Between the 27th and 30th of this month, the city of Afuá, in Pará, in the Marajó Archipelago, prepares for the Shrimp Festival. It is time not only to celebrate traditions, but also to reflect on the care of the Amazon River, from which the livelihood of the more than 37,000 inhabitants of the place comes. “The river is everything to us. We live on an island”, says the municipality’s teacher, Marciléia Brito, who is also an environmental activist. At each festival, the educator remembers in a special way an ally she met from afar, through the airwaves, journalist Mara Régia di Perna, from Rádio Nacional, a broadcaster of Empresa Brasil de Comunicação – EBC. The teacher was thrilled after she learned that Mara was nominated this week for the Women’s Press Award, in the Radiojournalism category. Marciléia has already warned the community about the news. In 2017, she showed the students that the journalist was talking about fundamental topics for all of them, including the sustainability of shrimp fishing and selective collection. Struggles against contamination and in favor of community awareness loud and clear through microphones in Brasilia, apparently far away, but close by. “A person from so far away embracing the fight and the causes of the Amazon made me inspired by Mara to also embrace the fight for nature”, says Marciléia. That year, Mara Régia visited Afuá. She was welcomed with balloons, hugs, questions and words of gratitude. “She has arrived”, shouted the students when they saw the boat carrying the journalist. Incentive They knew Mara through the National Radio and what they studied at the municipal school. “We studied Mara’s life precisely to encourage students of this new generation to also protect and embrace the cause of our Amazon”, they report. The teacher also testifies that many of them have already reached college and carry idealism and dreams born at school. For the journalist, who will be 72 years old in September, gestures like this are unforgettable as a prize in life. They were not uncommon in her career. In 42 years on EBC programming (with Viva Maria and Natureza Viva), Mara has gone more than 180 times to remote places in the Amazon to tell stories, learn and also help raise awareness of environmental, social and gender issues. “It was a beautiful, unforgettable experience that I had in Afuá, where Marciléia’s students were singing ‘it’s good that you came’. It was also emotional when I went to celebrate the anniversary of the Maria da Penha Law with victims of violence, in Xinguara, in the interior of Pará. These encounters with the program’s audience are unforgettable”, she opines. Acknowledgments The sensations that the journalist has experienced for more than four decades are, for her, immaterial recognitions and are framed in her memory. But the professional is also formally one of the most awarded in the history of the press in Brazil, with more than 30 trophies, plaques and diplomas from Brazilian and international institutions. One of the most recent was the Audálio Dantas Award, in 2021, for services provided to broadcasting in Brazil. Even with a recognized career, Mara Régia was thrilled when she received the news that she was one of the nominees for the 17th Women’s Press Award, in the Radio Journalism category. “It was quite a surprise. Didn’t expect. Having your work recognized is always wonderful.” In 2016, she was nominated for the same trophy in the anchor category. In these more than four decades, Viva Maria is heading towards the mark of 10,000 programs and has already surpassed the mark of 20,000 hours on air. “The stories of these women are the reason for my life”, guarantees the journalist. She has stories like that of a girl who was sold in Aripuanã do Norte (MT), who had been sold by her father three times. And she radioed for help to protect her sisters. “A heartbreaking story. Thanks to a network we formed with entities such as the News Agency for the Rights of Children (Andi) we were able to call the Tutelary Council to save the girl”, she recalls. Transformation For her, career recognition is linked to the transformation that is promoted in the lives of people who come into contact with the journalist’s work. When the program celebrated 40 years of history, for example, there was feedback from people who helped along the way, such as victims of scalping[loss of the scalp and hair]in the Amazon. “All the campaign actions carried out on the radio resulted in the purchase of machines for them to make wigs. There are many women who have rescued their self-esteem, ”she says. In addition, the journalist – as a MacArthur Foundation scholar – developed for four years the Projeto Mulher nas Ondas do Rádio, Corpo de Alma to break the silence for sexuality and reproductive health with women in the forest. Public utility Another recent transformative experience that she lists happened in 2019, when there was a record release for the use of pesticides in Brazil. She collected testimonials about the new killing by poisoning bees and heard scientists about the effects on the cerrado and the Amazon. The inventive and courageous spirit has not changed over time. Mara Régia, who is also a Journalism teacher, delights students with her life stories. So much so that it is usually the subject of studies by undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students. Dreams are still the same. What she most wants is to be able to work more and ensure visibility for Amazonian communities in the Natureza Viva program and also in Viva Maria. “I have always understood communication as a public utility service. An achievement, if I have what to say, is reaching my age in front of microphones with a lot of strength, race and faith ”, she concludes.
Agência Brasil
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