In Sao Jose do Pileated Parrot, at 742 kilometers from Manaus, in the Amazon, there are no doctors. Who needs help going to the house of the healer Raimunda da Silva, 68, daughter of Indians Miranha ethnicity. Diseases such as malaria, Chagas disease or pneumonia, she said, can be cured with your prayers. Sitting in a chair in the only room in the house where he lives, Raimunda says he never imagined he would have such powers inherited from the deceased father. Lean, with bones near the neck and the show, she said that overcame chronic back pain with their prayers, even after a doctor said that his case could only be solved with surgery. Over the past five years, the healer would have treated more than a thousand diseases
It is thanks to my power that many people need not go to town to see a doctor - says Raimunda.
Pileated Parrot is just one of about 350 riverside communities of the Amazon with little or no access to medical care. According to a survey done by the Riverside Peoples Project, there are 37,000 residents living isolated on the edge of the rivers that cut Brazil's largest state by land area. Last month, a GLOBE team visited aboard a ship of the Navy of Brazil that provides medical and dental care to these people, 17 communities in Amazonas state to find out how the daily life of residents living on the waterfront and away from civilization.
DIFFICULT ACCESS
Much of the riverside communities comes from the rubber boom in the late nineteenth century, when about half a million people, most northeastern fleeing drought, moved to the North to work in latex extraction of rubber. Most preferred the proximity to rivers to raise stilts. But the rubber boom fell into decay, and many left the region. Some villages grew into towns. Other, smaller, they were no more than isolated villages that stand to this day - always on the edge of the rivers.
When there are health professionals available in the area, difficult access prevents from reaching the community. Some villages are so ingrained in the forest that only motorized canoes pass by streams, zigzagging through the trees. It is not uncommon to find places that have never received a doctor. In communities, usually there is only one health worker who is a resident trained by the nearest city hall, but that is not able to make diagnoses. Its function is to guide residents, distribute chlorine capsules to clean the water of the river and try to make possible the marking of medical and dental appointments.
- The health care provider is important, but can do very little. Try at least once a year, each visit Amazon riverside community - says the commander of Brazil's Caetano Quinaia Navy, responsible for operating the hospital assistance mission in the Amazon. - The goal of the Navy is trying to cater to a population that can not afford to go to a doctor. Strange as it may seem, not always the riverside accept our medicines. They think they can do harm.
Lack of sanitation is another serious problem. The 120 km of the city of Tefé, the Jubará community has unhealthy scenario. There is not hint of garbage collection. In a quick walk through the 19 community houses, you can see children urinating residence of the window where they live. The locals do not want to know if the water they drink is fit for consumption.
- I talk about the importance of boiling water, but to no avail. Or when the child shows signs of worms parents change their behavior. The mobilization occurs only when the electric generator breaks, as this week, and no one can watch the novel - regrets the community leader, Jose Sobrinho.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
Thousand meters ahead of Jubará, however, we find a radically different situation. With running water and the electric generator working for five hours at night, the St. Peter Community stands out. Since 2012, residents have set up a community organization with presidents and directors. Their intention was to create a structure to divide administrative tasks between residents and create a collaborative environment. Activities such as cleaning, cassava flour production, cutting trees for building houses, among others, are shared between riparian. Each of the 45 families need to donate R $ 20 monthly for the box of the community. The money can be used to repair the generator or buy fuel for the community boat.
The organization drew attention of residents of other communities. Since 2009, 38 people moved to St. Peter. To get a new home, all migrants must undergo 90 days of ambiance. Then the locals gather to decide whether welcome or not. The change in the administrative structure of the community occurred after the arrival of evangelical pastor Raimundo Marinho, who five years ago moved from Tefe to Saint Peter.
- It is not communism. My idea was that all feel they are important and that a task can complement other. We knew that our organization could become attractive to others. But we must be judicious and just approve new residents if everyone agrees. We try to help everyone here in St. Peter. Try to shape a structure so you do not miss anything to anyone, especially food - he says.
The power of the river, although abundant, particularly in relation to fish and flour, is somewhat varied. Plantations are not always possible, and the lack of electricity in most communities prevents the storage of food. The surplus production, usually fish is the main source of income. But it is not uncommon to find families with more than five children whose only source of income Bolsa Familia program, the federal government. Approximately R $ 400 is the average real income of households where the news crew passed.
- I would like to eat a good steak beef - reveals Jandira Silva, a resident of Tiger's Mouth community.
Sitting on the floor of the house where he lives, without furniture or appliances, she says you're saving money it receives from Bolsa Familia a few months to go to town to buy fresh meat and do a Sunday lunch for the children.
- Joining gradually can buy. I'm going to perfect - says, smiling.
TWO HOURS BOAT TO THE CLASSROOM
After descending a ravine twenty-two steps, the student Marcia Morais, 12, is balanced on wooden planks to get to school boat. She wishes to be first in line to guide the younger the circuitous route to the "escolancha" that leads to the school children of Barreirinha de Cima community, 30 kilometers from the municipality of Fonte Boa, on the edge of Ati Parana River in the Amazon. The trip to the classroom can take two hours. Marcia has the dream of becoming a doctor. Do not mind the distance.
- I want to be a doctor to take care of my community - she says.
This is the reality of education in riverside communities. It is estimated that at least 5000 children and young people have to leave their village each day to attend school. The number, according to the state Department of Education of the Amazon, is inaccurate, since not all communities are registered.
But already it was worse. In the past, it was rare to find schools by the river. When was the initiative was the community itself, which was organized to pass knowledge. In the 1990s, after the land demarcations, the riverside villages have been linked to nearby cities. The municipality of Maraã, for example, with 18,000 inhabitants, now has 106 communities "satellites". Of these, 93 have schools. The curriculum is the same as the big city schools. But some communities include subjects such as carpentry and indigenous history.
Also to remedy the shortage of teachers and the qualifications of the faculty, five years ago the state Department of Education created the technological education. The initiative allowed high school teachers of state schools in Manaus ministered class to satellite riverside. About 20% of the Amazonas State schools have this kind of education. According to the project director, Professor Edson Smith, the experience is going well despite the problems in some communities to capture the signal.
- Lesson distance was the way to turn the lack of manpower in the field of education. We still need to improve the transmission, so there is no problem in the frequency of teaching - says Siqueira.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário