We are the fishing community of Bolsão 8, situated in the Baixada Santista, the biggest, industrial port of South America. We live with the mangroves at the Santana river, not as outsiders, but as part of its reproductive rhythm and ecological demands. Most of us, or our families, were moved here in the mid-1980s after being resettled from a neighborhood called Vila Parisi, where life was threatened by industrial pollution and illness.

Vila Parisi, formerly a neighborhood in the city of Cubtatão, was once a vibrant residential area located deep within heavy industry and a place where families worked, children played, and livelihoods were organised collectively. But over time, toxic air, contaminated soil, and chronic health problems made life there unbearable. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Cubatão became known internationally as part of the “valley of death” due to extreme pollution.

When the first families moved here to Bolsão 8, it was with the hope of a future that did not mean sacrifice of our health and the health of the ecosystem around us. Since then, we have nurtured a collective belonging to the land rooted in care for the forests and waters around us — not through extraction or consumption, but through protection and regeneration.

Our answer to the damage we witnessed has been to organize collective action, what we call a mutirão. This is a gathering of many people working together voluntarily to care for the environment that industry and public neglect have destroyed and degraded. It is not a one-off event; it is a continuous expression of our collective responsibility to the mangrove and to each other.

In a mutirão, we do more than remove trash. We reconnect with the ecology that sustains fish, crabs, and birds. We reclaim spaces where life can flourish again. In doing so, we show that healing is both local and universal.

Sometimes we remove a ton of waste from the mangrove in a single day. But we do not celebrate the weight of that waste, but take it as a warning signal and motivation to keep on working. We educate our young ones about why we act, and we teach newcomers the value of patience, resilience, and environmental care.

Our struggle is a testimony/call: When communities organize, when they refuse to passively bear social and environmental injustices, when they act collectively for life, change becomes possible. A mutirão is not merely cleanup; it is a powerful, living symbol of collective hope and responsibility.