The streets of Heliópolis and Paraisópolis (São Paulo) continue with thousands of people circulating in a country where the state is not very present and community leaders try to compensate for the limitations, a scenario that makes evident the two “Brazils” that coexist.
In Paraisópolis, located next to the Morumbi neighborhood, one of the richest in the city, it is estimated that more than 100 thousand people live. On the central streets of the community, residents circulated normally and most stores were open although state and municipal authorities declared an emergency and asked the population to remain inside their homes to curb the covid-19 contamination curve.
Gilson Rodrigues, community leader in the Paraisópolis favela and founder of the G10 favela nucleus, believes that the population still does not truly believe in the dangers of the epidemic.
“Paraisópolis is currently experiencing an attempt to organize itself to combat the new coronavirus, but, in general, the population still perceives the situation with discredit,” he said, adding: “It is as if [the virus] was something on television, which you won’t get here, a thing for the rich, that’s why the streets are still crowded and people are not yet aware of what is to come “.
The crisis and unemployment among the local population was already a very present reality, but the situation has now worsened with the stoppage of productive activities in the largest city in Brazil.
“The crisis and unemployment were already big [problems] and now it has gotten worse. Here it is as if this virus only existed on television mainly because there is an infrastructure issue that is different from what is being shown”, he stressed.
“We realized that there are two” Brazils “, one that manages to do” home office “and manages to have alcohol gel and another one that lacks even water, that is living on top of a stream, that will go hungry and suffer more”, evaluated Gilson Rodrigues .
Against this background, the community leader and a group of volunteers decided to organize a series of actions that include collecting donations and distributing food in baskets and more than 1,300 meals a day for the poorest residents of the community.
The volunteers were divided into groups, with street delegates, to take information about the health and needs of their neighbors.
“The initiatives that are happening here in Paraisópolis are the result of the mobilization of society and the community (…) So far, there is no public initiative by the Government”, lamented Gilson Rodrigues.
In Heliópolis, which is considered the largest favela in São Paulo and where around 200 thousand people live, Antónia Cleide Alves, community leader and president of the Union of Nuclei, Associations of Residents of Heliópolis and Region (Unas) said that the situation is same.
Without the right support from the public authorities, residents are promoting actions to collect donations, distribute food, hygiene products and inform the population.
In this community, the movement of people seems less, but many remain on the streets and with open shops to try to obtain money and survive.
“Our projects with the Government and the city hall were closed and many of the children we served came to eat here at Unas, many people are unemployed and we decided to contact our partners to ask for help”, told Lusa Antónia Cleide Alves.
The associative leader explained that the residents’ association decided to remain open to help serve the population.
“Today we are counting a lot on people’s solidarity. We have donations, people get in touch. Civil society is very concerned, from the Government we realize that there are many speeches and little action. Specifically from the Government, what we perceive is a very difficult great to do the service “, he stressed.
Antónia Cleide Alves explained that the residents were warned of social isolation actions and the need to reinforce personal hygiene, but this care comes up against the lack of water, in precarious and tiny houses where families live huddled together.
The community leader also said that her main concern is that the pandemic will spread and end up generating ghettos and closing the favela entrances.
“We are afraid that we will be closed here. That all of our [favela] entrances will be closed by the Army, by someone who will not let us out. This is what we are afraid of. We know that deep down the favelas are very excluded,” explained the president of Unas.
Today, Brazil has half a thousand deaths and close to 12 thousand infected.
