Maré Vive and the community media of the favelas

COMMUNITY

Maré Vive and the community media of the favelas

November 12, 2020 – 2 minute read

They inform their communities and reorganize them through themes and campaigns to improve living conditions

Some volunteers from the collective Frente Marè – Credits to Frente Marè

A classic example of virtuous community activism, which was made possible thanks to the tradition of civil rights activism typical of these communities. In fact, Frente includes various community organizations, among which Maré Vive has made a name for itself in recent years. Born as a grassroots and participatory community media in 2014 – thanks to the idea of a group of local journalists – with the aim of fighting disinformation and disintegration affecting their communities, today its Facebook page (as well as its other social media profiles), with nearly 300,000 fans, is a fundamental point of reference for the people living in these favelas. Local collective media such as Maré Vive have been playing a fundamental role in putting the life of the favelas back at the centre of the debate and giving their citizens a newfound dignity, both through a news service and though the support for charity or awareness campaigns on certain topics. A very relevant lesson that represents an example for all communities globally of what can be achieved by rediscovering citizens' activism for the benefit of citizens.

Brazil, as sadly everyone knows, was hit very hard by the pandemic. At the time of writing, the total cases are close to 5,000,000, with over 45,000 deaths. By now, we all know that Covid-19 spares no one and it makes no difference when it comes to class, race or geographical origin. There is no doubt, however, that where living conditions are more difficult, the health system often finds it harder to cope with the emergency. It is in this scenario that, often, in order to fight disinformation and lack of services, grassroots and popular initiatives are born, desired by citizens for their own community and aimed at facing and preventing the effects of the pandemic. One of these is the Frente de Mobilicao Da Maré, frentemare.com.

People who bring donations to people's homes – Credits to Frente Marè

Donations of hygiene and cleaning products – Credits to Frente Marè

The name of Maré defines a group of favelas in Rio De Janeiro, where about 140 thousand people live. The territory is close to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and the Galeão International Airport, and is located between the main highways of the city. The initiative’s website explains how the pandemic is putting the lives of the sixteen communities involved in a great crisis, thanks to an intensification of negative economic conditions that make it even more difficult for the population to access health services. Frente Maré was born in March 2020 with these premises in mind and with the aim of promoting communication actions within its communities, but also to give the possibility to organize donations of hygiene and cleaning products as well as food to distribute to residents during the crisis period.

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