Focolare Movement
Prevention of Abuse
Media Area
Contacts
Brazil – change of strategy against Covid

Brazil – change of strategy against Covid

8 Jul 2020 | Non categorizzato

If, on the one hand, the government shows its inability to lead  Brazilians towards overcoming the crisis, on the other, an impressive humanitarian network is being woven. An in-depth study by the editor-in-chief of Cidade Nova. When I started writing this article  from  March, when the disease arrived in the country, more than 51,000 people had already died in Brazil, victims of Covid-19. In addition, it has been estimated that over 1 million people have already been infected. This is  without considering the cases not officially reported. In cities where circulation has recently been allowed once more,  the number of new cases has increased significantly. Apart from the good news that most of these people have survived this further spread of  coronanvirus, the number of deaths is appalling. For specialists  this disastrous situation can be explained by the position of the Federal Government in the fight against the disease and  also the lack of awareness of many Brazilian citizens about the seriousness of Covid-19.

Foto: Magnificat

Regarding  the behaviour of the population, it seems that many people are convinced of the ease of infection  or even the danger to  life, only when a person close to them is a victim of the disease. Others risk contact in public, even if conscious of the problem, because they cannot find another way to support their family. Not everyone can work from home. In fact, the unemployment rate is rising rapidly and an acute recession tends to be inevitable, as is the collapse of the economy. As for the position of the federal government, President Jair Messias Bolsonaro is daily and harshly criticized for not having acted in favour of the population both to protect it and to safeguard those who are victims of the infection, especially the large mass of the economically most vulnerable population. Contrary to what experts around the world claim, he insists on asking people to come out of social isolation and return to their normal activities, with the justification that all of us “will starve to death if the economy stops”. Given  this position, Bolsonaro criticized the State Governors and Mayors for insisting on social confinement; he attacked the press with the justification that the disclosure of data on the disease is being misrepresented and even encouraged his most radical supporters to invade hospitals to show that there are empty  beds, contrary to reports in the media in general.  The delay in publicising the death toll also seems to reflect this attitude of the President in the fight against social isolation, which has so far been the only safe and recommended practice to prevent coronavirus infection. In addition to the fact that, after losing two doctors who held the post of Health Minister, this ministry, which is crucial in the current context, is temporarily led by Army General Eduardo Pazzuelo, a paratrooper in training and without any knowledge or experience in public or private health. It is worth noting that Brazil has a public health system considered a model by specialists around the world, the SUS (Unified Health System). However, weakened for a long time by a lack of investment and adequate public policies, this system has proved insufficient to serve the population, especially the most needy. The most ardent supporters of the Brazilian President follow Bolsonaro’s ideas, claiming that he was democratically elected (and this must be respected), that the media only indicate what they consider negative about the government (and never show the good he has done) and, worse still, do not present the reality of the facts. In the end, the balance of this clash is that, in fact and once again, it is the Brazilian population in general, especially the poor, who are the losers. In reality, Brazil’s historic social inequality has been exacerbated by the health and economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. A consolation and hope in the face of this complex picture comes from a silent network of anonymous heroes who accept to take risks and do not measure their efforts to help those who most need and suffer as a result of this unprecedented crisis.

Foto: Centro Social Roger Cunha Rodrigues

A Network of Solidarity As soon as the Covid-19 pandemic began, many people, groups and civil and religious institutions in Brazil, as in other regions of the world, rolled up their sleeves and set to work  to help the most vulnerable in this situation: the elderly, the sick, the poor and others. A great network of solidarity has been woven throughout the country, led by anonymous heroes, among whom many have become true martyrs, victims of the illness. This is without counting the work of health professionals and others (such as those working in security, transport, food and medicine traders) who are at the forefront of this fight against coronavirus. These gestures of solidarity can be simple, original and of different proportions: it is worth both shopping for the elderly neighbour and distributing food to people living on the street.  Vidal Nunes, for example, a university professor from the city of Vila Velha (state of Espírito Santo) prepared a large pot of soup and decided to offer it to his neighbours. The initiative impressed one of these people who proposed to form a mutual aid group among the residents of the apartment block.

