2023-09-09 01:03:17
On the night of last Monday, September 4th, a Public Hearing was held at the Paróquia Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia, in the Restinga neighborhood, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande de Sul, which was attended by the Rector of Unilab, Prof. Dr. Roque Albuquerque, and the participation of professors, researchers, students, politicians, representatives of the black movement, residents and community leaders.
On the agenda of this hearing, which brought together around three hundred people, the project to implement a Unilab campus, called Unilab-Sul campus, which would have courses aimed at the health area, such as Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Psychology, in this community, which is recognized, above all, as a place of black resistance, in addition to being one of the largest peripheral neighborhoods in Latin America. With around 61 thousand inhabitants, representing 4.31% of the municipal population, this large neighborhood was founded in the sixties, when a poor community that lived in old huts in the Ilhota neighborhood, in the center of Porto Alegre, was transferred to an area which was twenty-two kilometers away from the central area of the capital. Thus, like many other peripheral places in Brazil, the historic neighborhood of Restinga was born.
Demonstration of support for the Unilab project in Restinga.
Professor Sérgio de Mattos, researcher and professor, did the honors of the house and presented to the Rector and the other participants, what is the greatest dream of the Restinga community: to have a Unilab campus. In addition to didactically presenting the general lines of this project, Professor Sérgio made an emphatic defense of it:
“Why install a Unilab campus in the south of the country? Because this meets all the causes and struggles of minoritized people for free, quality public education. Where would this Campus be located? In Restinga. Because here? Because Restinga is the second blackest neighborhood in Porto Alegre and one of the largest in representation and resistance of the peripheral population, in the south of the country, and which is far, approximately twenty-four kilometers away, from the city center, colleges or universities . The installation of this university here [campus Unilab-Sul] it will break several barriers, paradigms, not only for the Restinga community, but for all peripheral communities in Brazil”, defended Sergio de Mattos, who also highlighted the support of Unilabian teachers Pedro Aleyva and Bas’Ilele Malomalo, who are participating, from the beginning, of the articulation of this project.
Unilab-Sul Project Coordinator, Giane dos Santos, giving details of the project during the Public Hearing.
In turn, dean Roque Albuquerque explained that this is not an internal demand from Unilab, but a request from a black community that has been building a history of struggles and achievements over the years. “Unilab-Sul is not a movement from within Unilab to the outside. It is, yes, a natural movement of a community of black people excluded from the city center [de Porto Alegre], in 1967, which, through mobilization, has already achieved many things. Therefore, they see in Unilab, because of our DNA, because it is an Afro-Brazilian university, the great chance of being able to open [um campus], especially with courses in the health area, because they already have a closed teaching hospital. Therefore, they came to me and today there is a large mobilization of parliamentarians so that I can help!”, explained the dean, recognizing the historical and political potential of the plaintiffs.
If the organized community of Restinga has already shown strength through its history, in relation to this claim it has a valuable asset: a teaching hospital ready to host these health courses. “Our hospital has an excellent structure. Even though it is of medium complexity, our diagnostic capacity is very great. And we also have the school area, which is also a large area, which has already been planned and thought about the future of educational institutions, which would serve to, at some point, be a school for both secondary and higher education courses. . Today, we underuse this space because it is really very large. There are some courses, some lectures in this area intended for teaching, but the idea is that if we have a higher education course, this structure can be much better used”, detailed Carlos Henrique Casartelli, Technical Director of Hospital da Restinga and Extremo Sul.
Didactic unit at Hospital da Restinga and Extremo Sul.
The words “repair and belief” [na concretização dessa ideia], who were recurrently present in the various speeches during the Hearing, clearly demarcate the steps of this project. State deputy Laura Sito, who was one of the organizers of the Public Hearing, explains better this concept of reparation behind this project:
“Unilab’s idea in Restinga is the implementation, in fact, of something that has everything to do with the idea of reparation in this territory. We here, in Porto Alegre, live in one of the most racially and socially segregated capitals in Brazil. And here is one of the largest black communities in Porto Alegre and also a community extremely far from the center. Created, in fact, with a hygienist vision of the city center, conceived back in the 60s. Therefore, having here a federal, international university, integrating with Portuguese-speaking countries, a campus with courses in the health area, such as Medicine, Dentistry , Psychology, is not only an asset of reparation, but also of reaffirmation of citizenship and autonomy of the population of Restinga, this community that pulsates popular participation, which pulsates the fight for citizenship and for a dignified life”, describes the deputy.
State Representative Laura Sito and the Dean of Unilab, Prof. Dr. Roque Albuquerque.
State deputy Matheus Gomes reinforces and defends this idea of reparation, in addition to seeing the project as an important and fundamental instrument to qualify the public health service in the peripheral regions of Porto Alegre.
“The idea of a Unilab campus in Restinga, bringing here courses in the area of health sciences, could have revolutionary potential, not only for this community, but for the city of Porto Alegre as a whole. We have an obligation to popularize access to this type of course, in order to, from there, also seek to qualify the public health service in the peripheral regions of the city of Porto Alegre, which is where we need it most. So, we welcome this idea. We will continue to articulate the community of Restinga, the extreme south, the extreme east, Porto Alegre as a whole, because Unilab here, in this territory, is a process of historical reparation with a community that was so forgotten by the public authorities. Now it may have an opportunity to transform itself and become an educational reference center, because we have the IF (Federal Institute) here, and we are going to have a university. So, from there, we can think about strengthening the basic education network. Anyway, it is a very important idea that we will fight hard to make it happen”, declared the deputy, summarizing well the next steps of this fight.
Rector’s agenda in Porto Alegre
Although the highlight of this Unilab Mission was the Public Hearing with the various actors who live, work or work in the Restinga neighborhood, the rector had a full agenda of commitments. Early in the morning of September 4th, he was received by the coordination of the Unilab-Sul project and by the office of State Deputy Laura Sito, with whom Dean Roque Albuquerque had a meeting. In addition to the deputy, the coordinators of the Unilab-Sul Project, Sergio de Mattos and Giane dos Santos, among other consultants and researchers involved with the project, were present at this meeting. Then, there was a visit to the Quilombelas, an organized group that develops projects in different axes, in an anti-racist perspective and of black female protagonism, which is organized within the Senador Alberto Pascoalini School.
Conversation Circle at Hospital da Restinga and Extremo Sul.
At noon, there was a lunch at the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul, where the rector had a meeting with the General Director of the Restinga campus of the Federal Institute, Rudinei Muller, and with other professors, administrative technicians and community leaders .
The agenda continued with a Conversation Round at Hospital da Restinga e Extremo Sul, with the presence of the General Director, Amanda Dal Molin, the Technical Director, Carlos Henrique Casartelli, and the Care Manager, Ricardo Cunha, in which they were accompanied by the coordinators of the Unilab-Sul project and some community leaders from Restinga. Then, they visited the teaching unit of the hospital, a space that was completely ready and will certainly serve as a teaching hospital for the future Unilab-Sul campus.
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