The state of Pernambuco and 4 other states in the northeastern region of Brazil have been devastated by heavy rains since the beginning of this week. Some municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of Recife, as well as some municipalities of the Zona da Mata were extremely affected, mainly the populations living in poverty, victims of the environmental racism that divides the territory leaving the most dangerous areas for black and non-white populations. The peripheral populations are the ones who lost their homes and the little they could acquire with poorly paid jobs, and the ones who today die mainly in landslides or are swept away by the water.
So far, 128 deaths, and 9,302 unsheltered people have been registered.
From left to right, picture of the Vila Arraes community. Child being rescued in the community of Caxanga. Source: Varzea oficial.
In the same way, many women’s collectives once again unite in support of their communities, sharing their pots, giving shelter and reproducing life in a city that constantly tries to condemn them to death.
Soup delivery at AVIPA - Association of Friends of Vila do Papelão. Photo: Layane Santos from the Revelar.si Collective
The rains will come every year to this and many other Brazilian cities, increasing in intensity due to elements such as climate change. Evidently, it is not nature that is to blame for this phenomenon, but rather the management of resources and their unequal distribution. The lack of public policies for housing and disaster prevention, since it is inefficient to react to emergencies without prevention mechanisms, has caused thousands of families in Recife to lose everything, from their homes and belongings to the lives of family and friends.
Delivery of humanitarian aid in Avipa. Photo: Layane Santos -from the Revelar.si Collective
The women from the Revista Amazonas collective and the Revelar.si collective from the community of Coque, organized this international campaign to raise funds for community centers led by women’s rights defenders and women’s collectives organized in their communities in Recife. These community centers have specific information about the needs of the families that benefit from their work, their social action and the struggle for the right to land and housing. Their contribution will help to benefit in a more specific way the diversity of needs that each community participating in this action faces.
Throughout the process of this campaign we will be posting pictures of the benefited communities and the arrival of this humanitarian aid to different places affected by the rains in Recife.