Caroline Oliveira Souza Silva (photo), better known as Carol, was born into a Spiritist family in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, where she still lives. She works in advertising. She is also a volunteer worker at the Mansão da Esperança (Mansion of Hope) Spiritist Centre, where she helps to coordinate the youth groups. In the following interview, she speaks about the well-known YouTube channel “Meninas Espíritas” (Spiritst Girls).

What is the story behind the "Meninas Espíritas"channel?

It began when some friends from our youth group and I created a comedy Spiritist page on Facebook: “Depression Spiritism”. That page grew into something bigger and we were eventually invited to take part in a meeting which was aimed at debating new ways of disseminating the Spiritist message to young people. At that meeting, I met Ana Talavera, Julio Sena and Fernanda Tarrasco, among other young people, and we all came up with many ideas. One of them was to create a vlog-like channel that spoke to the young. We then created “Meninas Espíritas” and, later, other channels: “Espiritalks,” with Ana, and “Coaching Espírita,” with Julio.

How do you produce the programme?

We keep an eye on the biggest issues and concerns among young Spiritists and then decide which of those we are going to address. We base our work on Spiritist books and adapt the language in order to truly reach the hearts of youngsters. I create the content of the video. Julio records and edits the videos, Ana looks after the media side of things and Fernanda deals with the art in the channel! It’s an amazing team. I don’t do anything alone.

How do you choose the issues to be addressed?

The suggestions come from young people who follow our work on the channel. We consider the themes they would prefer to discuss, what their biggest doubts are and we always try to bring new, cool material with us to the places we visit. We make a point of always treating Spiritism and its moral principles in an easy, accessible and fun manner.

What has been the impact among young people and teenagers?

It’s been excellent! We have received messages from many Brazilian states and other countries, not only from young people and teenagers, but also from many adults and people working in Spiritist education. They all love the channel.

What is your assessment of the Spiritist events across Brazil? You’ve been to many of them. Do you think they are able to attract young people too?

Yes, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many Brazilian states and cities in the past year and each place I’ve been to was very special. I’ve tried to do my best at each event and I’ve made great friends along the way. It was a great joy to see that in many events we attended over the past year I was able to speak to the young but I was also able to deliver the Spiritist message to the adults in our special way.

How is the interaction on social media?

We are on all the main social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and, obviously, on YouTube, with our channel. There is a great sense of humour, jokes and interaction on social media. People exchange information on their projects, films, Spirit bands and a lot more! In August we launched a podcast to help the study of the book What is Spiritism, by Allan Kardec. That podcast is available at the moment both on Spotify and Google Podcasts.

What are the main challenges, complaints and personal dramas you have come across?

I have received many questions and I have been presented with many challenges, but the main ones regard young people who are interested in Spiritism but have parents from other religions and reject it; there are people who are coming into contact with Spiritism now and have many doubts concerning mediumship; and there are others who ask for the address and contact numbers of Spiritist Groups and youth groups in their areas.

There is a growth in the number of suicide among young people. Based on your experience with people of that age group, what do you think that could be done to prevent that?

Spiritism has an important role to play in that area. Many people see suicide as a solution to eliminate pain and suffering. Spiritism can show people that we don’t really die, that we won’t stop feeling the way we do when we go to the other side. More than that, it gives a direction and sense of purpose to our life. It shows us that there is a reason for us to be here, that the pain we are feeling will make us stronger one day and that we all have a role to play in the big puzzle that is life on Earth. If there’s a little piece missing, everyone will be affected. We all need to play together. That is the message we try to convey to young people.

What are the strongest memories from your time in the Spiritist Movement?

I have found amazing young people with amazing projects wherever I’ve been. Our Spiritist Youth is strong indeed and very active. It’s true that we still have many hurdles to overcome, but those super young people do exist and let’s do our best to give them more and more time, space and voice.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would like to express my gratitude for this opportunity to speak about our work and I would like to make a special request: let’s look after our young people and give them a voice. Let’s make an effort to have youth groups and courses for young people in every Spiritist Centre, so that they are able to give their contribution and bring in new ideas and technologies to help everyone in the task of disseminating Spiritism.

Editor’s note:

To access the YouTube channel “Meninas Espíritas”, click here