kept us for five days in the ship in Marseille, France

The first generation of the family. Used with permission.

Niandry ny fahatongavan'ny fianakaviana ny zana-drahalahy tao São Carlos, toerana nanofan'ny rain'i Sito Badia trano. Nanampy ny reniny tamin'ny fitaizana ny iray tampo aminy izy, tsy  mba nankany an-tsekoly (tsy mahay manoratra izy), saingy tsaroany koa ny hira taloha tahaka ny  عتابا ودلعونا (Ataba & Delona) sy Dabke avy ao Syria, izay tiany hiraina ho an-dreniny:

لابدا شعيطة ولابدا بعيطة، الأمر المقدر ياأمي لبسنا البرنيطة. من مدة سبع سنين كنا فلاحين، واليوم مرتاحين بلبس البرنيطة

Mitovitovy ny tantaran'ny ankamaroan'ny Syriana nifindra monina ho any Brezila – miara-mipetraka amin'ny havana dia manokatra fandraharahana manokana. Araka ny antontanisa tamin'ny 1962, ny 9% n'ny tompon'orinasa tao São Paulo [.pdf] dia Syriana sy Libaney.

My father started selling clothes, he opened a shop later in Descalvado, where Michael Shamas, a Lebanese, helped us and my youngest brother Badi. After few years one friend told him about a new town being built called Novo Horizonte. I got married to Mossa our Syrian cousin when I was 28 years.

Nanan-janava efa-bavy i Sito Badia, valo ny isan'ny zafikeliny ary ho avy afaka roa volana ny zafiafiny voalohany Gabriel. Raha isaina ny fianakavian'ny rahalahy sy ny zana-drahalahin-drainy dia mahatratra 90 ny mpikambana ao aminy. Misy fivoriam-pianakaviana fanao isaky ny krismasy hampisehoana ny taranaka vaovao sy hamelomana ny fiaviana Arabo.

Big family, Arabian roots. Used with permission.

Mbola mifandray akaiky amin'ny havana na ao Brezila na any Syria amin'ny alalan'ireo zanany vavy i Sito Badia: Maria, Najat, Marta and Esmeralda (efa maty); soa fa nisy azy ka mbola tsy very ny teny arabo ao amin'ny fianakaviana:

Only I, my brother Michael, my cousins Elias and Jamelihe are the Syrian Arabic speakers in the family. The family only knows the name of Syrian food [laughing]. I visited Syria three times, but it's very hard now to fly. We talk on the phone every Christmas and Easter. Lately, Marta and Najat visited Syria in 2009, while my first granddaughter married a Syrian.

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Monina ao Novo Horizonte, São Paulo ankehitriny i Badia izay iomanany hankalazana ny fahazato taonany raha afaka fito taona.