{"id":44849,"date":"2020-08-27T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=44849"},"modified":"2021-12-01T13:48:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:48:21","slug":"indigenous-women-produce-masks-covid19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/44849\/indigenous-women-produce-masks-covid19\/","title":{"rendered":"Life-defending women: From handicrafts to protective masks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The original version of this story was published in Portuguese on July 17 by Greenpeace Brazil<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Since COVID-19 arrived in S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira, AM, Brazil<\/a>, many Indigenous leaders have been working to keep the situation from worsening <\/a>and bringing devastating consequences for the 23 Indigenous Peoples of the region.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Among the people who put their daily lives aside to help save the lives of others are Eliz\u00e2ngela da Silva (of the Bar\u00e9 People) and Janete Alves (of the Desana People). They are both coordinators of the Women\u2019s Department<\/a> of the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Rio Negro (FOIRN). The two are leading an initiative in which women who were previously dedicated to handicrafts such as bags, earrings and necklaces began to produce the newest essentials for the pandemic: protective masks.<\/p>\n\n

\"Women \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-44851″\/>
Women are producing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among Indigenous Peoples in S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, Brazil
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cWe saw on television that everyone wore a mask to prevent [the disease], and we were concerned with how to fight to avoid catching this virus here,\u201d said Janete. \u201cWe ran a women\u2019s campaign that started to collect hygiene kits, and as the days went by, it evolved,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n

To kick off production, they first identified the artisans who knew how to sew and asked them to join the project. Then, they used fabric masks they had received from women of the Sater\u00e9-Maw\u00e9 Indigenous People<\/a> as a pattern. Later, they found tutorials for different types of masks on the internet.  To date, approximately 16,000 masks have been produced and delivered to every Indigenous territory in the region.<\/p>\n\n

At Eliz\u00e2ngela\u2019s house, on the edge of the city, sewing machines shared a spot with the handicrafts they used to produce. A woven-straw hand sanitizer holder is found hanging on the wall, a symbol of the \u201cnew normal\u201d in the times of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n

Seventy-two-year-old Maria Martins (Baniwa people) was one of the artisans called to work for the cause. Eliz\u00e2ngela\u2019s aunt said that although she never imagined she\u2019d need to wear a mask, she was happy to participate. Seeing the young women join in solidarity was another reason for her to beam with pride.<\/p>\n\n

The funds to make the masks were raised from donations from the \u201cRio Negro, N\u00f3s Cuidamos<\/em><\/a> (We Care)\u201d Project, coordinated by Eliz\u00e2ngela and Janete, and with guidance from Instituto Socioambiental<\/a> <\/strong>(ISA)<\/a>. Greenpeace Brazil brought sewing machines to them via the Wings of Emergency Project<\/a>, which has been transporting emergency aid items to different regions of the Amazon during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Knowledge and wisdom at life\u2019s service\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n

The satisfaction of being able to help thrills Eliz\u00e2ngela and Janete. However, fear of getting sick persists. Both have three children and each live with the worry of bringing the virus home. Both have family members who have already been infected. Thankfully, all of their family members have recovered from the virus.  They say that \u201chomemade medicines\u201d, including teas prepared with traditional medicinal herbs have been essential for caring for the sick in their communities.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI worry most about losing our relatives, not only from within my region but the entire Rio Negro,\u201d says Janete, whose youngest daughter is ten months old. \u201cWe lost several leaders, and they were our living books, they told of history, and that history is a blessing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div>. \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace” alt=”Janete Alves, from the Desana people, accompanied a Greenpeace flight to deliver the masks and hygiene and protection supplies to the Upper Rio Negro community
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-44856″\/>
Janete Alves, from the Desana people, accompanied a Greenpeace flight to deliver the masks and hygiene and protection supplies to the Upper Rio Negro community
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

While delivering food to a family, she came across the service of a well-known Indigenous man who had been taken to the capital for treatment. \u201cHe died in Manaus (capital of the state of Amazonas, Brazil), and we couldn\u2019t even pay our respects over his body because he was cremated in Manaus. We were deeply saddened. Our relative went away and came back as ashes in a box. This is so unreal for us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n

Despite all the loss, they continue their work, courageously and confidently. \u201cWe are warriors and very hard workers. Despite everything that is happening, we are fighting to save lives. We will not give up,\u201d said Eliz\u00e2ngela.<\/p>\n\n

Janete agrees, \u201cWe hope to use our knowledge and wisdom, to value our culture. Losing our relatives hurts and not getting to say goodbye to them makes it even worse. We are fighting so it does not happen anymore,\u201d she said while drying her tears.<\/p>\n\n

Luana Lila is the Head of Storytelling at Greenpeace Brazil.<\/em><\/p>\n

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In S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira, a town in the state of Amazonas, Indigenous People switch from making handicrafts to producing masks for the Peoples of the Upper Rio Negro region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":44851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"Covid-19 Response","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[91],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-44849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-and-economic-systems","tag-health","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44849"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51128,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44849\/revisions\/51128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44849"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=44849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}