{"id":59061,"date":"2020-04-28T09:24:06","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T12:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=59061"},"modified":"2020-05-01T12:42:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T15:42:56","slug":"coronavirus-in-the-daily-life-of-favelas-part-5-mares-response-to-the-challenge-of-public-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=59061","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus in the Daily Life of Favelas, Part 5: Mar\u00e9\u2019s Response to the Challenge of Public Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This article from Mar\u00e9 is the fifth in a <\/i><\/b>series about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on daily life in the favelas<\/i><\/b><\/a>. The series is made possible through a partnership with the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Disinformation and insufficient public policies demonstrate the vulnerability of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas amid the Covid-19 pandemic; local NGOs and communicators have mobilized to help families.<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Reality in the Favelas and the Need for Information<\/b><\/h3>\n

Ever since the Brazilian Ministry of Health<\/a> and the World Health Organization<\/a> (WHO) began issuing recommendations for the entire Brazilian population to shelter at home and respect social isolation so as to prevent the propagation of the new coronavirus<\/a>, residents of favelas and the peripheries found themselves faced with massive challenges. Some of the guidelines failed to take into account the reality of favela and peripheral residents. After all, not all favelas have, for example, a regular supply of water<\/a> to ensure frequent hand-washing<\/span>. Another problem is the issue of crowding, since resident homes are frequently just one or two rooms per family<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to these factors, the scenario in the favelas is one of stark contrast with that of the upper- and middle-class areas of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Whereas in those areas, there is a lower circulation of people, in the favelas of Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a>, in the North Zone<\/a> of the city, movement hasn\u2019t stopped.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many reasons for this. Children want space, and the streets are an extension of their homes<\/a>. Others are forced to continue working. The situation is tough, and in times of fear and solitude we become vulnerable. Technology isn\u2019t a replacement for human contact and chats on street corners,\u201d explains Bira Carvalho<\/a>, a photographer and resident of the Mar\u00e9 favela of Nova Holanda<\/a> for more than 45 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Statements by the Brazilian president<\/a>, Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>, and those of prominent business owners<\/a>, claiming that people could resume their normal routines, in combination with a flurry of fake news, resulted in an increase in the number of residents on the streets. This further complicated efforts to raise awareness of the seriousness of the pandemic. It was thus that the population began to mistrust data released by the WHO<\/a> and the Brazilian Ministry of Health, exacerbating the challenges faced by Mar\u00e9 grassroots communicators<\/a> due to this disinformation<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nIn addition, a number of messages conveyed by commercial media outlets tend towards sensationalism and are not very informative. In other words, it\u2019s not only fake news being circulated at high speeds through WhatsApp groups that needs to be combated, but also this type of content from the mainstream media. Popular communicators and favela residents from Mar\u00e9 realized the enormous challenge they faced and began to contemplate ways to adapt such information to the reality of the favelas.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the latter half of March, Mar\u00e9 communicators launched the virtual campaign \u201cComplexo da Mar\u00e9 Against Coronavirus<\/a>,\u201d calling not only on Mar\u00e9 residents but also on those from other areas to create a communication plan<\/a> that would take local factors into account. Banners, images<\/a>, videos, loudspeaker-equipped cars<\/a>, and signs<\/a> with messages produced and approved by local health professionals have appeared throughout the streets since the last week of March.<\/span><\/p>\n