Live
play
  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Coronavirus
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
  • More
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Climate
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts

In Pictures

Gallery

In Pictures: COVID-19 hits Brazil’s quilombos hard

Founded by runaway slaves, these poor communities are reeling under the coronavirus pandemic.

Rosane Da Franca sews protective face masks at her home at the Maria Joaquina quilombo in Cabo Frio, on the outskirts of Rio de Janiero. Rosane is part of a project to make masks and donate them to the residents of the quilombos amid the new coronavirus pandemic. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Rosane Da Franca sews protective face masks at her home at the Maria Joaquina quilombo in Cabo Frio, on the outskirts of Rio de Janiero. Rosane is part of a project to make masks and donate them to the residents of the quilombos amid the new coronavirus pandemic. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
21 Jul 2020
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

In a small room filled with donated bananas, lettuce, toilet paper and more, Rejane Oliveira quickly prepares boxes for more than 100 families who are trying to weather the coronavirus outbreak.

Her community, Maria Joaquina in coastal Rio de Janeiro state, is one of Brazil’s quilombos, settlements founded by runaway slaves in centuries past and still largely inhabited by their descendants. Often disconnected from urban life, even within city limits, quilombos have relatively high poverty rates.

Quilombolas tend to avoid going into the city, but in spite of their relative isolation, they have begun to succumb to the coronavirus all the same.

Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, after which the Quilombola campaigned for more than a century to gain recognition of their right to the lands they occupied. Lands where their descendants live and try to keep their ancestors’ traditions alive.

Among the traditions that Oliveira credits with keeping the community healthy are the variety of traditional teas made from the leaves of fruit trees, garlic or a herb called boldo.

“Everyone uses the herbs, even the kids,” she said. “If we hadn’t preserved the little bit of herbs we had, we would have died.”

In July, Maria Joaquina’s residents traditionally commemorate the formal recognition of their quilombo, but the pandemic has forced people to quarantine in their homes. A dance show and football tournament planned for this month were also cancelled.

To facilitate government aid, Brazil’s national statistics agency in April released its estimate of how many quilombos exist nationwide – almost 6,000 – as well as their locations.

The number of people living in them remains uncertain. The agency planned to count them for the first time in the 2020 census, but the pandemic forced its postponement until next year.

While the population of the quilombos remains untallied, the National Coordination of Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities (CONAQ) is tracking the pandemic’s impact on them in conjunction with the Socio-environmental Institute, an environmental and Indigenous advocacy group. Their data shows 3,465 infections and 136 deaths.

More than 30 people in Maria Joaquina have been infected, Oliveira among them.

“We’ve been abandoned, forgotten, with no health assistance,” said Oliveira, 45, who is Rio’s representative to CONAQ.

At the nearby Rasa quilombo, community members have received not only private donations but also help from the government.

“A health team came, tested everyone; we had assistance,” said Reginalda Oliveira, who is Rejane’s cousin and lives in Rasa.

Reginalda, 41, said the health response was fine, but what truly affected her about the pandemic was the death of her mother of COVID-19.

“A part of me went with her,” she said.

