Covid Mission
Mission Covid is a platform focused on combating coronavirus, developed for free medical care by video call for indigenous patients villaged and also those who live in cities and are with symptoms of Covid-19. The project is supported by the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil – APIB, the Darcy Ribeiro Foundation, @projetoxingu and the entire indigenous health team of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). Access the platform here.
SOS Amazon – Fridays for Future Brazil
The Fridays for Future movement launched a donation campaign focused on Amazonian populations. The idea is to donate basic hygiene and food items, and invest in health equipment. Donations will be distributed among different communities, to the Upper Negro River (Yanomami), Lábrea and Purus (Paumari, Apurinã, Deni, Jamamdi and Jarauwara), Manaus (several communities and families.More information about the fund can be obtained through the website.
Declaration on indigenous peoples on the triple border and the pandemic
The American Legal Association issued a statement warning of the high rate of contagion and deaths by Covid-19 among indigenous peoples, especially among those residing in territories not officially recognized. The statement can be read by the official website of the association.
Petition for the removal of prospectors from Yanomami indigenous lands
The #ForaGarimpoForaCovid campaign is an initiative of the Forum of Leaders Yanomami and Ye'kwana and the Hutukara Association Yanomami (HAY), Association Wanasseduume Ye'kwana (SEDUUME), Association of Women Yanomami Kumirayoma (AMYK), Texoli Association Ninam of the State of Roraima (TANER), Yanomami Association of cauaburis river and tributaries (AYRCA). The petition can be accessed by the link. Also access the video "The Message of the Shaman | #ForaGarimpoForaCovid", held by the Yanomami and Ye'kwana Leadership Forum and #ForaGarimpoForaCovid.
UNEAfro and Partners Campaign
THE UNEAfro organization and 12 other partners, including maroon support networks, are distributing basic baskets and hygiene kits in peripheries and in 8 quilombos, located in 5 different states. In this link you can find detailed information about the stages of the campaign and the accountability of the resources already collected. It is also possible to access the vakinha here.
Quilombolas, caiçaras and family farmers organize and donate food to peripheries during the pandemic
Cooperquivale (Cooperative of Quilombolas Farmers of the Ribeira Valley), in partnership with the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), organized the production and emergency delivery of baskets of caiçara fishery products and the quilombo swidden to help meet the basic needs of 716 families in the Ribeira Valley region and also in the capital of São Paulo. The story can be read through the link. See also the Facebook page of the Cooperative.
Covid-19 Observatory in Quilombos
The National Coordination for the Articulation of Quilombolas Rural Black Communities (CONAQ) and the Socioenvironmental Institute have set up an observatory to monitor covid-19 cases in quilombola territories. The initiative can be accessed via the link.
Indigenous quarantine
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), in assembly, created the National Committee for Indigenous Life and Memory as a group responsible for monitoring the spread of coronavirus in communities and their confrontation. As part of the activities, the Committee created the Indigenous Quarantine campaign, which publishes bulletins on the subject, does case accounting and informs indigenous people about the pandemic. You can contribute to the campaign by doing actions through the online vakinha and PayPal, visit the campaign website to learn more.
Women of the waters: the fishermen who protect maré island
The population of Ilha de Maré (BA) is very concerned about the pandemic, especially with the arrival of tourists and people from other cities who choose the place to protect themselves from the disease. Eliete, seafood, fisherman, quilombola and resident of the Porto dos Cavalos Community, one of the five quilombos that exist inside maré island, exposes, in this news, the difficulties she and other residents face.
Indigenous organization of the Amazon launches fund of eergênciA
The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), in partnership with the Rainforest Foundation US, launched, on Tuesday (5), an emergency fund aimed at the prevention and urgent and immediate care required by coronavirus in relation to the indigenous population. More information about the measure can be found at this link. The press release was posted on the Coordination's Facebook page, in addition to the website for collecting donations.
Entities launch manual of guidance to indigenous peoples for prevention
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and Associated Indigenists (INA) launched on Monday (20) a manual of guidelines for indigenous peoples on the Coronavirus, also including a guide to access the Emergency Aid of the federal government.
The initiative, according to the organizations, is part of The Red April, the month in which the Indigenous Resistance Day (19) is celebrated, dedicated this year to the mobilization and articulation of actions around the "defense of the life of indigenous peoples" in the context of the pandemic. In this link, it is also possible to access special pages of APIB and INA on the subject.
Kanindé Ethnoenvironmental Defense Association
The Kanindé Ethnoenvironmental Defense Association organized a page, civil society organization created in 1992 in Rondônia. On the page, the organization explains the importance of helping indigenous peoples cope with the pandemic:
"Because of the New Coronavirus pandemic, the situation of indigenous peoples, which was already very difficult, got even worse. Many villages depend on the sale of their products (flour, chestnut, coffee, crafts, etc.), and this trade has been impaired or, in most cases, totally stopped. In addition, many indigenous people who receive some kind of benefit such as Bolsa Família or Aposentadoria are without withdrawing these amounts because they now avoid going to the city. It is also worth remembering that the immune system of indigenous peoples is different from other populations because their bodies were not or are accustomed to many diseases. To aggravate the situation, in most cases, access to health care is more difficult for forest peoples, who have historically been massacred by previously unknown diseases and are now at risk of genocide."
In addition to Kanindé's bank details, the page also offers a list of other options – other organizations and aid initiatives for indigenous peoples.
Lélia and Sebastião Salgado petition for protection of indigenous peoples
Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado and Lélia Salgado, who designs their books and exhibitions, created an online campaign calling for immediate attention to protect indigenous peoples from the threats of COVID-19. The petition, which is addressed to the Three Powers, can be read and signed here.