It is December 1999. In Jardim Cruzeiro, 18-year-old Francisca de Pinheiro is perched on the bed breastfeeding her youngest child, 6-month-old Gabriela. There is a brief moment of calm in her room. Her other children are lying on the bed behind her, drinking their bottles of sweet black coffee. The only light is from the small, flickering black-and-white television 3 feet away from her. Suddenly there is a crash on the corrugated iron roof. It has started to rain and cockroaches whirr around the windowless room. She is mesmerized by the image on the screen. Terra Nostra, the eight o'clock novela, is on. The beautiful young Italian immigrant, Juliana, is breastfeeding her baby. Juliana looks at it adoringly. There is a close-up of her face: her blue eyes are filled with tears of joy. Then there is a close-up on her breast and the suckling baby. The baby moves its head, its huge blue eyes staring up at Juliana's smiling face. Francisca is enraptured. The scene on the telenovela continues for several minutes, accompanied by dreamy music.

Francisca leans forward to turn up the sound, and as she does so the door creaks open – in walks her sister-in-law, 16-year-old Jaqui. She is four months pregnant and on one of her hips she is carrying an 18-month-old nephew.