“A estratégia foi de muita luta mesmo": Práticas Sociais de resistência da comunidade ribeirinha de São Carlos do Jamari (RO) frente à inundação de 2014

Abstract

The Riverside Community of São Carlos do Jamari is a district of Porto Velho (RO), located on the banks of the Madeira River. In February 2014, it was hit by a major flood, which left the community completely submerged for about four months, causing both material and symbolic losses. This event occurred during the same time frame as the implementation of two environmentally impactful projects: the Santo Antônio and Jirau Hydroelectric Power Plants (HPPs). The primary objective of the research was to analyze the educational processes emerging from social practice through the collective memories of this environmental disaster, by capturing oral accounts from people who experienced and continue to experience the flood. The secondary objectives were: I) to contribute to the advancement of the oral history of the 2014 flood in the lower Madeira River region; II) to clarify the ways in which Individual Memory and Collective Memory intertwine in the process of reconstructing lived experiences; III) and to identify the emotional costs of the flood, understanding what community members did during the event, what they wanted to do, and what they believed they were doing. The adopted methodology was based on memory studies, including fieldwork (2022), with a dialogical, careful, and respectful approach to popular education and culture, involving the participation of fourteen riverside residents who experienced the 2014 flood (with a diverse sample). For methodological support, a guide with Oral History Techniques was created. The data collection instruments used were semi-structured individual interviews (recorded and transcribed) and direct observations (recorded in field diaries). Through Data Analysis and the Analyzed Results, it was possible to access the collective memories of this episode, contributing to the historical record of the 2014 flood, including: the collective memories of receiving the news of the flood; the elders who had never experienced such a flood; those who remained in the community during the flood; the sheltering in schools in Porto Velho; the return to the community; their thoughts on the influence of the HPPs; the material and symbolic losses; the insecurities; the sorrows; the strategies for overcoming the flood; the “New São Carlos” Project; and finally, the collective memories of learning from the flood. From the learning process, the social practices of resistance and the fight for the (re)rooting of the São Carlos do Jamari (RO) riverside community after the flood are identified, and the educational processes revealed are related to unity, cooperation, and a sense of community in reorganizing the community by cleaning and removing the mud, so that they could not only have a place to live again, but also possess a counter-argument to compel public agencies—who had denied financial assistance to reconnect electricity, water, and other basic services—to resume operations and recognize the territory.