The “Central Única das Favelas” (CUFA-GO) originated from the “Favela Cup”. It started with a group of friends who gathered to organize the state football championship. Soon after the first championship came the pandemic. CUFA-GO and its president Breno Cardoso sought help from CUFA at the national level. They needed an immediate care service. Thanks to CUFA’s help, several projects resulting from local and national initiatives were implemented in Goiás. Some of these are: “Mothers of the favela”; “Mothers are On” for the distribution of food, personal hygiene and cleaning products; “Press the ESC”. CUFA is working across 28 cities in Goiás, improving the quality of life of people in more than 247 poor communities. With a focus on the favela, we invest in actions that allow us to offer new opportunities to socially disadvantaged people.
“Residencial Buena Vista” is one of the neighborhoods in the suburb that competed in the Favelas Cup in March 2020. The coach of this team introduced me to the president of CUFA-GO. I had done some social work in the neighborhood already. This work got more intense with the pandemic and increased significantly after the invitation extended to me by the president of CUFA to be part of the team. I became the operational / logistics director at Buena Vista.
Even before the pandemic, Buena Vista was already suffering from a lack of infrastructure and social inequality. Many unemployed and unstructured families were going through difficulties and even hunger. They counted on us. When the pandemic started, the difficulties increased because, in addition to lack of food – as people could not buy the basics – there was a lack of hygiene and cleaning products that are crucial to protect ourselves from the virus.
With CUFA we began to expand our visits to the most vulnerable families. We set up a team and started registering these people, helped them with the programs offered by CUFA and gave them food every other week. We also started the distribution of personal hygiene and cleaning products as well as protective masks. We expanded our services from dozens to thousands of families.
The daily routine of many families completely changed with the pandemic. Some were afraid to leave the house and barely let us get close for fear of the disease. They were going through so much difficulty that they were afraid to open their doors so that we could help them. Others who did not care about the pandemic were not afraid of the virus and only began to fear it after the first cases started to appear in their communities. They were concerned about the impact on their financial situation. It was thens when we intensified the work of the institution. We distributed masks, hand sanitizers and approached the population. Today 90% of the population of Buena Vista knows about CUFA and its projects. We have WhatsApp groups to accompany and contact families when they need it. In these groups people tell us about acquaintances or neighbours who are experiencing difficulties so we can visit them, register them and expand our service.
One of the most important changes resulting from the pandemic was the arrival of CUFA in the favela. The pandemic has not only brought a change in physical behavior – where people have isolated themselves and do not touch each other anymore -, it has also brought a sense of collectivity with people helping and caring about each other. It has awakened a feeling of solidarity, which was not very common here.
We also noticed that some people went into depression but found an escape valve by helping others and contributing in some way to the institution. Sometimes, even without a formal academic degree, we play the role of psychologists. We talk to people, we create bonds of trust. Often the people in the favela recognize a piece of misinformation and look at us to answer their questions. We bring confidence and hope to these communities. We are becoming real influencers and opinion makers in the lives of many people. All of this contributes to a higher social responsibility.