Foto: Instituto Mundo Unido

The social work organisations have also started to concentrate their efforts to help the people most affected by this crisis. An example of their work is the joint initiative of Obra Lumen and Fazenda da Esperança, to which several other entities have joined, which now receive homeless residents in different regions of Brazil. Other organizations – such as the National Association for the Economy of Communion (Anpecom) – have mobilized associated companies and entrepreneurs and sympathizers to achieve a communion of resources to help poor families. In the Federal District and the city of Goiânia, in the central-western region of the country, a group of people of different ages, linked to the Focolare Movement, organized and launched the Be Light Project, through which they brought material aid and guidance to families in difficulty and also to an indigenous village in the region.  The magazine Cidade Nova found that between the end of March and the end of April this year, according to the calculations of the Brazilian Association for the Acquisition of Resources, 1.1 billion reais (about 165 thousand euros) was  made in donations from banks and companies. Solidarity is not only in terms of material aid. There are also those who have decided to do something  to help their friends to develop a healthy lifestyle during the period of isolation. This is the case of the Physical Education teacher, Renata Castilho Leite, from the city of São José dos Campos (State of São Paulo), who  decided to record more than 40 short videos with guidelines for physical exercise that everyone can do at home.

Foto: Associação de Atendimento a Criança e ao Adolescente

There are still those who agree to take risks or overcome obstacles so as to act in solidarity. One of these examples comes from the director of the public school Cleusa Regina de Vargas Araújo, from the municipality of  Garuva (interior of the state of Santa Catarina, southern region of Brazil). When she realized that many of her students did not have access to the Internet and could not continue their distance learning during the period of social isolation, she had no doubt: she traveled up to 6 kilometers and went from house to house  to deliver materials and school meals. In addition to this gesture of material donation, the headmistress wanted to donate her time and attention to the students and relatives who found in her someone capable of welcoming them. Judging by this and thousands of other experiences, which will not makethe  news, in times of social distancing, this meeting between people has never been so important for a country that needs to change its strategy against coronavirus.

Luís Henrique Marques

Editor-in-chief of Cidade Nova magazine

 

Discovering Gen Rosso

Discovering Gen Rosso

7 Jul 2020 | Non categorizzato

Getting back to the historical roots of this international performing arts group The coronavirus and the ensuing lockdown upended everyone’s routines and schedules. Even the international performing arts group Gen Rosso had to reinvent its days after having to stay locked indoors. “This lockdown has given each of us the chance to go even deeper into those messages that we have been singing for more than 50 years,” says production manager Massimiliano Zanoni. “We’re used to traveling the world, meeting people and bringing music to stages on five continents, but we found ourselves locked inside the four walls of our house. Instead of cities, seas and mountains, we now had a computer and few windows to look out of. And instead of the thousands of people we met on each tour, we now had three, four people living with us. All 25 of us could not work, create and play together as we had done for 53 years. And so, after a first series of live streams called “Gen Rosso a casa tua,” in which they joined people virtually in their home, they thought they would get back to their roots with some historical live shows. The “Discovering Gen Rosso” project started to bring people back into the band’s home. “Many people don’t know that we don’t just do concerts,” Zanoni says, “but projects with schools too. There’s also the “Village,” which are weeks of living together with young artists to give them the experience of unity as they create artistically. “So just as when you invite someone to your house for the first time and, as a sign of welcome, show them around the house, Discovering Gen Rosso is a way to show some pages of our album of memories. This includes the musical Una Storia che Cambia or Streetlight, and helping them participate in our current projects, like the Village and Forti Senza Violenza, as well as revealing some small ideas for the future.” Discovering Gen Rosso is a new step towards that evolution that has allowed the international group to be builders of unity all over the world, over so many years of history. Here what’s next on the schedule, from the band’s YouTube page: On 16 July, there will be live streaming about the Village (artistic performance courses with Gen Rosso). On 28 July, they will launch their new single, “Shock of the World.” (It’s actually much more than a single, since there’s a whole new album in the pipeline that will be unveiled soon.) Finally, on 2 August the live stream series will conclude with their LIFE concert, the latest production by Gen Rosso, live from Loppiano in Italy.

