"THERE ARE SEVERAL MARÉS WITHIN THE MARÉ."
By Jéssica Pires and Julia Bruce
This is the "Who Makes Redes” column, a compilation of stories of people who build our organization and make every day what we do best: actions and projects for the residents of Maré. Get to know these stories, trajectories, experiences, and the history of Redes da Maré itself - and how this work and the challenges faced during the pandemic have transformed them.
It was during her university years that Patrícia Ramalho (36) arrived at Maré Favela Complex for an internship, and since then, she has never left. The social worker, project coordinator in the areas of the Right to Public Security and Access to Justice and the Right to Health, was born in Niterói and grew up in São Gonçalo, but considers the Maré territory her second home. Her interactions with the 16 communities and active engagement with residents have made her work a great learning experience. "Direct contact with residents is what makes many of Redes' projects successful, and it's why residents trust our work. It's no wonder that Redes has been operating in this area for over 20 years."
Patrícia Ramalho grew up surrounded by women, always living with her mother and grandmother after losing her father. From Niterói to São Gonçalo, and from São Gonçalo to Maré, her movement through the city of Rio de Janeiro and her exposure to other spaces began after university in 2006, at the age of 19. Patrícia considered studying Journalism and Law but found in Social Work a path to strengthen people's access to rights."I didn't expect anything of what I'm experiencing today. I knew it was an area that could offer me many job options. I attended a Catholic private school in São Gonçalo, and going to a public university was a big leap. I had no idea about pursuing a master's degree, for example," says Patrícia, who is now a master's degree holder in Social Psychology. She conducted research on social representations of police operations in Maré, interviewing mothers from Maré to understand the impact of armed violence and social memory.
Patrícia began her professional journey as an intern at the Maternidade Escola da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in 2007 and, the following year, had her first contact with Maré. She interned at the Centro de Referência de Mulheres da Maré Carminha Rosa (CRMM-CR/UFRJ) in Vila do João, a university extension project that provides socio-legal support to women experiencing violence."I didn't even tell my mother about the internship in the favela. I went through the selection process and passed. It was another process to tell her about it. At first, she didn't like it and was worried. Since then, I have never left Maré. I completed the internship and then did a residency in the field of Public Policies in Human Rights for two years,", she says. However, during this initial experience in Maré, she mentioned that she wasn't accustomed to moving around the favelas. She would enter with the university's car, which bothered her. At that time, there were many police operations, and she even stopped going to the area for a while, only meeting at UFRJ. "I dealt much more with people during counseling sessions and workshops at work, but we didn't move around here. When I came to Redes, it was quite different; I started to move around other communities, get my nails done, have a beer after work, among other activities. There has been a change in how I navigate here," she reveals.
In 2016, an opportunity arose to work as a social worker in the Flavors of Maré project. At that time, there was no Women’s House, in Parque União, and the project operated in the kitchen of the Cultural Canvas Herbert Vianna, managed by the Municipal Department of Culture and run by the organization. It is located on the border between Nova Holanda and Baixa do Sapateiro favelas, controlled by different factions. Patrícia worked as a social worker, accompanying thematic workshops and engaging in conversations with women on various topics. With this initial transition through the territory, she explains that she got to know several "Marés" within Maré. "Anyone who lives or travels through the territory realizes how different the places are, how businesses differ in certain places, among other aspects", she assesses.
In this movement, in 2016, Patrícia was invited to be part of the Public Security and Access toJustice axis. At that time, there were not even 100 weavers (staff) in the organization, which has tripled since then. Shifts were already taking place during days of police operations, but without protocols. Thus, alongside the team, Patrícia built the axis that became a broad network of access to rights and gave rise to various mobilizations, campaigns, and projects, such as Maré of Rights. "That's when I started to provide assistance together with a lawyer, with the perspective of encouraging people to seek assistance. In 'Maré of Rights,' we conceived an open, spontaneous service where people sought help, regardless of experiencing any type of violation or whether it was on days of conflict. We started attending to other types of demands, such as health, social security issues, child support, and criminal matters," she recalls, during which time she was also the project coordinator.
"The topic of Public Security involves pain, emotions, and narratives that are deeply ingrained in common sense; it's difficult to discuss. So, how do we change that? How do we transform it into a different discourse? How do we talk about human rights when we hear something different on television? Who are human rights for? How do we counter these narratives?"
All these years at Redes da Maré have made Patrícia look at others, have empathy, listen more, and see how she can give back. The role of coordinating a team, leading, and dealing with other people and emotions is not an easy job."Today, in the Public Security and Access to Justice Axis, we are more than 40 weavers,",says Patrícia, who also coordinates the Security Food project in the Right to Health Axis.
The project, a result of the "Maré Says NO to Coronavirus",campaign, which took place from March 2020 to 2021, was born during the pandemic and integrated into its actions the fronts of food security, the right to education, and health care. The mobile phone used to communicate with people assisted by "Maré of Rights" began to serve as a means of providing food baskets, with registration and support sessions. This led to the start of simultaneous assistance through the organization's new WhatsApp platform, reaching people who were not familiar with the organization and bringing residents of more distant favelas closer to Redes' spaces."Now, we are rethinking new food security initiatives, thinking about the project's sustainability, not just donating food baskets but also acting to make it possible to transform residents' lives by facilitating access to other policies,",explains Patrícia.
She was also responsible for organizing the 1st Congress on Public Security for Children and Adolescents in Maré("Congressinho"), an event that brought together 183 children and adolescents up to 16 years old on August 9, 2022, to participate in various activities on the subject, including a procession, painting on posters and fabrics, film screenings, and even the development of proposals for public security policies in Maré,which were presented to the pre-candidates for the govern of the State of Rio de Janeiro on the last day of the International Congress on Public Security in Maré.
"With children, it is usually easier, because they open up and speak their minds. We left the Cultural Center, did a procession there on the border, calling for peace and an end to violence. It's a way of talking to them, and they definitely went home and repeated it. In some way, they are positively impacted. Many shared stories about a situation that happened to a family member, for example."
Another action of the axis, scheduled to take place in November this year and coordinated by Patrícia, will be the Memorial of Victims of Armed Violence in Maré, a collective construction based on the;Azulejariaproject that will record names, messages, and drawings on tiles as a way of honoring and preserving the memories of Maré residents. "We wanted to show who these people who are dying are, share their stories because we also talk a lot about the right to memory. We conducted tile workshops with residents for them to write names and paint memories related to their family members who were killed. Redes da Maré encompasses all of this in its policy: thinking about new narratives, the desire for reparation, and above all, social transformation."
