After receiving a notification letter from the IBGE, a nonagenarian couple insisted on the duty of participating in the 2022 Population Census. Ninety-five year old Fernando Albernaz and 93-year old Lygia de França Albernaz, who live in the neighborhood of Aldeota, in Fortaleza, did not want to wait for the return of the enumerator to their house and decided to go in person to the headquarter of the IBGE Superintendence in Ceará (SES-CE) to ask for filling the questionnaire. The visit was held in the afternoon of December 6, when the couple was hosted by Francisco Lopes, the IBGE Superintendent in Ceará, and by the team of the Coordination of Census Dissemination in the state.

The nonagenarian couple was hosted by Superintendent Francisco Lopes at the headquarter of SES-CE

The special visit was a pleasant surprise for the IBGE servants, who promptly enumerated Mr. And Mrs. Albernaz. Theo Sales, the Census Area Coordinator in Fortaleza, played the enumerator and, equipped with the Data Collection Mobile Device (DMC), registered each answer of the couple. The drawn questionnaire was the basic one, which has only 26 questions and it is applied in most households. In less than five minutes, Sales announced the end of the enumeration, which amazed the couple, who did not wonder that it would be so quick and easy to participate in the Census.

Area Coordinator Theo Sales enumerated Mr. and Mrs. Albernaz

Example of citizenship”Does anyone refuse to answer?”, asked, surprised, Mr. Albernaz, who always made sure to participate in all the censuses that took place along his more than nine decades of life. While many people refuse to receive the Census, he and his wife are the demonstration that old age is not an obstacle to participate. Even older than the IBGE itself, which was founded in 1936, 86 years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Albernaz were very active and lucid, with a lot of knowledge and experience.

Ninety-three year old Lygia Albernaz liked to participate in the 2022 Census

Ninety-five year old Fernando Albernaz commented on the importance of the Population Census

The neighborhood of Aldeota, where the couple lives, is among the areas with the highest incidence of Census refusals in Ceará, a mid-high class region with a lot of high-standard condominiums.  Unlike their neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Albernaz understand very well the importance of providing their information to the IBGE. “People need to know who we are, how many we are, how we are. People insists on answering the surveys in the entire world. However, people are afraid here in Brazil. I don´t know why!,” stated Mr. Albernaz.

Retired public servants, they meet each other when they worked in then Road Network of Ceará, a federal enterprise created in 1909 to manage the railways in the state. Later they were incorporated into the Federal Revenue, when it was founded in 1968. They worked in this office for their entire life until retirement. “I love to focus on people who work,” highlighted Mr. Albernaz, who dedicated seven decades of his life to the public service. “And you at the IBGE know how to work. You are a very prepared people. That´s why I decided to come here. We have to honor you and thank you,” completed him.

A friend of the Census

To arrive at the IBGE, Mr. and Mrs. Albernaz counted with the support of José Maria de Oliveira, a great friend of the family, who took them to be enumerated. He has accompanied them for 42 years, since he moved from his hometown, Aracati-CE, to the capital of the state.

Perceiving the desire of the couple of friends, who he considers as his parents, to take part in the Census, Oliveira felt he was obliged to help. “They became interested, and said they would like to come. Because they are like this, they like to go in person, to be present. Of course, I pleasantly brought them.” Mrs. Albernaz could not hide the gratitude for the friendship. “I chose this guy as my best friend, he is like my grandson. He does everything to me.”

A friend of the family, Oliveira insisted on taking the couple to be enumerated

Oliveira has already answered the 2022 Census when the enumerator visited his house. As a judge of peace and Institutional Director of the Arbitral Justice Forum, he mentioned the importance of the IBGE data to more precisely identify the situation of Brazil.

The Census goes where the people are

Although the nonagenarian couple decided to head to the headquarter of SES-CE, it is not required to head to either a Census data collection station or an IBGE branch to be enumerated. Whenever a resident is not found in the first visit, the enumerator should return to their household at least four times. In addition, the enumerator will leave a notification letter in the mailing box warning that a visit was made and informing his telephone number to be contact by the resident.

The notification letters, like that given to the elderly couple, has been one of the resources used to convince the most resistant residents to answer the Census. The document, which is being specially distributed in areas of high-standard condominiums, mentions the obligation to provide statistical information, according to Law no. 5,534, of November 14, 1968, under penalty of a fine. The same law guarantees the confidential nature of the information provided, which will be used exclusively for statistical purposes.