Volleyball player reports family despair due to flooding in RS: “We lost everything” | volleyball

Volleyball player Kauã Baumgarten, 20 years old, apprehensively follows the tragedy and the moments experienced by his family in Rio Grande do Sul.

More than a thousand kilometers away from Canoas, the city where he was born, the opposite of the Sesi-Bauru base told ge how the tense days are being experienced by him and his family, amid the storms that hit the state.

When following the news from a distance, away from his family and fellow countrymen, the athlete revealed that he went into “shock”.

– I’m in Bauru with my heart in my hand. We see the news and think it will never happen to us. My house, I was born there, water never entered, when my mother said that she was preparing to evacuate the house, I was in shock. I thought: “It’s never flooded, now is it going to flood?” Then when I saw it, my house was completely underwater, we lost everything, but luckily my mother, sister, grandmother and grandfather are fine.

The small relief in the midst of the chaos was to see that the family is well, despite the material losses. Kauã highlighted that his mother, Janice Cardoso and his sister, Uine, are trying to get back on their feet and helping those most in need.

To this end, they opened an online fundraiser (click here to access) and are collecting cash donations to help Rio Grande do Sul.

– My mother and sister are helping other people because physically everything is very bad. It’s even worse than what this case in the South is showing. People without water, food, without clothes. When the water dries up it will be the largest open-air cemetery – she said.

Being physically far away and unable to help further, the idea of ​​raising money online was a way for the player to do something for his state.

– Volleyball people are helping me a lot in general. I posted a story and a lot of people reposted it, volleyball pages, professional athletes, it was a great recognition, I’m very happy with all this support, I can see that my mother and sister and I are going to get back on our feet and help others.

The mother, Janice, who is sheltering at a relative’s house, told ge her son’s concern about the situation the family is experiencing.

In a video, she shows her youngest son a gym in Canoas that he used to train in and now serves as a shelter for the city’s population (see below).

– He was very nervous, he cried a lot. He was sad to be away and not do anything for us and I told him to help share our funding with the professional athletes at the base. Ana Carolina, one of the best blockers in the world, helped us. There are a lot of people. Then his heart calmed down a little. But at first he was very worried. It’s his house, right? Even though he lives there, it’s temporary, his home is here – Janice explained.

Kauã’s mother shows her son the gym where he played volleyball, serving as a shelter

With the airport and roads closed, the opposite, who has been at Sesi-Bauru for a year and a half, doesn’t know when he will be able to meet his family again.

– We still don’t know when we will see each other. The airport is flooded, as my grandmother is disabled and my mother takes care of her, she can’t get here. I’m trying not to think, because I’m an athlete I have to stay functional. I’m trying not to affect myself even though it’s difficult, I’ve cried a lot – she concluded.

* Bárbara Bruno collaborated under the supervision of Arcílio Neto.