Orinoco Project presents exhibition on promoting access to water and basic sanitation

Credit: Carla Machado / Disclosure

By: Gabriel Murga – Lupa do Bem / Favela em Pauta

The exhibition that follows in digital format is the result of a series of activities promoted by Cáritas Brasileira in five states, through the Orinoco project. The Orinoco: Waters that Cross Borders project develops actions in five states, promoting access to water, sanitation and hygiene.

Also, the project works to promote social rights in Brazil, seeking to promote access to migratory regularization, health services, education and social assistance, as well as monitoring serious cases of violation of rights.

The project holds an exhibition with photos and stories, in the cities of Boa Vista (Roraima), Rio Branco (Acre), Porto Velho (Rondônia) and Teresina (Piauí), locations where the Orinoco project is present.

The exhibition brings a series of stories, such as that of Yumille Gonzales Mendonza, who now lives in Piauí. The hands that carried gallons of water, in search of drinking water, are the same in the craft craft and in the transfer of their culture to children. Songs are also taught and, from childhood memories, playing in the river and in the mud are latent memories.

The exhibition is the result of a series of moments with migrant women, linked to the theme of gender and relationship with water, which aimed to encourage participants to recognize themselves as subjects of rights to promote other women.

In Roraima, for example, the exhibition is the result of the construction of a river of stories. The women, who were in Boa Vista, shared their experiences and were later recorded.

How to follow and support

The Orinoco: Waters Across Borders project is an action of the Caritas network and has funding from the Office of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) of the United States Department of State.

In three years of operation, the project has already benefited more than 17,000 migrants in Roraima. In the state, Cáritas Brasileira built WASH facilities, spaces for welcoming and promoting access to water, sanitation and hygiene to serve the homeless population, in addition to being present and promoting improvements in spontaneous occupations and in indigenous territory.

In 2022, the project advanced to four more states: Acre, Pará, Piauí and Rondônia, with the prospect of strengthening the reception of the migrant population present in the north and northeast of the country. To know and support visit and follow on social media.