Maintaining a comprehensive range of activities in a country of continental dimensions (occupying a total of 8,514,876 km2), with over 210 million inhabitants, is not a simple task to accomplish. Yet Fundación MAPFRE has managed it. For nearly 30 years it has contributed to Brazil’s social development.
TEXT: SILVIA MARTINELLI IMAGES: FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE BRASIL
Ever since 1990, Fundación MAPFRE’s work in Brazil has been truly notable. Underpinned by ethics and transparency, it focuses on the long term and, abo ve all, monitors and evaluates the results obtained.
This commitment has ensured the achievement of remarkable results year after year, with a total of over 3.4 million people benefiting (directly and indirectly) from its work in 2019 alone.
Fundación MAPFRE promotes initiatives in Brazil to improve the living conditions of the most underprivileged population groups, reduce traffic accidents and promote broader access to information, accident prevention, innovation and research, so as to expand the cultural diversity of the whole of society. “We are investing in programs that benefit thousands of people in every region of Brazil and make a real contribution to improving public policies, disseminating quality information and enhancing educational endeavors nationwide,” underscores Fátima Lima, Sustainability manager for MAPFRE and Fundación MAPFRE in Brazil.
In the course of its ever-increasing range of activities, Fundación MAPFRE has consolidated its leading role in this country, given that it is widely recognized in Brazil as an institution that promotes quality of life and plays an important role in tackling the social demands present in this country.
Accident Prevention and Road Safety
Through its inclusive, educational projects targeting children and adolescents, our foundation’s initiatives in this area seek to raise awareness regarding the importance of adopting safer, more responsible behavior with regard to road traffic. Most noteworthy are the Na Pista Certa and Educação Viária é Vital programs which, in 2019, benefited over 25,000 and 79,000 people, respectively.
“We are living with mortality rates higher than those of many war zones. Educational intervention programs will always be necessary in our situation. Among the advantages of the “Road Safety Education is Vital” program, we underscore networking with local partners, appreciating the work of the teachers and placing the focus bey ond procedures and skills,” stresses Ivson Correia, manager of the Public Transit School/Traffic Education Coordination, from the Provincial Traffic Department of Pernambuco (DETRAN-PE).
Health Promotion
As regards the Health Promotion program, initiatives are undertaken in collaboration with public entities, universities, hospitals, scientific societies and companies.
“With the Women For The Heart program, created to increase awareness and warn the female population of the importance of pr eventing cardiovascular diseases, Fundación MAPFRE fulfills the important social role of ensuring women realize how important it is to take care of their heart by adopting healthy habits in their daily lives. Currently, the availability of reliable health information sources greatly helps offering guidance to the population. Moreover, as we educate them, we encourage the adoption of a healthy lifestyle and, thus, self-care,” stresses Dr. Sabrina Bernardez Pereira, medical coordinator of Administrative Protocols and of the Value Management Department at the Hospital del Corazón (HCor). Over 55,000 women have benefited from 25 activities.
“We are investing in programs that benefit thousands of people in every region of Brazil and make a real contribution to improving public policies, disseminating quality information and enhancing educational endeavors nationwide”
In 2019, likewise related to Women For The Heart and in collaboration with the Cardiology Society of the State of São Paulo (SOCESP), the report Cardiovascular Health of Brazilian Women was published to alert society about the risk factors linked to cardiovascular diseases for the female population.
“This study, conducted on more than 93,000 adults in 500 basic health ar eas of the São Paulo and Grande Campinas regions, has shown that stress (mainly in the domestic sphere) is considerably greater in women than in men. This finding ma y be an important factor when assessing cardiovascular risk in women,” the HCor representative adds.
Social Action
Through its International Cooperation program, Fundación MAPFRE in Brazil collaborates with 14 non-governmental organizations to promote social initiatives in such areas as education, health, nutrition and access to the labor mark et. The actions undertaken in 13 Brazilian states impacted on the lives of 16,612 people throughout 2019.
