From March 13 to 16, Tuesday to Friday
The missionaries of Fraternidade – International Humanitarian Federation (FFHI) arrived in the House of Passage (name of the shelter in Pacaraima) and had information of several situations of conflict that occurred in the night of March 14, Wednesday.
Therefore, before the distribution of foods, there was a great assembly, which lasted for about three hours. Many topics were touched upon: the constant fights, the exaggerated use of alcoholic drinks, the diseases, the internal rules of the shelter, and, especially, the need for the immigrants to know the Brazilian laws.
Examples of incidents
Incidents of several kinds happened. For example: On March 13 (Tuesday), some drunk persons from the shelter were invited to leave the House of Passage, complying with the internal rules of the shelter. These people have psychological supervision, but the majority resorts to drinks, especially when some news of family members arrive from Venezuela. Some manage to return to Venezuela to be with their families, but the greatest part cannot afford to travel.
Hygiene in the House of Passage
A general cleaning in the internal part of the House of Passage was done due to the outbreak of measles and of chickenpox. The work was very intense, because many people were in the internal part of the shelter and all objects were removed so that the area could be washed in a very deep way.
The outbreak of measles and of chickenpox also aggravates because the children are malnourished and dehydrated. The food shortage affects the nutrition of the children. In addition, the little ones eat with dirty hands, and, as the nails retains a lot of dirt, a missionary guided the nail-trimming of the children.
Visits to the shelter
There was a visit of a delegation of the Special Secretary of Indigenous Health (Sesai) to inform people about a training for communitarian leaders of health. The leaders would act inside the House of Passage with little family groups to facilitate the detection of health situations and thus take the necessary initiatives.
