“The water is sick throughout the Yanomami indigenous land”. Thus, the indigenous leader Júnior Hekurari Yanomami presents yet another tragedy of his people: the lack of potable water for consumption by local communities in western Roraima and northern Amazonas. President of the District Council for Yanomami and Yek’uana Indigenous Health (Codisi-YY), Júnior explains that the water bodies of the Yanomami land are contaminated by heavy metals, used by prospectors in the process of illegally extracting gold. According to him, the lack of water is a serious problem for the indigenous people at the moment. “Water is the main thing for the life of the communities. And there is no water, as we see, because it is all contaminated. We have no more water, only mud. We are only talking about guaranteeing food, but we also need a water system for the communities”, he says. On a visit to the Surucucu region last week, the reporting team from Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) found indigenous people asking for clean water. “Lots of dirty water. We ‘take’ and the belly hurts”, complained Ivo Yanomami, tuxaua, leader of the Xirimifik community. A similar complaint was reported by an indigenous man who was in Boa Vista for medical care. “Dirty water to eat, spoils the fish. Children are very weak. Water, you drink is dirty and your stomach hurts a lot”, said the young Enexi Yanomami. According to Júnior Yanomami, the government needs to create an urgent project to serve the communities. “It is important for water to reach the community. There are many and there is nowhere to get this water, ”he said. “The water needs to be cured. Communities need to be healed.” The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) identified the relationship between malnutrition and water consumption under improper conditions in two Yanomami communities in the state of Amazonas. The researchers are looking for a solution that offers drinking water to this population. In a statement, the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (MDS) reported that “technicians are analyzing the best viable form and technology for storing water in the region. It must be efficient for the local reality and respect the knowledge and customs of the Yanomami people”. Also according to the note, the ministry informed that, since the beginning of the emergency actions to assist the indigenous people, it has acted to “eliminate situations of water and food insecurity” of the population and that it has already delivered almost 80 tons of supplies and medicines to the indigenous people. “The MDS, as a structure of the federal government, works together so that this humanitarian tragedy does not happen again in our country. It is the duty of the State to welcome and make possible conditions for the Yanomami people to have conditions worthy of existence and that their land and culture are respected”, adds the note.
Agência Brasil
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