Following severe weather devastating SOS Children’s Villages’ operations in the southern region of Brazil, Alberto Guimarães, National Director for SOS Children’s Villages Brazil provides an update on the current situation and the ongoing relief efforts.
Q: Where are the children and families of SOS CV Porto Alegre now and how they are doing?
The 42 children and 6 adults who were under our care when the floodwaters began to invade the children’s village, were transferred as a precaution on the day before the flood and are now in the shelter of a religious association, a partner of the organisation, receiving all the care and support from the local teams.
Q: How are staff trying to support the children in our care?
There is constant support from the care team. The care practitioners (family-like caregivers) talk to the children, play games and explain everything that has happened.
Q: What is the extent of the damage of the children’s village and the surrounding community?
We were only able to get into our houses on 15 May, 10 days after the flood, and the water still hasn’t receded. Throughout the building the water is 1.5 metres high. It’s not possible to estimate the extent of the damage yet, but it’s likely that practically all the furniture and appliances in the 12 houses, including the children’s beds, will be ruined.
In addition, we suffered administrative losses as well, since our office in the location is also flooded.
A video update highlighting the severity of the situation can also be watched below.
Q: How would you describe the overall situation, especially how already vulnerable families are being affected?
As with any major disaster, the situation in general is one of collapse of practically all social assistance structures. The shelters are full, but humanitarian aid is being received from all over Brazil, relieving the suffering of those who have lost what little they had. It’s worth to highlight that the region was still fragile due to similar but smaller climatic events that occurred in September 2023. At the moment, according to the latest bulletin released by the government on 16 May, the state of Rio Grande do Sul has 461 towns affected, 77,199 people living in shelters, 540,000 people displaced and 2.2 million people affected. There are also 806 injured, 104 missing and, sadly, 151 dead.
In the shelters, according to government information, around 65 % have potable water and basic items, 82 % have doctors and medicines and more than 40 % have pregnant women or women who have recently given birth. The government also assessed 60 % of the shelters and found that there are more than 9,400 children there, 2,500 of whom are aged between zero and five.
Q: Can you tell us how families in our family strengthening programme have been affected and what are doing to try to help them through this crisis?
Unfortunately, the families have been severely affected since a large part of the city was completely flooded. As far as possible, we continue to provide support, but the situation is still very critical and given the huge number of people in need of support from the government, our work continues with the distribution of food, clothing, and psychosocial support. But there is undoubtedly still a lot to be done and we are currently trying to obtain funding for more structured actions.
With regard to the families in our joint shelter, they continue to receive all the support they need from our local team, and we are arranging a more suitable space than the shelter in which they are currently housed.
Q: How is SOS Brazil responding to this catastrophe?
With the main access routes blocked, including the capital’s airport and bus station, just last week we managed to get two places on a Brazilian Air Force flight to take two strategic people to our operation in the area, namely the manager who will be responsible for the operations of the humanitarian actions that we will be taking and our Advocacy manager, who is in intense negotiations with all spheres of government, including international organisations such as UNICEF and UNHCR, since we also have refugee families who after been sheltered and cared for in SOS Children’s Villages, settled themselves in cities in surrounding areas, which are also affected by the rains.
Next week, with the support of the private sector, we will be able to charter a small plane that will take a group of eight employees to act in the locality. We are preparing humanitarian actions, which should initially last 12 months, involving our efforts to strengthen and re-establish families in safe and suitable locations for all participants. Therefore, there will be two major fronts of actions. One dedicated to the emergency, expanding our impact in Porto Alegre and benefiting hundreds of families, and the other dedicated to ensuring the care and protection of those who were previously under our care.
Q: With the forecast of more rain, what are your longer-term plans?
As far as our operations are concerned, we will continue to respect and follow all the guidelines of the official government bodies and remain alert to any impact caused by the weather. There will be long months of recovery in the cities and we are trying to establish a stable and structured process of recovering and strengthening some of the people affected.