Who are the carers? What do they do, how, and why? What creates the experience of care? And if there were no caring, what would there be? Circular—Carers of the World was born out of questions like these. It is a programme that celebrates and values caring in different areas of social, environmental, and cultural life, based on listening to those who care.
The programme began in March 2024 with a study of 30 care initiatives in the city of Rio de Janeiro and Greater Rio. Through these interviews, we sought to broaden the care understanding and offer a plural vision of the topic, stimulating reflection and sharing. The result is systematised here, in a bilingual digital publication (Portuguese/English) in a simple and accessible language.
This study, carried out by Marina Vieira, Maria José Gouvea, and Raquel Diniz, is the starting point for making visible, strengthening, and enhancing an effective network of carers. Thus helping to face together the challenges of surviving in the 21st century.
Caregivers
He knows no other life than immersed in the Folia de Reis Penitentes, in Santa Marta, the favela where he was born and raised, in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro. Ronaldo received the master’s legacy from his brother. And he feels like a guardian of this family tradition, passing on the teachings to the next generations of his family and neighbors, with responsibility and respect for the memory and culture of the community.
Marcos and Raquel are resilient volunteers who organize activities and donations for the residents of the Comunidade do Fim do Mundo, in Rio de Janeiro. They fight for food security for the families who live there. The service space they built to serve children and young people and provide books and toys has been destroyed three times and rebuilt with resilience, because they believe that the culture of care is transformative.
Andrea is Rafa’s mother. From the loneliness of a mother of an atypical child with a rare disease called Angelman Syndrome, she found a connection with other atypical mothers and, from a WhatsApp group, created Juntos. A support network with 300 registered families that reports, raises awareness and mobilizes society.
Eliene fights against decarceration. She is a member of movements of mothers who, like her, had their children abused by the State. A fight that was once personal has gained collective scope, due to the number of women who are going through the same situation throughout Brazil and who have joined together in networks, such as the Rede Nacional de Mães e Familiares Vítimas de Terrorismo do Estado (National Network of Mothers and Family Members Victims of State Terrorism).
Flávia began to gather people in jongo circles on the roof of her grandmother’s house in Méier, reviving an old family tradition. She founded the Afrolaje Group in 2011 with the aim of caring for the ancestral heritage of Afro-Brazilian cultural expressions and developed a body dynamics methodology, MOVIMENCURE, to support the healing process of people with mental illnesses.
Since he was four years old, Fleury dreamed of becoming a doctor. He also wanted to gain experience outside of Togo, his home country. He combined both desires and came to study Medicine at UFRJ. He reinterpreted his blackness and brought the racial perspective into his clinical medical practice, specializing in the health of the black population.
Joyce fulfilled her family’s dream, as they had not yet managed to get a higher education. She started in Literature and finished with a Librarianship degree. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a major revolution began in her life and she began to participate in activities at PretaLab, where she is now the manager of technology training courses for black and indigenous women.
Itamara inherited the legacy of wisdom as a prayer woman and an entire terreiro to care for as a Mãe de Santo. Her grandmother was a famous prayer woman in Nova Iguaçu. She comes from a matriarchal family, very close-knit, especially to be able to face the violence against the terreiros of Baixada Fluminense. Her terreiro Candomblé Angola Casa do Bengue Ngola Djanga Ria Mutakalambo was founded in 1964, and it is there that she prays for anyone who needs to be cared for and embraced.
As a child, Adilson Almeida would wander through the forest with his grandmother, a healer, in search of herbs. He was born and raised in Quilombo Camorim, in Jacarepaguá (RJ), and today he is the guardian of this land and of the quilombola families, responsible for defending their rights and the ancestral culture of the Bantu people who have settled there since 1614. He is also a griot, and ensures that the community resists threats of violence against the black population.
The great-grandson of a herbalist and grandson of a prayer healer, Geraldo Bastos became an herbalist, master in Psychosociology of Community and Social Ecology and PhD from UFRJ, researcher at LABMENS – Laboratory of Memories, Territories and Occupations, where he researches prayer healers and the violence they face in Baixada Fluminense. Through his studies, he is a caregiver of spirituality, the immaterial and the enchanted.
