Zilda Arns: the brazilian woman who changed children’s lives
(Credit: Unsplash)
This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Luísa Eugênio Farias, a second-year medical student at UNICESUMAR, in Maringá, Brazil and Ms. Esther Serman Castro e Silva, a third-year medical student at UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense), in Niterói, Brazil. They are affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.
People wait outside a vaccination station to receive a dose of the Sinovac CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine in Belford Roxo, Brazil, March 31, 2021, during a vaccination day for citizens 71 and older. (CNS photo/Ricardo Moraes, Reuters)
When the Covid-19 pandemic started, Leila, a pastoral agent in Brazil, was prevented from visiting the senior citizens she used to see on a monthly basis. But one day, an elderly woman called her and said she had an urgent question. Leila went to her home and met the woman and her husband just outside their house gate.
She discreetly passed Leila a folded note, pretending to share a cake recipe. Arriving home, Leila read: “If Covid comes for me, all of my papers are in the closet, first door on the left. I want to be buried in the cemetery. Please have them use the picture that is on my dining-room table.”