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As part of the Olympic torch relay's mission to reflect Brazil's diversity, three representatives of human and animal rights will be carrying the flame in Rio
Andréia Fonseca Martins, Lilia Martins and Rogério de Paula visited Rio 2016's media centre on Wednesday (27 July) (Photo: Rio 2016)
Right from the start of the Olympic torch relay in Brazil, Rio 2016 organisers have wanted this powerful symbol of the unity of all peoples to reflect the extraordinary diversity of Brazilian society and nature. As the torch enters the home stretch to Rio, the relay will be celebrating ordinary heroes who have fought to empower people who have been disenfranchised or marginalised and to protect the Brazilian environment.
As the torch nears the host city, three torchbearers who have been recognised for their outstanding and pioneering contributions to Brazil’s society and environment are now getting ready to participate in the relay.
Martins, who will carry the torch on 3 August, is the founder of the Centro de Vida Independente (Independent Life Centre), an NGO that has fought for the rights of people with an impairment. Ahead of Rio 2016, CVI has trained over 200 managers in Rio’s hotel industry to better receive guests with an impairment.
Instead of allowing polio to prevent her work the condition has inspired Lilia Martins to make a difference for people with an impairrment (Photo: Rio 2016)
Born in 1939, Martins was diagnosed with polio at the age of two. At the time, there were no rehabilitation centres. As doctors favoured surgery ahead of therapy for treatment, she spent much of her childhood in hospital. Home-schooled until 13, she was determined to have an independent lifestyle, eventually defying all odds by enrolling to study psychology at university.
A true pioneer for human rights, she began working in the field in 1976 during Brazil’s military dictatorship, a difficult time for the country and especially for human rights workers. In 1988 she founded CVI. Its mission is to empower people with an impairment to be as independent as possible, as well as educating public and private bodies on how to cater to what she calls “specific needs, not special needs.”
Andréia Fonseca Martins, who will carry the torch on 2 August, has been working with the Associação Mico Leão Dourado (AMLD) for 33 years. The organisation has single-handedly reintroduced vast numbers of the golden lion tamarin monkey to the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil’s south-east. “Our initial aim was to get the population of the golden lion tamarin from 200 to 2,000. At the last count in 2014 the population was 3,200.”
Fonseca Martins looks up at an image of the the golden lion tamarin an animal she has worked with for 33 years (Photo: Rio 2016)
The work of the association was ground-breaking and set the standard for conservation efforts in Brazil. The repopulation of the golden lion tamarin involved the coordination of zoos in other countries who contributed specimens for reintroduction into the country. The association also successfully gained the trust of landowners in the region, encouraging them to adopt ecologically-friendly practices so that the monkeys could have a viable habitat.
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“We still have a lot of work ahead of us," Fonseca Martins says. "Our aim is to make sure their habitats are protected and connected so they can inter-mate between families and guarantee genetic diversity. We aim to have 25,000 hectares of protected and connected land.”
De Paula works for Brazil’s environmental agency ICMBio as programme coordinator at the Centre for Research and Conservation of Carnivorous Mammals.
Animals such as the maned wolf often live in conflict with rural livestock-rearing human populations who do not understand the behaviour of the carnivores. Part of de Paula's work is teaching communities how to better protect their livestock as the number of these wild animals have depleted due to hunting and retribution killings.
“Our work is largely about changing negative cultural stereotypes about these animals that are traditionally seen as “bad.” They are much more peaceful and tolerant to human presence than we think. For example the maned wolf; often people will shoot at these animals if they see them on their property thinking they will take their kids away. In reality the wolf eats fruit and small animals like rats and snakes, which genuinely pose a threat to people’s kids.”
De Paula is changing community perceptions about Brazil's wild animals such as the maned wolf (Photo: Rio 2016)