A resident of the Favela Nova Holanda, Lorena grew up loving her territory. She became an environmental educator and, with the commitment to share information about the reality of the favela, created Faveleira, a digital project that produces quality information about the environment and quality of life. She intends to expand Faveleira’s actions, conducting research to provide data that contributes to public actions and policies in the Maré territory.
At the age of 15, she became a domestic maid, a profession she held for decades. Until an incident involving a relative who had been a victim of police violence and had been missing for some time, she became aware of the fight for human rights through a support network for mothers and family members who were victims of violence in Baixada Fluminense – a network of powerful women working in the areas of health and agroecology, giving rise to Quintais Produtivos (Productive Backyards).
She created MANNS [Loving Women Need to Navigate Dreams], a community library in Duque de Caxias – where she has always lived –, which bears the initials of the names of important women in her life. The library is part of a community center [CHOCOBIM] where cultural activities for children and young people take place. In this space, diversity is welcome: religious, gender, and people with disabilities.
Luciana is a spiritual leader who practices Christian religion the way she believes: without prejudice. An activist for human rights and social justice, her inspirations include Martin Luther King, Bel Hooks and Black Luther. She wants to expand spiritual care by inspiring new communities.
Gilza was a domestic maid until she decided to seek new paths and took a course on the Solidarity Economy. She fell in love with the subject and the possibility of having a new life as an artisan, which led her to become an active organizer for women in her community. She is fighting for public policies that guarantee a better quality of life in her region: Japeri (RJ).
Bia has lived in settlements since she was 3 years old. She was educated there. An activist for agroecology and food security, she fights for healthy food for everyone. Today she lives in the Terra Prometida settlement, Xerém. Shirley arrived at the settlement in 2018 and this decision brought a new perspective on life, which she, like Bia, fully embraced: caring for nature, “caring for the fullness of life”, based on ancestral knowledge.
Of Tupinambá origin, Anápuàka was born and spent part of his childhood in the Nova Divinéia Favela (SP). At the age of 9, he went to live in his parents’ village to be initiated into the culture of his people. At the age of 12, he went to live with his mother in Santa Cruz (RJ). He created Rádio Yandê and the concept of Indigenous Ethnomedia, based on the cultural process of indigenous peoples, their languages, cultural appropriation and the construction of reflective thinking about indigenous communication.
This perfect trio supports Casa Dulce Seixas, the first LGBTQIAPN+ shelter in Baixada Fluminense, offering a home to people who are homeless, or who are living in social vulnerability and/or food insecurity. They founded Casa Dulce and today they are at the forefront of the public policy of shelter and care for LGBTQIAPN+ in Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, working to guarantee the right to life of this population.
They are a couple of teachers. Flávio teaches Geography and Massari teaches Physical Education. Together, they founded the Casa do Artista Independente, which offers a cultural hub and a film club open to the community, in the Rio neighborhood of Vista Alegre. Passionate about suburban culture, they share the responsibility of caring for the intangible art of the outskirts, rescuing memories and celebrating the lives of independent artists.
A psychologist and public health specialist, Ariadne is the general coordinator and co-founder of the Loucura Suburbana Street Carnival, which parades through the streets of the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Engenho de Dentro. It was created in 2001, during the process of deconstructing the asylum model of the Nise da Silveira Municipal Institute. Ariadne and her team ensure that culture is incorporated into mental health services and that each user has a voice, freedom and autonomy.
Ana Olívia, a Portuguese woman, was living in Spain when she decided to come to Brazil to teach Spanish in a social project in Rio de Janeiro. In 2015, she created the Yoga na Maré Institute, in the Maré Favela Complex, with the aim of promoting a culture of peace and offering Yoga and Ayurveda practices to residents. Her knowledge is integrated with other local knowledge, such as that of herbalists, doulas and massage therapists, and with the collective work of caring for people.
