Brazil: Sanitation volunteers unfunded to fight COVID-19

Volunteers were sanitizing the narrow alleyways in the Santa Marta Favela in Rio de Janeiro for the last time on Saturday, due to the lack of financial support.

In April, Thiago Firmino and his brother Jorge Alexandre started a disinfecting campaign against the spread of the new coronavirus at their community.

Relying on donations from friends and crowdfunding on the internet, they formed a group of volunteers called Santa Marta Against Covid-19.

But seven months later, the pandemic took its toll on even the most caring donors and the group ran out of funds, even as the number of COVID-19 infections are spiking once again in the city.

The donations were decreasing month by month, causing them to reuse protective gear more than what is safely recommended.

The brothers then decided to end the project, hoping to return in January 2021.

"We don't have more money to continue this action that is actually stopping in the middle of the COVID-19 second wave," said Thiago Firmino.

Firmino also said that they were never approached by the municipality or the state government, despite having cleaned up the favela on a weekly basis for more than 6 months.

Some of those who volunteered for the project are also residents of the Santa Marta favela, home to more than 6,000 people.

They know the reality of their community, where houses are very close to each other with many families sharing a single room and sometimes with no running water, making it extremely difficult to follow recommended hygiene guidelines against the virus.

Pastor at a local church, Valdecir Pereira decided to join the campaign after recovering from COVID-19.

Taking a break next to the bronze statue of Michael Jackson, that was also wearing a mask, Pereira said he has dedicated his time to fight the pandemic.

The pop star's statue was built In his honor in 2010, a year after his death as he filmed his music video "They Don't Care About Us" in 1996 in the Santa Marta favela.

Cases of COVID-19 are rising again in the country with the world's second-highest confirmed death toll, prompting Brazilian experts to express concern and politicians to downplay its severity in the midst of an election season.

(Image Credit: AP)