The 17 edition of the Science and Art Program “People of the Amazon” (Capam 2023) began this Tuesday (2023). Carried out by a partnership between the Dean of Research at Unicamp, the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and Banco Santander, the initiative brings UFPA students, members of indigenous, quilombola, riverside and extractive communities to Campinas for a month of activities scientific and cultural activities with researchers and students from Unicamp. The program aims to enrich the work carried out at the university with new knowledge and perspectives from young people from Pará. Activities will run until February 16th.
The opening of the program was attended by the acting dean of Unicamp, Maria Luiza Moretti; the dean of Research and Postgraduate Studies at UFPA, Maria Iracilda Sampaio; the deans of Research, Graduation and Extension and Culture at Unicamp, João Marcos Romano, Ivan Toro and Fernando Coelho, respectively; and the commercial manager of Santander Universities, César Torini.
This year, 20 undergraduate students from the exact, human, biological and health areas were selected, coming from eight fields from UFPA. Ten of them are representatives of quilombola communities, five of indigenous communities and five of riverside and extractive groups. "We brought the heart of UFPA to be with you during this period. I am sure that Capam 2023 will change the lives of students forever”, said Maria Iracilda Sampaio, who highlighted the female representation in the group, with 17 women and three men .
During their stay at Unicamp, students will take part in activities linked to four research projects, each with five participants, which will be carried out from Tuesday to Friday, from 8:30 am to 17:30 pm. The distribution of students across projects was done according to their proximity to the areas of their undergraduate courses. On Mondays, they will participate in group scientific and cultural workshops, also full time. The activities will be led by university professors and researchers.
The Capam organization provides accommodation and food for students. Thanks to the partnership with Banco Santander, they have their air tickets paid and receive assistance worth R$2,5. “One of the pillars of our institution is to promote education and inclusion. For us, it is a joy to be part of this initiative”, commented César Torini.
According to the dean of Research at Unicamp, the program brings benefits to both institutions. UFPA students enrich their training and strengthen their communities with scientific and cultural experiences, while Unicamp researchers have contact with new panoramas and research challenges. "You are the future of the country. We have many challenges to overcome in relation to sustainability, water and the preservation of the Amazon. It is your generation that will point out definitive solutions to these challenges”, said João Marcos Romano.
For Maria Luiza Moretti, Capam is another way in which Unicamp promotes inclusion and expands diversity in the academic space. "The university is very happy to host these activities. In the future, each of you will make a difference wherever you are."
One learns from the other
Among students, expectations are of learning and experiences that will make them great researchers, in order to strengthen their people and traditional knowledge. History student at campus from Belém, Josinele da Silva Nunes was already at Unicamp in 2022, during the National Meeting of Indigenous Students (Enei). The young woman is from the Galibi-Marworno ethnic group, born in the city of Oiapoque (Amapá), on the border with French Guiana, and current president of the Association of Indigenous Peoples Students at UFPA. She hopes to share the experience gained from the program with colleagues and her community. “There are initiatives to bring knowledge to us, but we also need strategies to not leave our knowledge shelved", she explains.
The expectation is shared by Lucirlândia Santos Tambe, a young woman from the quilombola community of Itamoari, in Cachoeira do Piriá (Pará). A Pedagogy student, she highlights the satisfaction of representing the diversity that exists at the university itself, especially its campus, in the city of Bragança. “It’s a very rich experience, I hope that others will sign up in the coming years.”
An exchange of knowledge is also expected among Unicamp professors and researchers. Responsible for a cartoon production workshop, which will be held on January 23, animator and professor at the Institute of Arts (IA) Wilson Lazaretti states that the participation of people from Pará in the creation of animations is important so that productions do not reproduce stereotypes and can bring not only themes, but the time and aesthetics of indigenous peoples. “There are very important topics that can be covered, such as mining, the Yanomami languages, combining this with indigenous drawings”, comments the teacher.
