Humanitarian Mission
Mission with the "Amigos de Minas" NGO in the Xakriabá indigenous community of São João das Missões.
On June 2 and 3, 2022, the human practices team, in collaboration with the Amigos de Minas NGO, visited the indigenous people of Terra Xakriabá, which is located in the municipality of São João das Missões, in the north of the state of Minas Gerais. To get there, we drove for more than 10 hours, for 678 km (421 miles).
The population in question is affected by low access to basic sanitation and adequate food, as well as problems arising from the occupation of their territories by farmers, a phenomenon resulting from the state's negligence in promoting the complete demarcation of their territories. Thus, such obstacles worsen the precariousness rates experienced by them, forcing them to face the reality of being the municipality with the lowest Human Development Index in their state.
In view of the strong relationship between the lack of infrastructure and basic sanitation with the prevalence of geohelminthiases, contact with this community was extremely important for the full understanding of the problem in the national territory, in order to further boost the development of our project.
Aims
Given the socioeconomic situation presented, the team saw in the missions promoted by the "Amigos de Minas" NGO the possibility of a joint action with the following purposes: to bring scientific and health knowledge to the population, to assist the non-profit organization in the development of its humanitarian activities, in addition to understanding the reality experienced by the inhabitants, in order to develop the implementation of our project efficiently and conscientiously.
Joint action Team UFMG_UFV_Brazil/NGO
The "Amigos de Minas" NGO collects resources and distributes them to underprivileged communities and populations. Its members coordinate the joint action of volunteers through several stages that include: the collection, organization and distribution of items from donors to families. The organization has been operating for over 20 years and is well known in the state of Minas Gerais.
The distribution of donations is made periodically, usually with a spacing of 3 months in the city of São João das Missões, in the north of the state of Minas Gerais. Here, the volunteers meet and are divided into groups to go through the delivery routes for the collected items. The routes consist of the paths taken by the missionaries, inside the indigenous reserve, to reach the houses of the inhabitants.
Through the association between the team and the NGO, team members were able to be present to assist in the delivery of donations and also be in direct contact with the project's stakeholders. In this way, team members were able to gather a lot of knowledge that was taken into account during the rest of the project's development and beyond.
Besides this activity, the Amigos de Minas promote "Caravanas da Saúde" (“Health Caravans”) that provide citizen with access to basic treatments and medical resources that are normally difficult to access.
Education: Comics
Prophylactic measures are always the most efficient alternative to combat any type of disease. However, during the process of researching the population, it became evident that the simplest and most everyday means of prevention were not available to the Xakriabá. There was no basic sanitation or access to potable water for these individuals to drink, wash their food or even take care of their basic needs. Therefore, it became evident that one of the purposes of the team's joint action should be to make the inhabitants aware of the importance of carrying out prophylactic practices to remedy this reality. For this, a booklet was prepared, in the format of comics, which shows methods of preventing worms. Measures such as boiling water and preventing animals from being in contact with its sources, hand hygiene and others are present in the document.
Another purpose envisioned by the team was to bring scientific awareness about our project to the inhabitants, with the aim of encouraging education. Therefore, an illustrative comic was also created with information on synthetic biology and modification of living beings. Both documents were made with the purpose of being of universal access. For this, we pass the intended messages using non-verbal language. Added to this, intending to transform learning into a playful activity, the booklets were made in black and white, in the format of comics and, in this way, the children of the community could color them in their schools.
The distribution of these documents occurred concomitantly with the resources collected by the NGO so that all the people approached were informed about what they were about, in addition to being encouraged to practice the prophylactic measures presented. The children were also encouraged to persevere in school so that, through education, they would be able to change their own reality and the reality of their community.
You can find more about the content of our comics in our Inclusivity page.
Getting to know the community
Day 1
Guided by the Municipal Health Secretary of the municipality, we visited 2 villages, in which we spoke with the respective health agents and with local families. On that day, we got to know in depth the reality experienced by the local community, especially in terms of health, hygiene and education. We also met 3 local teachers, who explained the reality of schools to us and to whom we distributed some comics. We also met chief Domingos, a local leader, who could talk to us about political problems that influence the lack of infrastructure seen in the Xakriabá territory.
Day 2
We got up in the morning and went to load the trucks with donations, which included everything from basic hygiene products and clothes, to basic foodstuffs such as milk, rice, beans and oil. Then the members splitted and left for different villages. After traveling for a while, we started to deliver donations to the families, besides distributing the comics and explaining the to children and their mothers.
The mission of the Amigos de Minas NGO was a success. Among the donations made, we highlight the numbers below:
2,190 basic grocery packages
3,816 liters of milk
1,330 hygiene kits
2,986 pairs of flip-flops
Team considerations
This was a life-changing experience for the members. Despite being a very prevalent reality in our country, because of the Brazilian territorial extension, people who live in urban centers do not understand what it is really like to live in poverty, hunger and lack of basic infrastructure. This visit took our project and commitment to the local problem to another level. From there, we not only understand their pain in depth, but we also share that pain in seeing so many people in our country experiencing different needs.
Action Plan
We understand the importance of not just realizing a single action but also giving continuity to the seed planted in this community. Thinking about that, our team make an Action Plan to continue developing science in the Xakriaba community. Our goal is to make an ongoing partnership with the NGO Amigos de Minas to realize a science colony annually for children, young people and interested. This event will be organized by students from all different backgrounds and science fields. With professors help, these volunteer students will plan which materials and methodology will be used in the social activities during the year. Belong the science workshops, we will provide mentors to guide the community people interested in entering the graduation. The activities described here will be constructed together with the local leaders and teachers to respect the Xakriaba culture. We will seek support from institutions related to education to be able to give educational incentives and scholarships, for example, covering the expenses of two people participating in every Biological Machine Engineering Course. We expected these actions to be able to incentive science and education in a native Brazilian community in a respectful way, growing the connection between science and culture.
References
1. Google Maps. (2022). Xakriaba Racharia. Map image. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/maps/jJW694dpcmVDDLDX8
