We are living a collective tragedy that cannot be silenced: in October, Brazil reached the 600,000 mark killed by covid-19. At least a third of them were between 30 and 60 years old, the deaths under 30 years old represent about 1.7% of the total. Most were men.
There is an unknown and silenced figure in this tragedy: the one that reveals how many (and who) are his orphans. We are talking about a generation that, in a few days, has lost its father, its mother (sometimes both) or its grandparents. A generation that has not been able to say goodbye, watch and bury its parents. A generation that will live with individual and collective trauma that, for the moment, we are unable to measure.
An estimate – since we do not have official data – is that there are around 113,000 minors who have lost their father, mother or both. If we include grandparents as caregivers, there are at least 130,000 children and adolescents. Most orphans have lost their father, historically responsible for the family’s financial support. In other words, it will also be necessary to measure the impact of this scenario on the deepening of inequalities and poverty.
The Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPI) of covid-19, carried out by the Federal Senate, has collaborated so that the death and mourning of this tragedy are no longer invisible. Their work will be fundamental for the construction of the collective memory of our trauma, so that those responsible for this criminal tragedy are punished, so that their actions are not forgotten. It has also fulfilled the important function of giving a voice to those who suffered and are suffering the consequences of the disease, of giving a voice to its orphans.
It is the responsibility of society and the State to welcome them. It is urgent to develop programs and public policies that guarantee minors opportunities to (re) build their lives and realize their dreams. And it is essential to welcome our orphans in their grief.
Learn from the past
Let’s look at a recent and very Brazilian example: the victims of the Zika virus epidemic. Children with microcephaly. Women, the “mothers of Zika”, who had to give up their lives to dedicate themselves to the intensive and comprehensive care of their children. Most of these victims live in the northeast region of the country, they are poor, unemployed mothers and abandoned by their partners. Mothers and children who fulfill a daily and exhausting routine of essential treatments for the development and well-being of children.
Children who were born victims of the aftermath of the Zika virus, in the worst outbreak that Brazil experienced between 2015 and 2016, were initially entitled to the Continuous Economic Benefit (BPC). Only in 2019 was a law passed that approved the right to a lifetime pension of a minimum monthly salary. However, access to treatment depends on where they live, public policy networks and programs available in the localities, it depends on the main caregiver dedicating himself completely to the care and transport of the children.
In practice, many of these women and children depend on the charity of those around them. Not only to ensure the treatment of their children, but also the support of the family. The reality of the victims of Zika is an example of forgetfulness, invisibility and negligence that cannot be silenced or repeated.
It is a negligence that transcends the economic sphere, of the guarantee of an “income for survival”. It is a social, emotional negligence, of collective responsibility.
Lessons from the pandemic and the rescue of politics
An important lesson from epidemics is that their impacts are always worst among the most vulnerable. The uncontrolled proliferation of the mosquito Aedes aegypti and the rapid spread of the Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses are old acquaintances in Brazilian public health. Its proliferation is greater in places with deficiencies in access to drinking water and sewerage. Therefore, the poorest areas, with a more vulnerable population.
There is an unknown and silenced figure in this tragedy: the one that reveals how many (and who) are his orphans. We are talking about a generation that, in a few days, has lost its father, its mother (sometimes both).
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Pandemics are not “egalitarian” and neither is the coronavirus. Also in this case, the poor and blacks were the most affected, especially children. Like Zika victims, deaths from covid-19 in Brazil have income, class, and race. It is precisely these people who are most affected by the comorbidities identified as a risk factor. And now her children, thousands, are left to fend for themselves.
Different bills are being processed in the Federal Chamber and in the Senate that seek to guarantee the income of minors orphaned by covid-19. Proposals prepared blindly, because we don’t even know who and how many there are! How to propose actions, foresee the budget for the distribution of benefits and promotion programs? There is so much to do and time is tight. It will soon be two years since the pandemic: will Brazil reproduce negligence?
As the ICC’s report on covid-19 shows, there is a fundamental difference between this and Zika that should be remembered: the latter has in its history the indelible mark of the actions of a government that deliberately collaborated with the spread of the virus and the worsening of the pandemic, which deepens the trauma and increases collective responsibility.
What is society’s commitment to the future of a whole generation of orphans and victims of covid-19?
The pain, the consequences and the consequences of the disease in the life history of each victim must be understood as something collective, never individualized. Every death must be remembered. Orphans will always be orphans by covid-19. A pandemic is a collective trauma, which must be worked out by the collective. From the beginning we spoke with enthusiasm and aimed with haste to the “new normality”. How can we return to normality in the face of such trauma?
In addition to the urgent implementation of public policies, it is necessary for Brazilian society to do the work of mourning. It is necessary to tell and relate our individual experiences with covid-19, and collectively elaborate its political and social meanings, and the marks of the pandemic in our history: to build the memory of trauma. Only in this way is it possible to rework and recreate: it is not possible to return to the old normality, and a new one in the future will only be possible if we commit ourselves to it.
This commitment goes through the rescue of politics, understanding that public policies, speeches and political decisions matter. The construction of memory or forgetting is a political and collective decision, which will be tattooed on the social body.
Let Brazil not forget. Our victims and orphans will need more than access to financial aid to rebuild their lives. Right now, many Brazilian children are grieving, even more vulnerable, living in uncertainty about their future as a result of the pandemic. Who will take care of them? How are they going to mourn? How many will have to go through adoption processes? How many will not even have the possibility of being adopted? What will become of our future as a society if their (our) pain is silenced?
Camila de Mario is a doctor in Social Sciences and professor of the Postgraduate Program in Political Sociology at the University Institute of Research in Rio de Janeiro. This article was originally published on www.latinoamerica21.com
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