- Title: BRAZIL: Education campaign for Indian children helps keep Amazon tribe alive
- Date: 29th January 2010
- Summary: BRASILIA, BRAZIL (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE IN BRAZIL, MARIE-PIERRE POIRIER, IN HER OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE IN BRAZIL, MARIE-PIERRE POIRIER, SAYING "What we have been doing in this specific case is to work along with the Tikunas to rescue their culture and strengthen their native language. This has brought wonderful
- Embargoed: 13th February 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: Domestic Politics,Education
- Reuters ID: LVAC2ON8V0W5JME6B5F479V9H8FN
- Story Text: Deep in the heart of Brazil's Amazon forest near the borders of Colombia and Peru, the Tikuna Indians struggle to keep their tribe alive as drugs and alcohol post a constant threat to both their traditions and their youths.
Located alongside the Solimoes River and less than three miles (about 4.5 kilometers) from the busy city of Tabatinga, the tribe is constantly bombarded by the 'white man's' way of life.
Living exclusively off the forest is no longer an option for most of its Indians, who seek jobs in the city and many times work as mules for drug traffickers who pay them to carry cocaine into Brazil.
Following the trend of alcohol and drug abuse are the suicide rates of most indigenous tribes including the Tikunas, who have seen over 30 teenagers kill themselves in the past five years.
Another major concern is the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in the tribe, where over 150 of its nearly 5,500 members have tested positive for HIV.
In an attempt to turn around the situation, the U.N. children's fund UNICEF, is teaching the Indians, especially youths and children, how to prevent diseases and warning them about the dangers of drug abuse.
The education campaign was launched three years ago and although there has been significant progress, UNICEF members said the greater impact of their work will become more evident in the long-run.
Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF's head representative in Brazil, said their objective is to boost the tribe's traditions in order to battle other issues.
"What we have been doing in this specific case is to work along with the Tikunas to rescue their culture and strengthen their native language. This has brought wonderful results which have helped in several other areas. It has to do with the reduction of violence, the reduction of sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV or AIDS and we also have been discussing suicide. In sum, we have worked with several issues that have a huge impact on the life of the indigenous child," she said.
One of the initiatives promoted by the fund was to instruct the tribe's school teachers to include the Tikuna language in their daily lectures. Many of the children have little contact their native dialect as most families adopted Portuguese as their daily language.
Local educators were also shown new teaching methods to help arouse the interest of children in attending classes by applying more of their culture and everyday life into the lessons.
Deonora Quadros, a teacher in one of the tribe's schools, said UNICEF's program was helping the Tikunas save their language.
"It was a means to rescue our language, our culture, because the Tikuna people was nearly forgetting their own expressions, their own language," she said, after singing traditional songs with her students.
According to Tikuna volunteer, Ester Mourao, the fund's efforts have already helped change the lives of many children and adolescents in the community.
"They (children) also began to make an effort to learn other words they were forgetting. The fact that they are writing in Tikuna and translating into Portuguese has started to make a big difference in their lives," she said.
Poirier said the UNICEF wants to help the tribe integrate into modern society without threatening their traditions.
"Our main strategy is to really strengthen the indigenous families, the Tikuna family, bringing them modern knowledge, but with the intent of leaving to these families a means to pass on this knowledge in a way that fits their culture," she said.
The Tikunas have lived in this region since the 1840s and remained fairly isolated until the early 1980s, when the town of Tabatinga started to grow rapidly. Now, the elderly struggle to pass on their customs to the younger ones in an effort to keep their culture alive.
The government agency for Indian affairs, Funai, estimates Brazil has nearly 1 million Indians living in cities or reservations. During the 1970s the Indian population dwindled to 200,000 as many were killed by disease and settlers arriving on new roads. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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