The lack amid abundance

by Laryssa Souza Alvarenga (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find Brazil

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It was May 2016. The university always organized an expedition to the State of the Amazon. And I, as a student of environmental engineering and crazy about adventures, cannot miss this opportunity. I just didn't expect that the reality would be totally different from ours. As I said, we go on this adventure. When we arrived, a warm welcome: the thermometer read 37 ° C (or 98.6 ° F). The city is beautiful, with historic monuments, as well as luxurious neighborhoods with expensive hotels to accommodate tourists visiting a city. We had the opportunity to visit the Museum of the Amazon (MUSA), which is part of the forest that is on the outskirts of the city. The museum is rich in species of fauna and flora and is used for research by biologists. However, there are also very needy places, mainly for attention. On the second day of the city, we started an expedition mission: visiting a riverside community on Lago do Catalão for dental care by dentistry students and inspection by engineering students. After 40 minutes of boat trip, passing by the Meeting of Waters (Rio Negro and Solimões), we arrived at Escola Nossa Senhora Aparecida. The school serves 133 students, including children, adolescents and young people. There would be the meeting point for dental care in the community. We started the inspection by the school. We were faced with an insane situation: the school did not have access to drinking water. Worse, the community did not have access to drinking water! As a community, located in the city that has the largest hydrographic basin in the world, in the middle of the most important forest on Earth and does not have access to decent sanitation? What shocked us most was the fact that in Brazil, in the face of so much wealth, there are still people who live in this situation. Yes! There is no basics: drinking water, sewage treatment and garbage collection. The water they consumed came from the river on which they resided. It is in that same river where waste and sewage were discarded. How could they live in that situation? How could we help them? Then the idea came up: why not develop something that can at least disinfect the water they use. After a few days installed at the site collecting information for the project, we returned to our city, Vitória / ES. At the university we developed a filter with a UV lamp used to disinfect microorganisms, such as faecal coliforms, present in water contaminated with faeces. The intention was to install the filter at the school, where access was greater and had a large part of the risk group: children. The following year we took over the community to install the filter. We were received with great affection by the community. It was a great honor to be able to participate in this project together with the entire team. Being able to take what we learn at the university and contribute to the well-being of the community.