“The support we receive is fundamental for the execution of the Jatobazinho School project. This is a boarding school for local children living in barely accessible areas, in the most remote parts of the Brazilian Pantanal, a wetland lacking even the most essential government services. Having a partner like Fundación MAPFRE provides us with the possibility of acquiring top-quality didactic materials, offering a balanced diet and facilitating personal hygiene, as well as ensuring the health of all our pupils ,” explains Sylvia Helena Bourroul, director of Instituto Acaia Pantanal, one of the institutions participating in the International Cooperation program.
The social action pillar of our w ork also includes the Volunteers program, an initiative created to encourage the participation of collaborators from MAPFRE in supportive actions, thereby promoting the concept of solidarity. These activities are organized in collaboration with the Human Resources area, many of them in institutions which are members of the International Cooperation program. Our army of volunteers has carried out 127 activities throughout 2019 and a total of 9,808 people benefited from them.
“The importance of participating in this kind of activities is the possibility of helping impr ove people’s quality of life and further the adv ancement of society. All this in addition to the comr adeship among the collaborators, the desire to help others and the understanding that, if each of us does our bit, the returns can be enormous, both on a personal level and for society,” stresses Ana Carolina Romaioli Marques, analyst for the IT Economic Control Department at MAPFRE Brazil, who participated as a volunteer on more than one occasion in 2019.
2019 also saw the celebration of the Volunteering Marathon, an event that mobilized over 900 collaborators, service providers and relatives to participate in social causes in various spheres of activity. The initiative allowed collaborators to perform assistance and transformative actions on one single day, during business hours. It is estimated that over 5,000 people – children, youngsters, refugees, homeless or elderly citizens, among others – benefited from these actions.
Insurance and Social Protection
The Insurance and Social Protection Area promotes educational activities to foster training and the dissemination of knowledge related to the insurance sector. The BugaMap game has reached the universities. And the Fundación MAPFRE Social Innovation Awards have grown to such an extent that 47 Brazilian projects were entered for the second edition of this contest.
Road Safety Education is Vital from the educators’ viewpoint
Jackson Silvano
Teacher at the Lucy Canziani Full-Time Education Center, located in the city of Itajaí (Santa Catarina, SC).
“As an educator, I believe in education where pupils are the protagonists of their own learning process. In keeping with this perspective, this program provides for the development of creativity and a reflective, collaborative critical mind, as well as the ability to work in a group and find solutions to real-world traffic-related situations. All this will make them adults who are an integral part of urban mobility, fully respecting traffic legislation and their fellow citizens.”
Flávia Rios Almeida
Teacher at the Antônio Belarmino Gomes Provincial School, in the city of Divinópolis (São Paulo, SP).
“Thanks to the work undertaken, our children and youngsters have had the chance to get to know the reality of our city’s traffic problems. Work was done on aptitudes such as responsibility and citizenship, empathy, cooperation, self-awareness, self-help and reasoning. The result has been excellent, with the entire educational community mobilized, getting the message across to the families, who have undergone a behavioral change.”
Fábia Vitória Medeiros do Nascimento
Teacher at the CAIC José Joffily Elementary and Secondary Education Provincial School, located in Campina Grande (Paraíba, PB).
“With this program, our children and youngsters develop essential skills for becoming citizen with full awareness: e.g. a power of observation within their surroundings; critical thinking regarding the rights and duties of all drivers and pedestrians; a desire to participate in the political decisions and drafting of legislation or regulations that help improve our roads and optimize our public spaces.”
Elenice Salete Medeiros Piana
Teacher at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Municipal Kindergarten, in the city of Ariquemes (Rondônia, RO).
“Among the skills developed by our kids, we must highlight a positive image that bolsters their self-esteem, increasingly identifying their limitations and possibilities, as they learn to deal with conflict situations, employ their personal resources, and respect both their peers and adults, thereby building reciprocity.