Residents of the Maria Joaquina quilombo wait for the distribution of kits of donated food, cleaning products and protective face masks. Brazil's quilombos are settlements established by runaway slaves and still inhabited by their descendants. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Residents of the Maria Joaquina quilombo wait for the distribution of kits of donated food, cleaning products and protective face masks. Brazil's quilombos are settlements established by runaway slaves and still inhabited by their descendants. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Advertisement
Often disconnected from urban life, even when within city limits, quilombos tend to be poorer than other neighbourhoods. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Often disconnected from urban life, even when within city limits, quilombos tend to be poorer than other neighbourhoods. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
The number of people who live in quilombos remains uncertain. Authorities planned to count them for the first time in the 2020 census, but the pandemic forced its delay until next year. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
The number of people who live in quilombos remains uncertain. Authorities planned to count them for the first time in the 2020 census, but the pandemic forced its delay until next year. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Fisherman Miguel Conceicao de Oliveira, right, 71, who recovered from COVID-19, talks with a friend at the Rasa quilombo in Buzios. Miguel's 78-year-old sister, Carivaldina Oliveira da Costa, also known as Aunt Uia, died from the disease. Both Miguel and Aunt Uia are the grandchildren of a former slave and who led runaway slaves. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Fisherman Miguel Conceicao de Oliveira, right, 71, who recovered from COVID-19, talks with a friend at the Rasa quilombo in Buzios. Miguel's 78-year-old sister, Carivaldina Oliveira da Costa, also known as Aunt Uia, died from the disease. Both Miguel and Aunt Uia are the grandchildren of a former slave and who led runaway slaves. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Brazil was the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery, in 1888. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Brazil was the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery, in 1888. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Eva Maria de Jesus, affectionately known as Avo Eva (Grandmother Eva), 110, looks from her home's window in the Rasa quilombo. Despite being alert and active and still able to remember the songs and dances she learned from her parents who were once slaves, she still has not been told about her 78-year-old daughter Carivaldina Oliveira da Costa's death from COVID-19. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Eva Maria de Jesus, affectionately known as Avo Eva (Grandmother Eva), 110, looks from her home's window in the Rasa quilombo. Despite being alert and active and still able to remember the songs and dances she learned from her parents who were once slaves, she still has not been told about her 78-year-old daughter Carivaldina Oliveira da Costa's death from COVID-19. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Advertisement
A boy leans on an empty kiosk at Maria Joaquina quilombo in Cabo Frio, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. More than 100 families in the community are trying to weather the coronavirus outbreak. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
A boy leans on an empty kiosk at Maria Joaquina quilombo in Cabo Frio, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. More than 100 families in the community are trying to weather the coronavirus outbreak. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Sara Pompeu da Silva, left, and Ludmika Pompeu live in Maria Joaquina quilomb. While the population of Brazil's quilombos remains untallied, CONAQ is tracking the pandemic's impact on them in conjunction with the Socio-environmental Institute. Their data show 3,465 infections and 136 deaths. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
Sara Pompeu da Silva, left, and Ludmika Pompeu live in Maria Joaquina quilomb. While the population of Brazil's quilombos remains untallied, CONAQ is tracking the pandemic's impact on them in conjunction with the Socio-environmental Institute. Their data show 3,465 infections and 136 deaths. [Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]

More from Gallery

In Pictures: A year on, justice eludes victims of Delhi violence

In this February 28, 2020, photo, a man gestures as a senior Delhi police officer speaks to a group of Muslims ahead of Friday prayers near a heavily-policed fire-bombed mosque in New Delhi. [Altaf Qadri/AP Photo]

In Pictures: Ecuador prison riots leave dozens dead

Soldiers stand guard outside the CRS Turi prison in Cuenca. [Fernando Machado/AFP]

In Pictures: Ecuador Indigenous people march against ‘vote fraud’

An Indigenous supporter of Ecuadorean presidential candidate for the Pachakutik movement, Yaku Perez, takes part in a march towards the National Electoral Council in Quito. [Rodrigo Buendia/AFP]

In Pictures: US pandemic toll – one year, half a million lives

A victim is taken on a stretcher into the United Memorial Medical Center after going through COVID testing on March 19, 2020, in Houston, Texas, as the disease began spreading throughout the US. [David J Phillip/AP]
Most Read

‘Hold MBS accountable’: World reacts to US Khashoggi report

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a columnist for the Washington Post newspaper who had been critical of the Saudi government [File: Omar Shagaleh/Anadolu]

Archeologists unearth intact ancient Roman chariot near Pompeii

The chariot's first iron element emerged on January 7 from the blanket of volcanic material filling the two-storey portico [Handout/AFP]

LeBron James hits back at Zlatan in athlete activism spat

James has been a force for social change in the US, focusing much of his attention on police brutality and racial injustice [File: Phil Long/AP Photo]

Pro-Trump Republicans dominate conservative conference

People take a picture with a gold statue of former US President Donald Trump's statue on display at the Conservative Political Action Conference [Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP]
  • About
    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Apps
    • Newsletters
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
  • Our Channels
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
  • Our Network
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners
Follow Al Jazeera English:rssinstagramyoutubetwitterfacebook
logo
© 2021 Al Jazeera Media Network