About Us
Our vision and commitment to the people of the Amazon
The Amazon is known for being the largest tropical forest in the world, home to enchanting biodiversity and the setting for breathtaking legends. What few people know, however, is that behind the forests there are peoples who, despite having lived there for centuries, are now facing the impact of climate change, global pollution, the neglect of surrounding populations, and the social injustice to which they have been subjected.
The reality of the Amazon
How do our people live?
Access to education in the Amazon territory is not equitable. In 2022, only 14.4% of the population over 25 had completed higher education. Among riverside and indigenous communities, this proportion is even smaller. Most communities with educational centers only offer spots for elementary education. Therefore, it is common for traditional peoples to travel daily to other communities where there are high schools or even relocate to study, abandoning their communities of origin. If a young person wishes to pursue higher education, rural exodus happens again, as generally only in the few urban centers is there the possibility of attending a university. However, this path is still a privileged alternative. Most of the time, the journey from home to school is made on foot for many kilometers during the dry season, and during the river floods, it depends on the availability of boats and fuel, contributing to a high school dropout rate.
It is urgent to transform this reality. We believe that quality education can and should be offered within the Amazonian villages and communities, allowing them to be fully capable of hosting higher education centers in their own localities. This way, it will be possible to value local cultures and preserve indigenous lands, ensuring a fairer future for these peoples.
When it comes to access to food and drinking water, the crisis becomes even more alarming. According to the 2022 IBGE Census, 2 million people in the Amazon live in food insecurity. The severe droughts of 2024 worsened this situation, resulting in food shortages in 9 out of every 10 indigenous lands in Amazonas. In the same year, all municipalities in the state were declared in a state of emergency by the state government — an unprecedented calamity.
The time when survival was possible just by gathering, hunting, and fishing is long gone. Climate change has altered the forest's natural cycles, preventing food planted during the dry season from being harvested before the next flood. Moreover, when the rivers rise, water contamination triggers disease outbreaks, further exacerbating the communities' vulnerability.
In light of this scenario, it is urgent to provide immediate assistance to the thousands of affected communities and implement sustainable programs that promote food security and access to drinking water in the medium and long term.
Clothing is also an essential element for human dignity in the region. Hundreds of communities in the river interiors rarely have access to adequate clothing, both due to the great distance from urban centers — which implies exorbitant fuel costs and days of navigation — and the social injustices that make it difficult for residents to travel to these locations.
The result is that many children grow up without knowing what it's like to wear shoes, flip-flops, or sandals, leaving them exposed to infections caused by thorns, jiggers, and fungal infections. Furthermore, they wear clothes that are disproportionate to their size, using adult garments, since renewing children's clothing every year is unfeasible. For adults, the situation is no different: many have only one set of clothes — the ones they are wearing. With it, they bathe, fish, perform daily activities, and dry themselves in the sun, repeating this cycle continuously. At the end of a year, one can imagine the state of these garments, torn and covered in fungi.
It is essential to restore the autonomy of these communities in producing their own clothes, a practice that has been lost over the years due to labor injustices and various forms of oppression affecting these peoples. In the short term, donations of materials and clothing can alleviate this reality, but it is crucial to invest in sustainable solutions that ensure dignity and autonomy for the Amazonian populations.
Everywhere, but especially in urban centers, youth have lost their dreams to crime and drug trafficking. This is not a reality exclusive to the Amazon, but here it carries even greater weight, as many inland communities are abundant with illegal plantations of coca, marijuana, and other plants that later become narcotics.
Marginalized youth, after dropping out of school, find it extremely difficult to reintegrate into society and build a life project. When they are not killed by crime or overdose, they end up taking their own lives due to depression.
In this scenario, sports programs have proven to be a powerful tool for transformation. Through the ball, the court, and the uniform, adolescents in situations of social vulnerability find a new chance to start over and cultivate hope amid the chaos they live in. More than just physical activity, they need close guidance, joy, and new dreams — and that’s exactly what we seek to offer.
Finally, the need for healthcare in interior communities becomes obvious. In addition to the issues already mentioned, the shortage of both generic and specific medications is enormous. SUS healthcare teams and other state initiatives have done their part, but the demand is so high that we often find people who, even after being attended to, only received a prescription — without the prescribed medication, as the stock of the teams sent ran out quickly.
Without pharmacies nearby, these individuals continue without assistance, unable to get the medicine on their own, as the fuel costs to reach a pharmacy can exceed thousands of reais. Emergency care? Not even in a dream. The reality is that health posts in a few communities only have basic medications, such as painkillers and stomach medicine. And that's if there is any care. Thousands of communities don't even receive any medical assistance.
Furthermore, dental, ophthalmological, pediatric, and women's health services are practically nonexistent in most of the Amazon. The presence of skilled and committed professionals who care for each community with care and confidentiality could make a huge difference, even in identifying cases of child abuse and exploitation or violence against women. Investing in the health of these populations is not just a necessity — it is an urgency.
Far beyond sustainability
Justice and restoration
The perspective that will truly change the reality lived by the people of the Amazon goes beyond the desire to preserve it as it is: the forest needs to be maintained, but the daily lives of its inhabitants require restoration. Everyone who has visited a village in the interior knows that ethnic groups are crying out for help against the injustices that still permeate the biome.
The Acts of Justice Association rises, in this context, as a megaphone to amplify the voice of those who have not been heard, offering a hand, not as a friend, but as a brother, to every riverside dweller and indigenous person in the heart of the forest.
