PROJECTS: The Hinterland: ZIKA during Carnaval

Campo Alegre de Lourdes, Bahia. Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016.

Dona Maria de Lourdes da Silva, 75, right, sings prayer songs and gives thanks for the return of her figurines, Saint Antonio (St. Anthony is the Patron Saint of Lost Things and Lost Souls) and Sagrado Coraçao de Jesus (Sacred Heart of Jesus which represents divine love), with her neighbors at her home, near Campo Alegre de Lourdes, in the state of Bahia. 

During intense droughts, families engage in a unique ritual. They 'steal' one another’s saint figurine, called "Rouba do Santo," or rob the saint. The return of the Saint to the owner is called "Levada do Santo," or return the saint. Families practice this ritual to invoke rain to fall. When a Saint goes missing, the power of faith by the owner of the Saint prays immensely for the rain to come. When the rains come, the Saint is then returned. If the rain doesn’t come, the Saint remains missing.

Seven days after Dona Maria’s Saint went missing, the rains came and stayed for a month. It was the first significant rain in about six years.