“AND SHOW TO THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE, A PLACE TO LIVE WITHOUT CRYING”: VOLUNTARY ACTION DURING THE CALAMITY IN RIO GRANDE DO SUL

atuação voluntária durante a calamidade no Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

In this case report, members of the Design Research Group and the Quality of Life Extension Project for People with Disabilities present their perceptions and experiences as volunteers during the calamity caused by the May 2024 floods in RS. The report refers to the first 20 days of the tragedy, when all actions taken were of an extremely urgent nature, with the aim of saving lives and providing emotional support and providing a minimum of human dignity in this survival process. The objective was focused on understanding the perceptions of the sheltered people and the volunteers who worked during this period of calamity. The results indicated that a calamity of gigantic proportions such as this, sadness, losses and the fight for survival, with a minimum of dignity, were what moved thousands of volunteers. All the actions carried out, from separating clothes into kits for donation, to the emotional support as simple listeners of the stories of the homeless, were extremely important for emotional and mental health. The volunteers' learning about the need for resilience and adaptation to an unusual reality was very important, since there was no prior planning. Therefore, given the circumstances, it is understood that the actions carried out intuitively and as an emergency were effective.