Lorenzo Russo

Lord, give me all the lonely

6 Jul 2020 | Non categorizzato

Every day we hear statistics about the spread of the pandemic in the world and see coverage from the most affected countries. These give rise to feelings similar to those expressed in the following prayer by Chiara Lubich. Even our planet, which is suffering more and more, is calling out for and awaiting our active and determined love.  Lord, give me all the lonely… I have felt in my heart the passion that fills your heart for all the forsakenness in which the whole world is drifting. I love every being that is sick and alone: even – plants in distress cause me pain… even animals left alone. Who consoles their weeping? Who mourns their slow death? And who clasps to their own the heart in despair? Grant me, my God, to be in this world the tangible sacrament of your Love, of your being Love: to be your arms that clasp to themselves and consume in love all the loneliness of the world.

Chiara Lubich

Written on 1st September 1949

Von der Leyen to New Humanity and Politics for Unity Movement of the Focolare

3 Jul 2020 | Non categorizzato

“To achieve the goals of the fathers and mothers who founded a true covenant in which mutual trust becomes a common strength, we must do the right things together and with one big heart, not 27 little hearts”. Thus writes Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in a letter to the international NGO New Humanity and the Politics for Unity Movement. The leaders of the NGO New Humanity and its political section Politics for Unity Movement, civil and political components of the Focolare Movement, had in fact written to the President of the European Commission to encourage joint work in addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the support of ideas and planning also during the preparation phase of the Conference on the Future of Europe. In her response, President Von der Leyen stressed how the EU has ensured the greatest response ever given to a crisis and emergency situation in the Union, with the mobilisation of €3.4 trillion (about €3400 billion). The President also said that “the current change in the geopolitical context offers Europe an opportunity to strengthen its unique role as a responsible global leader” whose success ” in this era of rapid disintegration and growing challenges will depend on adapting to the changing situation while remaining true to Europe’s values and interests”. In fact,  the President underlines in her letter Europe “is the main provider of public development aid, with €5.2 billion in 2019. In its global response to the fight against the pandemic, the EU has also pledged financial support in excess of €15.6 billion to partner countries, to be used  for external action. This includes €3.25 billion to Africa. The EU will also support Asia and the Pacific with €1.22 billion, €918 million to support Latin America and the Caribbean and €111 million to support countries overseas “. Furthermore,  the President of the EU Commission continues, “the European Union and its partners have launched the Coronavirus Global Response, which so far has commitments of €9.8 billion from donors around the world, with the aim of further increasing funding for the development of research, diagnosis, treatment and vaccines against  Coronavirus”. President Ursula Von der Leyen’s letter to New Humanity and Politics for Unity Movement concludes with an invitation to mutual trust between the countries of the European Union and to be one big heart.

Stefania Tanesini

Peru – God doesn’t miss a thing

Peru – God doesn’t miss a thing

3 Jul 2020 | Non categorizzato

A first hand account from Ofelia, who herself emigrated from Venezuela to Peru with her family and now works with the Focolare community to help her fellow-Venezuelians who are suffering even more since the pandemic. As members of the Focolare Movement, we have been running a solidarity program supporting Venezuelans in Peru for some time. The pandemic has forced us to seek new strategies to reach them where they are staying. What we discover is that more than anything else, they need someone to listen to them. It’s not always easy because we’re not talking about one or two families, but many and the number is increasing every day. The monthly Word of Life always helps me because it encourages me to go out to my neighbours and recognize that I’m meeting Jesus in each one of them. One morning a Venezuelan mother called me in tears about her daughter who was due to give birth in the next few days but was being threatened with eviction. I listened to her for at least an hour until she began to calm down. Whenever I felt like saying something, I reflected, “The only thing I need to do here is to love her, and she needs to talk this through”. Eventually she said to me, “Good, I’ve really unburdened myself”. That was the point at which I could tell her where to find the help she needed. Initially, I thought that during quarantine, our work with the migrant community would slow down. But in fact it’s been exactly the opposite! For example, the work we carry ahead with CIREMI (The Inter-Religious Commission for Migrants and Refugees) keeps us very busy and has been a way to get to know each other better. The Commission members include some Scalabrini fathers, Christians from various Churches, the Jewish community, some Muslims, a Catholic reverend sister and a group from the Focolare Movement. As we were considering how best to reach the most vulnerable, we began to receive requests for clothing and blankets. Because of lockdown restrictions, we arranged for a taxi to transport the clothes we had collected from the local Focolare community to a place in Lima city where they could be collected. And some baby clothes arrived just in time for two families with new-born babies. We regularly work in collaboration with the United Nations Agency for Refugees and they provided us with a supply of blankets which meant we could meet the needs of even more people. It’s amazing to see how often we receive just what our people in need are asking us for. God doesn’t miss a thing! One day I received a phone call from Carolina, a Jewish Community leader. She told me some of their families were transferring to Israel, and so had clothes and other items they’d be leaving behind. She was so happy when she heard we were collecting such things to benefit the Venezuelan community that she herself paid the taxi expenses to transport them over to us. During this telephone conversation, we also asked about each other’s families, and it called to mind a phrase from the Word of Life: “It’s friendship – which can become a network of positive relationships and helps to bring the commandment of mutual love to life – that builds true fraternity”. The exchange with this my Jewish sister showed me the truth of this. It’s wonderful to see how contagious fraternity is. The people who received clothes and blankets from us, in turn sent us photos and one of them wrote, “My next door neighbour was in need of clothing, so I shared what you sent with her”. A chain of remembering the needs of others has been forged. In this way fraternity finds a way of growing – even during quarantine!

