From the tree of African origin, the baobab, came the inspiration for the name of the project carried out by Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (CEPS/ISD) in the quilombola community of Capoeiras, in Macaíba-RN, the largest in this northeastern state. The seeds planted by CEPS in 2015 have been yielding good results since then, and all the interprofessional health education work and care strategies in prenatal care centered on the needs identified by the Capoeiras community itself, have just received an award from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) It's from National Health Council (CNS). O Laboratory in Innovation on Social Participation in Women's Comprehensive Health Care, proposed within the scope of the Unified Health System (SUS), chose among 22 applicants, six innovative initiatives from all over Brazil to receive the honor, which was delivered during the 2nd National Conference on Women's Health, held in Brasília-DF, in August 18th to 20th, 2017.
Liliane Moura Barbosa, from the Quilombola Association of Residents of Capoeiras, and Reginaldo Freitas Junior, Director of Teaching and Research at Instituto Santos Dumont (ISD) and professor at UFRN, were present at the award ceremony representing the Barriguda Project. On the occasion, the two gave a speech of thanks, with references to the contexts of Brazilian public health and the black community, which moved the audience. Check out the video of the presentation below. (1)
“For the ISD, it is very significant to be present at this historic moment in the struggle of women against discrimination, violence and prejudice, especially in the context of sexual and reproductive health in Brazil. We assume this responsibility in our institutional objectives. The first Women's Health Conference took place in 1986 and, after 30 years of reflections and propositions generated at that event, even with important changes that have occurred in the female condition since then, it is undeniable that there are still great challenges for the advancement of social control in the country. SUS and, above all, to guarantee comprehensive care for women's health, without any form of prejudice and discrimination”, says Reginaldo.
Liliane, 25 weeks pregnant, also spoke about the importance of the award: “It was a great joy for me to participate in the Barriguda project while also having a belly. And it was very honorable to have gone to Brasilia to receive this award as a pregnant woman, as a black woman, as a young person”.
Liliane has been accompanied by the Barriguda team since the beginning of her pregnancy and recognizes that before the project was implemented in the Community, not all women had prenatal care, because there was a need to travel to other places: “Barriguda was the the only project generated and delivered together with the Capoeiras community and its importance is that, in addition to guaranteeing rights, it also brings respect and dignity to pregnant women”.
Reginaldo says that the project represents very well the mission embraced by the Santos Dumont Institute and hopes that the award will bring visibility to the awarded initiatives, to encourage equally innovative projects in the country: “The recognition of the relevance of the Barriguda project by institutions as important as the PAHO/WHO and the National Health Council (CNS), much more than making us deeply proud, fills us with the hope of seeing initiatives like this multiplied in many other socially and culturally vulnerable communities that exist in our country. Community-centered Health Education, like what is done in the Capoeiras community, is a powerful tool for the social transformation that we want so much.”.
The Barriguda project is developed within the scope of the ISD Education Program for Social and Community Action (PISD 5).
Learn a little more about Barriguda:
https://www.institutosantosdumont.org.br/extensao/barriguda-comunidade-quilombola/
Find out who are the other award-winning projects:
(1) The video of the presentation held at the 2nd National Conference on Women's Health brings fragments of the following songs:
The meat (Elza Soares)
Beautiful skin (Luiz Gadelha/Valéria Oliveira)
Joy of the City (Margareth Menezes)
Text: Ariane Mondo / Ascom – ISD
Photos: ISD Archive and Event Disclosure
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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.
