Emphasizing the importance of sharing knowledge, this Tuesday (14th) at Unicamp, the Science and Art of the Peoples of the Amazon (Capa) program began. Established through partnership Between Unicamp, the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and Santander, Capa brings 20 UFPA students to the campus, from indigenous peoples, quilombolas, riverside communities and extractivists, for research internship activities and workshops. The opening of the program was held at the Convention Center.
Capa activities will last six weeks, ending on February 20th. During this period, students will hold workshops on Mondays and participate in research projects between Tuesdays and Fridays. The deans of Research, at Unicamp, and Research and Postgraduate Studies, at UFPA, are in charge of organizing the event.
“Learning for our people”
One of the 20 students participating in Capa is the Biomedicine student at UFPA, Onésio Aaka Wai Wai. Excited about the experience, he says this will be a period of great learning. “It’s an opportunity to take advantage, learn as much as possible and take everything I’ve absorbed from here to share at UFPA with other people.”
The student, who comes from the Wai Wai community located in the city of Caroebe, in the eastern region of Roraima, also shares the plans that joining a university helped him build. “I want to work in the health sector, take care of people’s health, as the service is still precarious and I intend to help in any way”.
For Onésio, as well as for other indigenous people, quilombolas and riverside dwellers, the knowledge obtained through education is not individual, but has a collective character. “During the holidays we go back to the community to show what we are learning and they [the community] are very happy. It’s not just learning for yourself, it’s learning for our people.”
“The production of knowledge comes from diversity”
To compose Capa's activities, Unicamp launched a selection notice in October 2019. nine proposals in different areas of knowledge. One of the projects is the Science, Technology, Society and Innovation "Peoples of the Amazon at the Institute of Geosciences" exchange of intercultural experiences and knowledge”, developed by professor at the Institute of Geosciences (IG) Leda Gitahy, together with a group of 23 other people, including professors, postgraduates and undergraduates.
The teacher highlights that the programming at IG was designed based on interculturality. “It’s an exchange experience. Not only do they learn, we will learn too,” she says. Leda, who has been a professor at Unicamp since 1984, praises the cultural and scientific enrichment that concern with diversity has brought to the institution. “The production of knowledge comes from diversity. The more diverse an environment is, and at IG we are multidisciplinary, the more chance you have of producing new and quality knowledge”, she analyzes.
The schedule of workshops and research activities at IG involves topics such as climate change; sanitation; farmers' rights, agrobiodiversity and agroecology. In addition, visits to laboratories, fieldwork and audiovisual workshops and workshops on the indigenous peoples of Guatemala will be offered. Other units and institutes that offer research experiences and workshops are: Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA); Institute of Chemistry (IQ); Medical Sciences College; Nursing school; Faculty of Agricultural Engineering; Center for Information Technology Applied to Education (NIED); Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC) and Multidisciplinary Center for Chemical, Biological and Agricultural Research (CEPQBA).
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony was attended by representatives from Unicamp, UFPA and Banco Santander. The rector of Unicamp, Marcelo Knobel, emphasized the relevance of diversity at the University, which, in 2020, will have around 200 indigenous students, including this year's entrants. “We strongly believe in diversity, in the importance of having Brazilian society represented here within the public university, especially at this time of strong attack. We need to join forces, come together to respond to these attacks, and the best way, in my opinion, is by having the possibility to collaborate and share experiences.”
The Dean of Research, Munir Salomão Skaf, also highlighted the need for greater representation in higher education. “Education, as our patron of the Brazilian educational system [Paulo Freire] said, is only transformative if it is inclusive and Unicamp has strived to be inclusive. [...] We have to create mechanisms so that this inclusion, which is such a tight funnel, is not too elitist,” he stated.
The dean of Research and Postgraduate Studies at UFPA, Maria Iracilda da Cunha Sampaio, highlighted that UFPA has the same concern and, currently, the institution has around 1.500 quilombola and 200 indigenous students, in addition to being made up of 80% of low-income students. “We fight to overcome difficulties and keep these students at university, with student assistance. And now we have this privilege of bringing them to one of the best universities in Latin America,” she said.
Mariana Von Zuben, manager of the universities segment at Santander, the bank that provided financial assistance to the 20 Capa students, congratulated Unicamp and UFPA for making the commitment to support the development of the Amazon region and education in the country. “We hope that through programs like this we can support the development of the university and its students.”
Professor Mara Patrícia Mikahil also participated in the opening panel, representing the dean of Undergraduate Studies at Unicamp, Eliana Amaral, and the director of strategic programs at UFPA, professor Adriano Penha Furtado.
The ceremony also featured a performance by the trio Carcunda de Rapina, formed by students from the Unicamp Arts Institute Paula Lins, Lucca Rolim and Leandro Alexandre.
