The state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, has suffered heavy rains that have caused severe flooding in several cities of Rio Grande do Sul.
To date, according to the State Civil Protection, there are 464 municipalities affected, 581,633 people homeless, 2,339,508 people affected, 85 missing and 161 confirmed deaths.
This catastrophe left a trail of destruction for many families but, at the same time, unleashed a great movement of solidarity in rescue, donations and reconstruction of cities.
The Instituto Redemptorista Menino Deus of Passo Fundo, through its collaborators, students, and their families, strongly participated in the campaign to collect donations such as food, clothes, toys, school supplies, and cleaning materials.
In addition, volunteers took other initiatives to clean the affected houses. In the pictures, students organize some donations and a team (Fr. Maiko and people from the Chapel São Miguel Arcanjo de Guatambu) clean the house of an elderly couple in the city of Muçum —RS.
Fr. Maiko Deffaveri CSsR
Fr. Guareschi CSsR, from Porto Alegre, reports that the group of Redemptorists working in the area after the floods has been collecting and preparing food for the victims of this natural disaster.
“It is an experience of complete solidarity between volunteers, popular movements and members of the Redemptorist family. We have started to prepare lunch boxes and food baskets,” says Father Guareschi. “We are ten groups that prepare around 3,000 lunch boxes daily for the displaced. In our area there are more than 300,000 people who have suffered a lot, some have had to leave their homes and others have taken refuge in some parish centres”.
