ATÓ-IRE: Health and Afro-Brazilian Religions - Brazil
ATÓ-IRE: Health and Afro-Brazilian Religions works to develop activities related to health and citizenship in terreiros (religious ceremonial groups) in São Luís do Maranhão, Recife, Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro. The programme aims to promote physical, psychic, and social well-being using the codes and signs of Afro-Brazilian traditions.
The project objectives are to:
Activities include research, visits to terreiros, meetings with mães and pais de santo (literally, mother and father of saints, or religious leaders in the terreiros), training for the religious leadership, production of informative materials and an educational video, and the organisation of seminars.
The project objectives are to:
- promote the overall health of the followers of Afro-Brazilian traditions;
- provide information about gender and about sexual and reproductive health to the priests/priestesses and leadership of the Afro-Brazilian religions;
- provide information about the risks of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS to the end of preventing these infections;
- connect community health practices carried out in the terreiros to local public health networks; and
- facilitate the creation of a network to exchange information about health in the terreiros.
Activities include research, visits to terreiros, meetings with mães and pais de santo (literally, mother and father of saints, or religious leaders in the terreiros), training for the religious leadership, production of informative materials and an educational video, and the organisation of seminars.
Development Issues
HIV/AIDS, Health.
Key Points
In the worldview of Afro-Brazilian traditions, in order to be balanced, one must seek to promote harmony in relationships among the gods/goddesses, people, and everything that exists in the universe. For followers of Afro-Brazilian religions, the body is home to the gods and thus deserves special attention. The body must be healthy so that Afro-Brazilian deities can continue to communicate with human beings. Terreiros play a fundamental role in this society since, as shared spaces, they allow the construction of collective networks that can produce positive changes in terms of quality of life.
In the future, the project seeks to expand, eventually collaborating with Cuban and Puerto Rican santerias (the Afro-Caribbean versions of terreiros).
In the future, the project seeks to expand, eventually collaborating with Cuban and Puerto Rican santerias (the Afro-Caribbean versions of terreiros).
Partners
The Cultural Center of Maranhão (Centro de Cultura Negra do Maranhão); Ford Foundation; and ODÔ-YÁ: Center for Study and Research on Black Populations (Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas das Populações Negras).
Sources
Letter sent from Jos
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