I was invited by the incredible Susana Vidal to spend a month in Mozambique to encourage a small beach clean-up team that she supported, and to teach my art and techniques to local artisans and young people.
This experience completely changed the direction, goals, and vision of Xicogaivota.
Before, it was just Ricardo, there, Xicogaivota was born.
The experiences I lived, the people I met, and the way I gave myself fully to this project transformed me forever.
I learned to give without expecting anything in return, I learned to value what I have, I learned to want to be better.
Everything I went through still moves me today.
I learned to love, to pause and reflect, to feel deeply, to give 200% of myself, and to cry without hiding my tears.
I realised I don’t need to change the world; what I really need is to change myself, in an honest, coherent and real way.
I understood that I don’t want to be a tourist, I don’t want filters, I want to live within the community, to see and respect different realities.
I discovered the beauty of simplicity. I realised I didn’t need more things, I needed more humanity.
That month alone could fill a book — but I’ll never write it.
I’d rather do than show what I’ve done.
Thank you, Susana and Xicogaivota, Ricardo was never the same again.
