Ilê Axé Omidewa, Paraíba State

This not-for-profit civil society organization (certified by the municipal government as a public utility) conducts awareness-raising and training activities in the African Brazilian temples in the State capital of João Pessoa and surrounding area.
The activities include seminars and talks on hepatitis and STD/AIDS prevention, in partnership with the State Health Department.

Another activity was the distribution of 100 food baskets to African Brazilian temples. The food baskets were provided through the Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Policies for Racial Equality, under the Office of the President of Brazil. The distribution is part of the Federal government’s Zero Hunger Program.

The Project

With the project “Human Rights and Citizenship in African Brazilian Religious Communities”, the organization aims to strengthen the struggle against racism and racial intolerance in the city of João Pessoa and the surrounding area, particularly targeting intolerance as a serious human rights violation and in-depth research on African Brazilian religions, with their characteristics and myths.

The proposal is to empower initiates in African Brazilian religions to grasp the content and information to support their capacity to promote and defend their rights.
Organized to be developed in partnership with the Anonymous Testing and Counseling Center and the Sociedade Cruz Santa do Axé Opô Afonjá, the project will take a preventive approach to the spread of sexually transmissible diseases, HIV, and hepatitis B and C infections, among others.

The proposal is to hold seminars dealing with public policies related to STD/AIDS, focusing on the variables health, ethnicity, and human rights.
An integral part of the initiative is to value African descendent culture and its rites and symbols, discussing the importance of the Orixás and the characteristic dances including classes in Afro dance for initiates.