Favela...finally updated!

Hi Everyone,
Rio is one of those rare cities you could spend a long time in and not get sick of because it is so lively and has so much depth to it. Nonetheless, many of Rios own inhabitants have never seen one major aspect of life in Rio--the favelas. Most middle class Cariocas (as inhabitants of Rio are called) fear the favelas and refuse to enter...except to buy drugs. Unsure if we could go into a favela alone, Mike and I decided to take a tour, which unexpectedly was much better and less voyeuristic than expected. We went to two favelas, Rocinha (one of Latin Americas largest and most well know slums) and Vila Canoas. About 20% of Rios population live in the more than 700 favelas. Unofficially, in Rocinha alone, there are 60 000 people, although the electric company claims that based on electricity consumption, there must be as many as 120 000.

Favelas came into being when former slaves were given the supposedly unproductive rainforested land on the steep hillsides for helping fight a Brazilian war. Piecemeal, these isolated bits of land grew together into communities, but were ignored by the governing authorities and thus lacked any sort of real infrastructure like water, power and sewage. However, today, as a result of a government initiative to turn the slums into real neighbourhoods, both the favelas I visited had all the necessary amenties (more or less anyway...we did see open sewer drains and were told that the poorest of the poor in the favelas still need to haul water long distances from common taps), even street signs (and therefore addresses and mail delivery), a bank branch, restaurants, shops, and also many satellite dishes (on account of the huge importance of telenovellas or soap operas in Brazilian society).

Favelas and people of the favelas are seen as dangerous by the majority of Brazilian society, despite the fact that the favelas are often right beside the wealthiest neighbourhoods and many favela dwellers work in the homes, restaurants and hotels of the wealthy and middle class. Our guide assured us that we were perfectly safe there, although there were several places we were not allowed to take pictures because of the high concentration of people in the drug trade around. Drug lords are the ultimate authority in the favelas and they keep the favelas safe enough for their clients who are mostly from outside the favelas. Basiaclly, they donºt let anyone make a mess in their backyard because it isnt good for business (same reason they dont sell crack actually...it is not good for business because it kills the clients too quickly). The guide also told us that generally, the only time the favelas become violent places is when the police enter and interfere with the business of the drug lords. The ¨security¨ system they use to alert the drug lords when police enter consists of young boys who wait at all the entrances of the favela and set off fireworks at the first sign of intruders. At that point, the drug sellers and drug lords fade away without a trace and inhabitants claim not to have seen or heard anything. What is interesting is that these alert boys make about $200 rais a week ($100 CDN) where the minimum wage is $350 rais a month ($175 CDN, only $2 rais or $1CDN an hour), making the drug trade very appealing to those with few legal opportunities to create a decent life.

As interesting as it was to see the winding alley ways and mish-mash construction of Rios favelas, we realized that we had already seen and been in favelas in Recife without realizing it (they have a different look in Recife because there is more space to spread out) and that some of the capoeiristas we know live in more difficult situations than what we saw on our tour.

We also got to learn a little about the school system in Brazil which was off major interest to me in particular, especially after going to school with Rivane in Recife, and also about the perversion of law and order that occurs in the favelas...but Im pretty sure no one but my grandmother is reading the blog anyway, so Ill hold off.

Ciao for now.


Mass of apartments.


Parrot


Rocinha


Vila Canoas