Teeth clenched, muscles clenched, resolute look, Tawi and his disabled father walked on his shoulder in the woods For twelve hours, you issued and six in return. He traveled kilometers between steep slopes and trapped branches, to reach “White men, with whom he has been in contact lately and whom he usually turns away from. He is like the others Indigenous Zo’é, a small tribe that lives secluded and hidden in the dense Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil, recognizable by the m’berpót, a long, light wooden stick inserted into the lower lip, swinging – between 7 and 9 years old – children’s first rite of passage that is preserved for life: Tawy and Father Wahu, 67, get on him.

And from what flames is this “talking” Aeneas fleeing with the Aborigines on his back? The global catastrophe of the moment, Covid. A desirable destination on the Tawi Long Journey is the nearest Vaccine Medical Center. The young man defied natural and cultural barriers to immunize his father and save him from a virus that was not spared even from the most remote green lung areas in the world and who still lives there. Like his people, there are 325 men and women who live scattered in the Amazonian Barra jungle, along the border with Suriname. Lands that are hard to reach but not protected from Covid, often brought to remote places by gold miners and clandestine timber traders.

Arriving at the garrison, Tawi found Dr. Jennings Simese to welcome him. The doctor, moved by the heroic mission, took a picture of him. It was January 22, 2021: the vaccination campaign in Brazil began five days earlier, with priority given to indigenous people. For about a year, Simões and . kept it Just a few days ago he shared it on Instagram as an avatar The year 2021 just ended.

For the 52-year-old doctor, who for twenty years has been involved in the care of the forest peoples, forThe image of the “Amazonian Aeneas and Anches” is a sign of hope in the midst of a new escalation of infection in the world. «Zo’é always asks me when all eggs will be vaccinated to end the emergency – He told the BBC. I hope, sooner or later, I can give an answer ».

So far, the pandemic has affected 57,000 indigenous Brazilians and exterminated 853, according to data from the Indigenous Health Secretariat. The numbers are underestimated, for the Association of Brazilian Indigenous Peoples: in March 2021, it would have exceeded 1,000 victims. Zo’é has been saved so far. Since the first media campaigns organized by activists, churches and doctors, the small tribe decided to isolate itself by dividing itself into small communities and did not oppose vaccinations, as evidenced by the case of Tawi.