The Barriguda Project, developed by Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) in the Quilombola Community of Capoeiras, is one of the five winners of the international competition “Projects that work” (Projects that work), promoted by Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (Faimer), International foundation committed to improving global health through education. The purpose of this competition is to recognize work that has been successful beyond initial implementation and has positively and significantly impacted health, community and school in order to encourage the development, implementation and dissemination of similar projects. The award, which is part of the annual Conference The Network: Towards Unity for Health (The Network: TUFH), will take place between August 16th and 20th, in Limerick, Ireland and will have the theme Community Empowerment for Health: a multisectoral approach. TUFH is a global network of individuals, institutions and organizations committed to improving the health of people and their communities.
In 2017, the Barriguda Project was also awarded, being one of the six Brazilian experiences that won the competition “Innovation Laboratory on Social Participation in Comprehensive Women's Health Care” organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the Council National Health Service (CNS) – article HERE.
This is the second time that ISD has been recognized by Faimer. In 2015, it was the turn of the Art of Birth Project be considered, guaranteeing participation in the awards event held in Gauteng, South Africa – article HERE.
The winners of the “Projects that work” 2018 Competition are:
Reginaldo Freitas Jr. (Brazil)
Barriguda Project: Promoting Maternal Health in a Quilombola Community of Brazil (Barriguda Project: Promoting maternal health in a Quilombola Community in Brazil)
Shantharam Baliga (India)
Malaria Control System: GIS-based Software Technology Assistance for Effective Control of Malaria in Mangaluru, India
Maryellen Brisbois (United States)
Bridging the Atlantic: An International Alliance in Community Health among American and Azorean Nursing Students & Faculty
María de la Paz Grebe (Argentina)
Posta Las Lilas: A Model of Integral Commitment to the Community
Eric Nizeyimana (Rwanda)
Community-based Malaria Prevention Empowerment.
Belly Project
The Barriguda Project has been developed since 2015 by ISD, through the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (CEPS), in the largest remaining quilombo community in Rio Grande do Norte: Capoeiras, located in Macaíba (RN). The Project received its name from the local pregnant women themselves, and refers to the way the Community calls the Baobá, a tree revered by quilombola culture as a symbol of the location of former quilombos.
Also in 2015, a prenatal care service was implemented with a multidisciplinary team (doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, psychologist and social worker), who go to the community to assist pregnant women and develop health education actions through technologies. light.
A Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) is also a partner in the Project and, in 2016, a discipline linked to Barriguda was created, offered by the Department of Tocogynecology and entitled “Cultural Competence in Health Care for Quilombola Women”. This is the first discipline specifically designed to include the development of cultural competence in health professions curricula. 32 UFRN undergraduate students went through this experience between 2016 and the first semester of 2018.
Capoeiras is made up of around 300 families and 1,500 inhabitants, with limited access to healthcare. In 2014, eclampsia reached 20% of pregnant women and the Maternal Mortality Coefficient was 223.0 deaths/100,000 live births. From the beginning of the Project's activities in the Community until April 2018, 61 pregnant women were assisted by the CEPS multidisciplinary team and there were no maternal deaths or cases of eclampsia.
More information about the Project: https://institutosantosdumont.org.br/extensao/barriguda-comunidade-quilombola/
Text and photo: Ariane Mondo / Ascom – ISD
Featured photo: Barriguda Project Archive/ ISD
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Santos Dumont Institute (ISD)
Social organization that maintains ties with the Ministry of Education (MEC) and whose mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions and to contribute to a fairer and more humane transformation of the Brazilian social reality.