by Ofelia M. as told to Gustavo Clariá

 

Why I didn’t want euthanasia…

1 Jul 2020 | Non categorizzato

A diagnosis that left no hope and a mother who courageously chose to say “no” to euthanasia. But how could she explain this decision to her daughter who was only two and a half years old? During the last days of her life, she wrote a letter that her daughter could read when she grew up. This mother is no longer with us but her family who found help in the spirituality of the Focolare Movement throughout this experience, has allowed the publication of her words. They offer them as testimony and food for thought on a complex, painful and very topical issue. My darling, I haven’t written in a while. A lot has happened recently and, unfortunately, the situation is not good at all. My health has deteriorated in just one month. I was waiting for some results but the pain worsened very quickly. I was hospitalized for three weeks and then I completely lost the use of my legs. It is very hard to write this letter to you. I want to talk about euthanasia and that is a difficult topic. I want to leave this for you for when you are grown up and maybe you’ll think about death and ask yourself questions about dying. Next week I’ll have one last chemo treatment even though it doesn’t seem to be helping now and maybe I will have an operation that should enable me to eat because I can’t do that anymore. If this surgery doesn’t work, there’s not much more to do. The options are how and where to die. In short, I have decided that I want to die at home. I won’t go into all the painful details, but it’s where I feel most comfortable. Dad will explain everything else when you’re older. I’ll keep to the point – I want to tell you why I have decided not to die through euthanasia. I have been thinking a lot but in the end I have decided that I will ask God to accompany me on this journey and, if it means facing death, then that is the way it is – there are no shortcuts and this is no time for cowardice. I am convinced that God teaches us something in that moment of passage and that we must face it just as we face the passage of birth. I am writing to you because I wonder if you will ever think about these things and since I have spent so much time analysing everything from different points of view, maybe one of my ideas could help you. Everything started with me thinking that if death is imminent, why should we wait so long for it? If there is no hope of recovery, why should we let human beings suffer and leave them to a game where there is no one to join in with them? I have learned that it’s because this is a process – a preparatory process – and without it we would not be able to take the next step and go where it will take us. We should let God guide us because he knows everything. Lately, I have been thinking about those people who have not been able to take this step in the right way. To me it seems as if they were lost in limbo, between our earthly existence and the afterlife, unable to move forward towards heaven or return to earth, to their loved ones. So I finally realized the road to euthanasia isn’t for me. I am afraid to die in pain and I pray to God to be merciful and forgiving when the time comes. Hopefully, he’ll take me away, freeing me from pain and from my body. And this is the part that concerns me, the part that I alone will have to face. This is where I find myself today my love: the path ahead is difficult. And yet, I have the support of so many people who help me and my family. I receive lots of spiritual help from a priest friend but there are still moments of fear and dismay – although, I must say, there are not as many as I thought there would be. I feel supported by a strength without knowing where it comes from. I see clearly that my days are ending – nonetheless, I don’t feel downhearted. It is not easy, obviously, but fear is not part of my day.”

Edited by Anna Lisa Innocenti