Quilombola communities in the municipality of Moju, in the state of Pará, recently participated in meetings with Hydro, to discuss social programs sponsored by the company.

Quilombolas are descendants of slaves who escaped from farms and settled in the forests of Brazil a long time ago.

When the pipeline that takes bauxite from the Paragominas mine to the Alunorte aluminum refinery crosses the lands of some of the quilombola families in Moju, they will become important stakeholders.

Hydro representatives were very well received by the community.

“Our company has a tradition of respecting and seeking dialogue with the communities that are affected by our operations,” says Oellingrath, who works in Hydro's Corporate Social Responsibility Department.

The main initiative with investments from the mine in Paragominas is the Casa de Família Rural, a school that provides training in rural activities for young people to adults.

“This is an old dream that has come true. I am very grateful that my son makes use of what he is learning and we have obtained good results ”, says Raimunda de Moraes (70), who is the president of the São Bernadino Quilombolas community.

Guiomar Tavares, from the São Bernadino Quilombolas community, is one of the students at the Casa de Família Rural. She likes the agricultural techniques classes and now plans to start her own planting project.

“We want to learn more and always give feedback to teachers. Studying here is a dream come true. It gives us hope for higher incomes, a change in life, ”she says.