Last week, I went to a demonstration in downtown Rio where favela residents were protesting against the city’s decision to remove several of their homes and neighborhoods. About two hundred men, women, and children —representatives from several communities — gathered in front of City Hall with[...]
Posts Tagged ‘favela’
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[...]
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[...]
