From the 31st of January to the 13th of February, two of the CERT Brasil instructors and Paul participated in a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) project in the region of Mariana in the state of Minas Gerais. This region had been impacted by a mining residue collapse in 2015 and the recent disaster in the nearby city of Brumadinho had retraumatised the population.
The team taught a total of 17 classes on CERT Disaster Medical Operations to over 500 children, teenagers and adults in the cities of Barra Longa, Santa Cruz do Escalvado, Rio Doce and Mariana. The Brazilian CERT instructors have been invited to return later in the year to conduct further training.
There are photos of this course available on Paul’s blog (link will open in a new tab).