LETTER FROM RIO
This Monday, April 6, Karliene Menezes opens the door of his fridge, desperate. "There was nothing left to eat, apart from a few frozen sausages, and a packet of rice already started in the cupboard", recalls the 21-year-old woman from the Paraisopolis favela, one of the largest in Sao Paulo. A single mother, she still has to feed her two children aged 5 and 4, who are entirely dependent on her. “At this age, they want to eat all the time, they need three meals a day. Not to mention the taste… ”
Dependent on social assistance, such as the “Bolsa Familia” program, the young woman suddenly lost her job as a domestic worker in mid-March, paid around 500 reais per month (86 euros): a misery, which enabled her to worth paying rent. "The lady I was cleaning with is over 70 years old and her family is worried that she may be infected with the virus. Her son called me: he gave me 120 reais (20 euros) to help me and told me to come back after the crisis ended. I haven't been paid since. ", she says.
From the first week of April, Karliene finds himself in the red, without a penny in his pocket, and begins to make debts. When suddenly, in the middle of Holy Week, a miracle comes at the right time: when contacted by a favela activist, the young woman is enrolled in the emergency aid program "Adote uma diarista" (" adopts a daily worker ”), launched by a local NGO. She immediately receives 300 reais, food and an anti-virus hygiene kit. "It was a huge relief, this help saved me", she explains, moved.
Not all were so lucky. In Brazil, which has the largest number of domestic workers in the world, 6.3 millionempregadas are on the front line facing coronavirus, affected by both the loss of employment and the risk of contamination.
"Heavy legacy of colonial Brazil"
Anything but a coincidence: in Rio de Janeiro, the first victim of the pandemic was a cleaning lady. Aged 63, suffering from diabetes and hypertension, she continued to work for a family of wealthy Cariocas living in the very chic district of Leblon. The "boss" had gone in February to celebrate carnival in Italy. Returning from her vacation with Covid-19 symptoms, she did not see fit to move away or even inform "her" servant. She died in hospital on March 17.
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