One of Brazil’s largest favelas, or slum districts, located 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the nation’s capital buildings in Brasília, has been helped by Seventh-day Adventist students and educators during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Adventist Education Network teachers and students distributed 400 food baskets to residents of Sol Nascente, a neighborhood that sprouted on the capital’s outskirts some 20 years ago. Now home to perhaps as many as 100,000 people, it rivals the Rocina favela in Rio de Janiero for the designation as the country’s largest slum.

On May 21, the Adventists set up two distribution points. Health protocols—wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, and maintaining “social distancing”—were observed while the families collected the parcels.

One of the beneficiaries, Maria Diocesa, said she’s unemployed and help came at the right time. “It’s very important. There are a lot of people in need here. I have two daughters, one age 14, and the other six years old. These supplies arrived will certainly make a difference on our table”, she said.

For Janete Soares, unemployed since February, the distribution was an answer to prayer. “It was a relief to receive these supplies. I was desperate. I didn't know how I was going to put food on the table. I have four children and our shelves were already empty. Now, I am relieved. Receiving this was a blessing,” she said.

Solidarity Learned in Class

Ninth-grade student Bruna Menezes, who attends an Adventist school in Taguatinga, said it’s a privilege to be able to help people in need. “I was happy to be able to contribute at least a little to these families who are unable to work because of the pandemic. We, students of the Adventist School, were touched by this and organized this [distribution] with our teachers,” he explained.

The initiative is part of the “Education + Solidarity” project, said Márcio Castro, director of the Adventist Education Network of Brasília and Entorno. 

“It is an initiative of teachers, students, and parents who have mobilized with the objective of helping the least fortunate. In education, one of our pillars is the social aspect of caring for others. Every day, we emphasize and teach our students the importance of loving others and sharing what God gives us. In this moment of crisis, many people are vulnerable and that is why we are here: so that, in some way, we can help these people.”

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site