Uepa and Oswaldo Cruz Institute Project Brings Together Teachers for Awareness on Chagas Disease
The meeting took place on the morning of this Friday (7), at the auditorium of the Planetarium of Pará, and was attended by the general director of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Tânia Jorge
Reaffirming the importance of scientific cooperation, education, and dialogue between knowledge, for the sake of health and life was the purpose of the event "Dialogues with Basic Education Teachers: Chagas Disease, Classroom, and Knowledge," held on the morning of this Friday (7). The initiative was promoted by the Graduate Program in Education in Science Teaching in the Amazon (PPGEECA) at the State University of Pará (Uepa), in partnership with the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz).
The meeting took place in the auditorium of the Center for Sciences and Planetarium of Pará (CCPPA) and gathered the general director of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Tania Cremonini de Araujo-Jorge; Uepa managers and Basic Education teachers from various municipalities in Pará, such as Bagre; Igarapé-Miri; Marituba; Melgaço; Moju; Portel; Santa Izabel; Santo Antônio do Tauá; Soure; Salvaterra; Santarém Novo; Vigia; Bujaru; Abaetetuba; Curuçá; Cametá and Limoeiro do Ajuru, as well as a teacher from Campinas (SP).
The partnership between PPGEECA and IOC has been strengthening over time through the Expresso Chagas XXI project and is currently gaining scope with the creation of the International Chagas Network Pro-Amazon, linked to the project "Scientific Education and Inclusion to Promote the Joy of Living with Chagas Disease in Amazonian Areas."
According to Tania Jorge, the project, approved about two weeks ago, represents the first fundraising aimed at activities with education professionals, involving extension actions, teacher training, and activities in schools. The initiative marks an important step in the integration between science and education, strengthening the role of teachers in the prevention, awareness, and confrontation of Chagas disease, especially in Amazonian regions where the risk of transmission is higher.
The general director of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute emphasized that this was the first time, as a researcher in Chagas disease, that she participated in an event bringing together educators: "I am very moved. Being here with you, at the epicenter of the expansion of Chagas disease in the Amazon, which is Belém, where the highest number of cases occurs, is very important. The risk is present, and we need to work on the risk all the time," she said.
Dialogue
During the morning, researcher Tania Araujo-Jorge led the dialogue with the participating teachers. Among them was pedagogue Roberta Pantoja, who works at the Municipal School of Faveira, located on the island of Cotijuba, in Belém. She highlighted the importance of the meeting for educators. "I can only thank as a professional in education working in the insular region of Belém. It was a morning of didactic learning, clear and objective. Many of the information we received today were new to us, and this allows us to act as multipliers of this knowledge in our community," she stated.
The pedagogue working in Basic Education in the municipality of Santarém Novo, and former technician of CCPPA, Ozimar Silva, emphasized that the activity "was very important to acquire more learning about Chagas disease and to serve as a warning about the necessary precautions."
For the PPGEECA professor and one of the activity organizers, Jacirene Albuquerque, "the participation of Basic Education teachers will contribute to the promotion of multipliers and the strengthening of citizen science in Pará Amazon regarding Chagas disease."
The coordinator of PPGEECA, Priscyla Luz, highlighted that the new cooperation established aims to significantly expand the action in different academic fronts. "We are convinced that this cooperation will significantly enhance the network's performance in the fields of teaching, research, and extension, strengthening the dialogue between science, education, and society. Furthermore, it will contribute to the internationalization of PPGEECA, strengthening its goals and driving the advancement and consolidation of the program in this four-year period," she concluded.
