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Freitag, 9. Mai 2014

Another look on the Favelas of Rio

For my holidays I went to visit my family in Rio Brazil. Of course I went on the beach of Ipabena and Copacaban and saw the Corco covado (you know the big jesus that you see on all the pictures). What touched me at most was the visit in some Favelas. In this article, I will write what I learned about the favelas during my visits.

What is a favela?
Favelas is a term for slum in Brazil. It was supposed to be temporary habitations for soliders and now families have been living there since generations. What defines them is that constructions are not made by a plan, follow no influence of the state. Inhabitants left on the side of societies had to organize hemselves to get some road build, get electricity and water. The community feeling is very strong in theses places.

Favelas have a very bad reputation, known for their drugs dealers and violence as in the movie, the city of gods:


If this is still true it is not the case in all favelas. Their inhabitants are human beings. I invite you to watch the movie 5x Favelas. The trailer is in protuguese, but if you get the DVD you will appreciate those 5 short stories giving another side of the life in the favelas.



As a preparation to the world cup and olympic game, some favelas are being "pacified". This means that the police comes and install some policemen in the favelas. The people are being told a week in advance so that "caids" go away ... or just stay quiet. The pacification police unite then will settle in the favela. Different projects are then done to bring in infrastructure, education and culture.

Graffiti in the favelas:
I visited two favelas with a lot of graffitis, Prazeres and Vidigal. In the favela of Prazeres, a project supported by a local NGO, organised to have grafters from all over the world to redecorate the favela. There are two goals:
-Make the living of the inhabitants better
-Enhance local economy and tourism by getting visitors to see the graffiti. We did the tour accompanied by Young people linking there.

Here, you can see some pictures I took. Enjoy the art and the view!

Garden View from Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres
Graffiti in Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres

Graffiti in Prazeres


Graffiti in Prazeres

View on the favela of Vidigal

Graffiti in Vidigal
Graffiti in Vidigal

Graffiti in Vidigal

Graffiti in Vidigal
And there are a lot more to say. So if you visit Rio, get off the beaten tracks!

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