Vulnerabilidade e estratégias de auto-organização das comunidades quilombolas do Pará diante da pandemia de Covid-19

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic of covid-19 in March 2020. The process of internalization of this disease in the Amazon happened quickly, reaching municipalities with little infrastructure and scarce health resources. Since then, on the national scene, the quilombola communities of Pará are among those that have suffered the most impacts from the pandemic. Without state support to monitor and control the disease in their territories, these communities have undertaken their own organizational strategies to minimize the effects of the pandemic. The research aim is analyze the vulnerabilities of the quilombola population of Pará in the covid-19 pandemic and the strategies used to cope with this disease. Research with qualitative methods, including field research, documentary research and participant observation in an exploratory and descriptive cross-sectional investigation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with quilombola leaders from different territories in Santarém. Through an invitation from the Coordination of Associations of Quilombo Remnant Communities of Pará (Malungu) and participation in the actions of the Omulu project, participant observations resulted in an accumulated experiences and enabled dialogues through interactive groups formed by quilombola residents in the territories of Santarém. In quilombos of Santarém, the Omulu project enabled the creation of a network of relationships among different partners for the implementation of humanitarian and communicative health actions to meet the demands of the quilombola population. Based on scientific evidence and on the local reality, they created mechanisms for emergency intervention, but which are still in place today. At the state level, Malungu has also invested in the dissemination of educational messages. Social media have proven to be an important educational communication tool to minimize the negative impacts caused by the pandemic. Among the combats prioritized by the quilombola collective organizations, the fake news received special attention, since they directly impacted the decision about vaccination. False news that linked vaccines to death risks, demonization and loss of humanity and autonomy were among the most relevant. The Covid-19 pandemic expressed how vulnerable the quilombola population of Pará is, especially in the programmatic dimension, since many territories have no health care or even no local health care professional, such as a health agent. However, with the history of struggles for rights, leaders and associations joined forces to seek strategies that were necessary to minimize the effects of the pandemic. The partnership with educational institutions was essential to form a group of volunteers who, on different fronts, acted to mitigate, for example, the impacts of fake news and educational activities, even in a virtual way, contributed to health education in time of pandemic. The reflexes of the pandemic in the quilombola territories of Pará are still experienced today, and the fight for better health in the territories continues, with the monitoring of strategies that take health care into the territories and the implementation of public policies with practices compatible with the rights and reality of the quilombola territories.