Favela Blogs

Today I set up a few Google Alerts (favela, Rio de Janeiro, pacification, homeless) to be sent to my inbox. I did this so I can keep up to date on all things favela, which I am hoping will be beneficial to my thesis. While I was setting up my alerts I came across these two really great blogs about favela life.

Check them out:

• Homeless in Brazil: By Daphnie Carter who spends her months between California and Brazil. She blogs about the issues facing the street children in Rio de Janeiro, writing that, "Their situation (along with homeless kids everywhere) is clearly unjust, and an umbrella-range of irresponsible adults, from all levels of society, are to blame for the cruel lifestyle that these children are "living" in such conditions on the streets." This blog also has some good video and outside links.
• Life in Rocinha: A guy who lives in Rocinha (I believe he is a favela tour operator). Basically reading an insiders perspective, a nice supplement to my own outsider perspective.

Slackline With A Homeless Family

BOPE occupies a favela in Tijuca, photo by Max Coelho/BOPE.

The amount of homeless in Icaraí has drastically increased since my last two visits in 2008 and 2009.  From what I understand, Rio won hosting duties for the World Cup and Olympics and now the government has begun Favela Pacification - favelas are invaded and occupied by police forces. Sometimes there can be all out war between gangs and military police but often war lords and drug and gun traffickers flee into the cities surrounding Rio. Basically the homeless, as well as war lords and drug and arms traffickers, are being swept out of Rio and into the surrounding cities, such as here in Niterói.

[Favela Pacification Spreads to Tijuca]

The girls go for a dip with the baby after playing on the slackline.

Russell and I are very popular on the beach when we do slackline. We are equal opportunity and all different types of kids, from high class kids to favela kids, come and want to try the slackline. So when a homeless family set up camp under a shade tree next to us, their kids obviously wanted to come and play - and they did.

The social gap between couple walking and the homeless family is palpable.

Our conversation:

Are you a gringa?
   Yes, yes I am.
Laughter
Where are you from?
   America
Germany?
   No, The United States of America.
Oh, Germany.
   No, the US.
Germany must be nice.
   Yes, Germany is nice.

Deep, I know. But they didn't seem to know of the US - Russell even told them and they still didn't get it.

The family seems to consist of one older man (certainly drunk or on drugs, or both [read about the crack epidemic among the homeless]), a woman my age or a little older (she seemed to be in charge of things), two male teenagers, three younger girls and two younger boys, and one baby.

They all had giant Coca-Cola bottles to drink from. I often see homeless people with Coke, but never see them with water. Why? Coke is cheaper than water. How can that be, right? I know. It's outrageous. Not to mention how may health and dental problems arise from drinking sugar filled Coke as a substitute for water.

Slackline on the beach.

It really sucks that instead of getting these kids off the streets and into school (which in Brazil is mandatory and free) the government instead is just ignoring the problem and transplanting these social and structural issues from Rio into surrounding cities. I don't think invasion and occupation are long term solutions - but hey, at least Rio will be looking good in the harsh international spotlight (note the touch of sarcasm in my voice).

Friedman & Investing in Science

I just read a great little OpEd by Thomas Friedman in the NY Times. Basically it is boils down to the fact that the US has a grand opportunity to invest in innovative science and new technology, but we are half-assing it. We are spending trillions of dollars on endless and unnecessary wars yet we are unwilling (not unable - unwilling) to spend $1 billion to fund five years of totally necessary, and ground-breaking, research at eight hubs around the US, attracting the best and the brightest from around the world. Where are our priorities?

As Friedman states, "Welcome to Tea Party America. Think small and carry a big ego." What a perfectly accurate and succinct description of Tea party America.

Friedman also pointed out that although this issue may seem small - just like climate change seems small, and ocean pollution seems small, and the depleting and polluting of our groundwater seems small, and giant oil spills seem small - it is the small things that matter:

Nations thrive or languish usually not because of one big bad decision, but because of thousands of small bad ones — decisions where priorities get lost and resources misallocated so that the nation’s full potential can’t be nurtured and it ends up being less than the sum of its parts. That is my worry for America.

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