30/06/2022 - 14:15 / FADC

Since the first news about the heavy rains that hit some cities in Bahia and Minas Gerais, at the end of last year and beginning of this year, displacing populations, isolating areas and compromising infrastructure, a network of solidarity began to form.

A child-friendly company since 2006, West Cargo, a specialist in road transportation and customs, joined this chain of goods, bringing hope to families who were victims of the floods, many of them homeless and in vulnerable situations.

On the company's initiative, 500 basic food baskets were donated to three civil society organizations in the cities of Mucuri - Bahia, Vespasiano and Betim, both in Minas Gerais, which are part of Rede Nossas Crianças, Fundação ABRINQ and serves families of children and adolescents in the regions. The transportation of basic food baskets to institutions was also carried out by West Cargo.

“The food they will have this month”

Ludimila Pomarolli, president of the Associação Comunitária Golfinho, in Mucuri – Bahia, an institution that received 100 basic food baskets, says that the neighborhoods close to the organization, where most of those children and teenagers live, were badly hit by the rains. “There is an area of ​​mangroves here and the asphalt ruptured with the force of the water.”

“The baskets arrived at an excellent time, as we serve families who lost part or ended up losing everything they had in their home. Many of them are in a situation of social vulnerability. We have cases here at the association of families who depend on donations, as they have no other source of income. The donation of this basic basket corresponds to the food they will have for the month”, says Ludimila.

The association offers computer classes, ballet, capoeira, tapestry, and interactive community therapy workshops to the children. The psychosocial team holds monthly meetings, psychosocial care and home visits with families.

Solidarity arrives in Minas Gerais

Betim is a city in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. The region was greatly impacted due to the flooding of the Parauapebas River due to heavy rains that occurred at the end of January and beginning of February.

Lourdes Leite, projects and partnerships manager at Instituição Salão do Encontro, reports that the 180 basic food baskets received by West cargo went to families at a very difficult time. “This was a very important emergency action, not only in the context of food security, but also as support in a highly vulnerable situation in which families found themselves, some lost their homes due to the floods. Being able to tell them that this help had arrived was very gratifying, as they not only received food, but also affection from someone at this difficult time. It was a donation that made a difference for 180 families and 630 people.”

The association was created in 1970 with the intention of helping families on the outskirts of the municipality. In the 1980s, educational projects became a priority, being an effective way to solve several challenges faced in the region.

Hunger doesn't wait

The Child Group in Search of a New Life (GCRIVA) has been operating for over 40 years in the communities of Morro Alto, Nova Pampulha neighborhood, in the city of Vespasiano – Minas Gerais.

It is a non-profit organization, with the mission of providing services and assistance to children, adolescents and families at social and economic risk, through the implementation of socio-educational projects capable of offering improvements in the quality of life of the community.

The institution's psychologist, Debora Gomide, explains that the 220 baskets benefited 900 people, the vast majority of whom were children and teenagers from families who were victims of heavy rains and who suffered major material losses. “Some families were in a situation of extreme vulnerability, and hunger is something that does not wait, it is an urgent basic need. Therefore, these baskets were essential for the subsistence of these families and guaranteed children and adolescents the right to nutrition”.

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