Fabio Medeiros, our friend and colleague in Dubai who is a proper born and bred carioca, graciously offered to put us up with his grandmother’s sister Dona Margarida during our stay in Rio. “Dona Margarida lives very close to Rocinha,” explained a homesick Fabio over an espresso not quite as s[...]
Posts Tagged ‘favela’
Boxing Like Rocky: Spotlight on Cleber Santana
I first met Cleber Santana, a 30-year-old Rocinha resident and boxing coach, on a chilly September eve. I was struggling to keep up with one of my English students, Jose, who was weaseling his way through an intricate maze of tiny streets in an unfamiliar part of Rocinha. Huffing and puffing after a[...]
A Leap Into the Forest…
So here begins the travel log of two Dubai girls who have fled the luxuries of the Middle East for rainforest-clad Brazil. Rewind two months back: “That’s the problem with creative agency folk,” my father complained, “one minute you’re happily working the next you have quit and booked a fl[...]
Favela Tourism: Harmful or Helpful?
When I told people I was going on a favela tour in Rio de Janeiro, I received a lot of strange looks. After all, those aren’t two words you often hear together. Reactions ranged from, “Why would you want to do that?” to “They are just people living in a different situation. W[...]
Encouraging a Powerful Voice
Catalytic Communities is currently competing in the Ideablob contest. This contest allows anyone to submit and vote for their favorite innovative idea. The idea with the most online votes by October 31, 2009 will win $10,000. Our idea is called “Rio Olympics: Ensuring a Powerful Legacy for Rio[...]
September 17th, 2009 - 10:54 am § in Around Town, Brazil, In the Field, Looking for Opportunity, Volunteer
Dichotomies of Rio
Rio de Janeiro is almost always cited as one of the most dangerous places, and at the same time, one of the happiest cities in the world. There is a strange dichotomy here, where the city is constantly divided between the rich and the poor, the booming, yet ‘developing’ economy, and those who th[...]
First Impressions: Ins and Outs
After my last post, you might be wondering why I choose to work in these “‘dangerous” communities. Once I had heard that favelas existed, I had to see and experience them for myself. I went to Brazil, and through some personal contacts, was able to join a group of college students taki[...]
What is a Favela, You Ask?
The first time I heard the term favela, I was a 20-year old college student enrolled in a History of Latin America class. I remember being astonished and outraged–almost to the point of betrayal–to learn that between 1/3 and 1/5 of the population of Rio lives in a favela. That is a lot o[...]
