São José da Mata (Brazil), 03/11/2022, Sr. Maria Cleide Pires de Andrade.- Our community, formed by three sisters is located in the District of São José da Mata in the department of Paraíba, in the Northeast region of Brazil. This region of the country is very rich in natural beauties and its culture is quite diverse, however, it has great social problems caused by the concentration of income in a few people, unemployment, and the scarcity of rains, a natural phenomenon that causes constant droughts.
Our missionary work is carried out in unity with several lay people of the parish and different institutions. This allows us to discover the beauty of walking together as the People of God, nourishing us with a synodal spirituality while cultivating relationships of cooperation, mutual aid and solidarity.
We have closely accompanied families during the health crisis caused by Covid-19. Today there are many difficulties that people face because, in besides the pain of losing relatives and friends, the population is victim of other crises such as the social and political ones that our country is going through. It is possible to observe that, over these two years of pandemic, domestic violence against women, unemployment, hunger has increased, and various diseases appear affecting directly the physical and mental health of people.
In solidarity with these families, we have carried out several activities during the pandemic, seeking to mitigate a little this difficult situation. In addition to listening and accompanying the women of the groups, we make and distribute masks and cleaning materials. We implement the creation of home gardens for the growing of medicinal plants that are distributed to the people and are also used in the manufacture of medicines such as ointments, oils, essences and the creation of a natural pharmacy. In agreement with the Pastoral of Health in the Parish, we campaign for the purchase of natural medicines and treatments for their health.
Since the beginning of this year 2022, in partnership with the Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace of Brazil, we have been implementing the Project: "Whoever is hungry is in a hurry" that includes 50 women in situations of social vulnerability, who were directly affected by the impact of the pandemic. The same project extends to our other community in the city of Alexandria, which in partnership with Caritas serves 50 other families in that region.
With the purpose of strengthening local commerce and women's organizations, we prioritize the purchase of food that is distributed in the local trade, fruits and vegetables are from agroecological plantations grown by peasant women's organizations. We highlight the solidarity and effort of the Dominican Family of Brazil and other collaborating institutions that have shared the little they have, making bread possible on the table of so many families in need, in this way we travel together as a Family the path of synodality.