Nurse, professor, doctor and specialist in palliative care, in 2019 he created the Favela Compassiva project in the favelas of Rocinha and Vidigal, in Rio de Janeiro, to assist patients who are experiencing life-threatening illnesses. The work is done in partnership with the favela, which is mobilized, trained and supported by multidisciplinary teams, becoming caregivers for people who need, above all, active listening and compassion.
Magé was the city chosen by Lucimar to create the Fighting for Life project, which offers sports workshops and other activities for children and teenagers. To supplement her income, she became an artisanal fisherman and became a local leader in the fishing community. The association has more than 360 members, including 60 women fishermen and shellfish gatherers, who work towards a more responsible fishing production chain.
She is a writer, socio-environmental educator and founder of the Genesis Center for Socio-Environmental Education. It was by recovering, planting and caring for a “fragment of the Atlantic Forest” in the Água Mineral neighborhood of São Gonçalo that Lourdes Brazil managed to create an island of freshness within the city of Rio de Janeiro. Known as the guardian of the Atlantic Forest, she also has a PhD in Social Ecology and a master’s degree and an economics degree from UFF.
Adelina da Silva D’oria earned the nickname Jurema when she was still a child. The daughter of indigenous parents, she lives in the same place where she was born and raised, in the countryside of Japeri, in Rio de Janeiro. Since she was a child, cassava has been her sustenance. And from it, she makes mayonnaise, ice cream, pastries, pies, juices, kibbeh and coconut sweets. Jurema proudly says that she is an educator who promotes the complete reuse of food in her recipes.
She belongs to a “family of women”, a true matriarchy, where everyone takes care of each other. After working in a clinic and noticing the treatment that pregnant women received, she decided to train as a Doula. And inspired by her good family experiences, she created Espaço Gaia, a civil society organization that welcomes, supports, informs and accompanies pregnant women, with a comprehensive view of women’s health.
A nurse who has worked for 44 years in the Unified Health System (SUS), she understands that health should be treated in a comprehensive and intersecting manner, thinking about the well-being of the population of Rocinha. From this perspective, Maria Helena gets involved in initiatives that seek to propose solutions for garbage, roads, housing, the preservation of the Tijuca Forest, animal care, culture and leisure in the community.
He has been from Vidigal ever since he was a kid, in Rio de Janeiro, and from the cultural group Nós do Morro. A Capoeira teacher, Ninho is an articulator of projects and dialogues on public policies related to culture, health, education and sports that can benefit the population of his territory. He was elected as a Guardian Councilor by the community, and is also a community tourism guide.
As a religious leader, Mother Flávia seeks to care for her community, combating hunger and religious intolerance. For the Mãe de Santo (priestess of the Afro-Brazilian religions) of Casa do Perdão, in Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, the act of caring goes beyond religion. It is a philosophy of life. We must take care of ourselves in order to care for others, after all, caring is love.
He grew up participating in groups of young Catholics, young workers and student movements for rights and better living conditions. He studied Geography at UFF and is currently studying for a master’s degree in Collective Memory at Unirio. A resident of Rocinha, he is the co-founder and co-ordinator of the Sankofa Museum – Memory and History of the Rocinha Favela. For Firmino, if we want to build the present and the future, we must always be aware of the past.
A lesson from people who believe in the collective:
This e-book has been produced by the Federal Government, the Ministry of Culture, the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the State Secretariat for Culture and Creative Economy, through the Paulo Gustavo Law, and Mil e Uma Imagens Comunicação. In it, we present the stories of 30 carers who show new ways of being and caring for themselves, caring for others and the world. 30 people with different profiles, activities and locations. All of them were interviewed, and 10 of them were chosen to testify on video, most of them in the area where they live and work. Meet the protagonists of these inspiring stories.
This is a PDF file with audio description, so that visually impaired people can access not only the original text of the publication, but also the content of each image. To this end, the audio description of each image has been embedded in the PDF code to allow identification by the reading and screen magnification software used by this audience.
Download the press kit, and to talk about topics, contact the Galo agency.
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