Uepa Students Volunteer in Health Services at Círio 2025
The extension action of the Círio 2025 Project for the pilgrims provided care, welcome, and citizenship through volunteering
For over 200 years, the Círio de Nazaré has evoked emotions and also requires care for the pilgrims participating in the festivities. In one of the largest religious and cultural manifestations in the country, the State University of Pará (Uepa) reaffirms its social commitment by carrying out voluntary health assistance actions aimed at the pilgrims, with services provided by volunteer students from health-related courses.
This Friday, the 10th, during the road procession of the Transfer of the image of Our Lady of Nazaré to the municipalities of Ananindeua and Marituba, the largest of the nazarena season, the services were provided at the Center for Biological and Health Sciences (CCBS), on Avenida Almirante Barroso, where the pilgrimage route passes.
The extension action of the Círio 2025 Project for the pilgrims promoted care, welcome, and citizenship through volunteering. A total of more than 40 students from the courses of medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and biomedicine participated in the support point at CCBS throughout the morning. In addition to contributing to the safety and well-being of the faithful, the university's participation reinforces its role in the civic education of students and its commitment to the community.
Also on Friday, the institution's staff participated in a moment of praise during the passage of the image in front of the university.
At Uepa, the pilgrims who traveled long distances from different municipalities to Belém to participate in the pilgrimages have a safe place to regain their strength, with efficient care from the students supervised by faculty members of the institution.
Linked to the Pro-Rectorate of Extension (Proex), this specific extension action has been taking place for over a decade. At CCBS, procedures such as changing dressings and bandages, massages, measuring blood sugar levels, and vital signs, among other care, were performed. Some students will also participate in services during the procession on Sunday, October 12.
The action aims not only to provide immediate assistance to the participants of the pilgrimage but also to offer a practical and humanized experience to future health professionals. Among the students who provided care to the pilgrims, Maria Clara Barros, a student of Occupational Therapy, said she was excited and looking forward to participating in the support action for the pilgrims for the first time.
“The Círio is a great event, it is part of our tradition, our culture. As a student in the health field, it is very important for us to do our part as volunteers, to promote health, to be present caring for the well-being of pilgrims who come from far away to fulfill promises; they are people who need our care,” she reported.
Professor and nurse Margarete Bittencourt, coordinator of the action, explains that a careful recruitment of volunteer students is conducted, along with specific training in emergency and urgent care, aiming to empower Uepa students in both health care and social aspects, encouraging volunteering and humanitarian awareness in vulnerable situations.
Francisco Oliveira, 62 years old, a mason and farmer, walked from the municipality of Bujaru. He shared that he left yesterday afternoon walking to reach the Basilica of Nazaré. “I come every year to thank for the blessings received; it is a way to give back to Our Lady, and this health service is always good; I know that Our Lady is also present here in this care.”
Text: Diane Maués
