After years of police brutality, biased press and bureaucratic badgering, after five years of trying to gain legitimacy with city hall, João Pessoa street vendors found their direction and legitimacy after becoming affiliated with StreetNet International in 2010.

The state-wide Association of Street Vendors and General Workers of Paraiba (AMEG) was good at working and fighting, said founder and President Márcia Medeiros de Andrade. “But with StreetNet things are much better because we have a path. We’ve added advocacy work to our fight.”

That fight began in 2005, when Márcia and her husband moved back to João Pessoa they were appalled by the conditions street vendors endured. “Policemen would go after them and beat them and take their merchandise,” said Márcia, wide-eyed and gesturing with both hands.

Often vendors couldn’t afford to replenish their stolen stock. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I only felt the pain of other people,” Márcia said. She called a meeting at her house; 30 attended. They decided to formally organize by establishing bylaws and holding regular meetings. AMEG was born; soon there were 300 members.

Police harassment continued. AMEG held protests with up to 500 people blocking traffic during rush hours. “We didn’t have money to buy posters. We wrote our demands on cardboard, our clothes, our bodies,” said Márcia.

The press and government saw Márcia as a “disruptive woman who wanted everything, whose husband could not keep at home,” she said.

Police targeted her as AMEG’s leader. “I was assaulted many times,” she said without self-pity. She was also arrested 12 times but bailed out by a sympathetic lawyer or politician. When death threats were levelled against her, she made it known that others were trained to take her place so that killing her wouldn’t stop AMEG.

At that time, “We knew how to fight, but we didn’t know how to negotiate,” said Márcia, 48. Enter StreetNet International in 2010. Affiliation with SNI brought training in negotiating and much more. SNI also alerted AMEG to protective federal laws; AMEG advocated for these to be enacted in Paraiba State. “We learned that we had rights,” said Márcia. “We are very thankful to StreetNet.”

AMEG members also acquired the skills to lobby for public housing for vendors. Sometimes they squatted in abandoned public buildings in João Pessoa. “City hall didn’t want us there,” Márcia said, grinning. AMEG negotiated agreements that brought housing for 500 street vendor families. Now AMEG is registered with public housing programs.

In 2015, AMEG gathered more momentum after becoming affiliated with Brazil’s National Union of Workers and Street and Market Vendors (UNICAB). “Then we had a large network and we started to have more peace,” said Márcia.

These days the mayor of João Pessoa listens to Márcia’s views. “It’s not paradise, but it’s a much better relationship. We are considered and consulted.” Previously street venders had to line-up for three days to get a licence for a single event. Now they get a one-year licence and AMEG draws names to determine stall positions at events. Relations have improved to such a degree that the city even loaned vendors money to buy uniforms, better equipment and standardized stalls, which in turn allowed them to sell their wares in new settings. A city social worker is assigned to help them. AMEG now represents 2,000 families or about 10,000 vendors.

Last year, the association renovated an abandoned building near the provincial legislature for their new headquarters. It includes freezers full of donated food for members, a kitchen and meeting spaces. Márcia does the cleaning and if they need something, she organizes a raffle. AMEG members do not pay dues.

Twice monthly, Márcia holds a conference call with leaders across the state to discuss problems and set direction. AMEG is also active on social media and has 15 WhatsApp groups so they can mobilize quickly.

Despite all this progress, problems persist. In 2016, when police forcefully removed vendors from an event, one of them punched Márcia in the face; she was nine months pregnant. Márcia said that was a pivotal event: “It strengthened me to continue my fight. It empowered me and it helped me to empower other women within AMEG.”

That child is now eight; her first son is 28 and an engineer. “Despite our love and pride in what we do, I always wanted more for him, so I encouraged him to study… This is an example for other vendors” many of whom are illiterate.

Márcia and her husband Josemar Muniz, who is AMEG’s vice-president, still work as street vendors. But after having their merchandise repeatedly confiscated by city police, they now travel twice a month into the countryside to sell household goods.

The only time Márcia betrays doubt is when asked about the future. “That hurts,” she said. Everyday she wakes up thinking of the many people and many demands. Sometimes she considers finding a replacement, but there is work to be done including getting childcare and she feels a great affinity for AMEG members. It’s a feeling that is obviously reciprocated.

A few days before this interview, we took a walk to Sabadinho Bom, a Saturday celebration in a downtown square. Everywhere, people greeted and embraced her, shook her hands, kissed her. She joked and cracked her wide smile; they joined in her laughter.

“Since everything started in my house, it’s all mixed: what is AMEG, what is family,” she said. “We are a big true family” she said. She is known as “Márcia of the Street Vendors.”