Organizing Community Solidarity During COVID-19 in Calama, Chile

Claudio Alexis Arenas Martínez has lived in Calama, a mining town in northern Chile, for 16 years. He works in occupational risk prevention and environmental protection in one of the large mines near Calama.  He knows well the challenging conditions facing the area:  extreme temperature variation, relocation of the mining settlement around Chuquiucamata mine (one of the world’s largest open-pit copper mines), high levels of arsenic contamination in the water supply, and poor air quality. He saw the pain experienced by local families, and though he was an engineer, he thought first with his heart – he wanted to help.

He now co-leads the Colectivo Sociocultural La Bicicleta de Calama (the Social and Cultural Bicycle Collective of Calama), along with his brother Matías Felipe Arenas Martínez.  The Colectivo was founded with a simple mission:  To help people.  Prior to the pandemic, the Colectivo placed equal weight on cultural programs and social support programs.  When COVID-19 struck, they quickly realized the diversity and depth of families’ needs and shifted to support them.  

The Colectivo began by surveying the community to identify specific needs; they then brought together a diverse and passionate group of volunteers to form “brigades” to respond: One brigade delivered meals and cleaning supplies, another helped families pay bills, while others delivered diapers and other support for mothers and babies; another delivered pet food and supplies to care for household pets. There was even a Brigada Dulce – a sweets brigade – that brought community members together to bake cakes and cookies. Meanwhile, relying often on available social media, the Colectivo organized musical and urban art events for children and a training program for youth on developing their own social projects.