News · A Favela Thought
A
favela thought
In the run up to the Rio Olympics, spare a thought
for the locals who are shied away from the limelight
As the world sets eyes on the
2016 Olympics, Brazil’s locals
will be working to make a living in the
shanty towns, known as ‘favelas’.
According to the 2010 Census, 6%
of Brazil’s population live in favelas
but their unregulated nature
means that they lack very basic
services and public investment.
Rocinha is the largest favela in Rio.
With little space from house to house,
Rocinha residents are crammed
together like canned sardines. But
between the cracks of the favela’s
makeshift spaces, life continues
regardless of the intense urbanity.
As a result of this, many residents are
forced to put years’ worth of income
and physical labour into building
their own homes, using the most
basic building materials like brick,
concrete and reinforced steel.
Local people face a life filled with
crime, poverty and little privacy.
Rocinha’s surroundings are certainly
not unique and instead, more of a sad
reality to the other side of Rio.
Although favela’s don’t always house
the impoverished. Peek inside one of
the huts and you might be surprised
to see some basic utilities such as
electricity, running water and indoor
Mindful Moment
You can now help the locals by donating on the ‘developing minds’ website:
http://www.developingmindsfoundation.org/
6 · Mindspace Magazine · Issue 01
plumbing. However, you only need to
step outside the huts to see that not
even a stone’s throw from resident’s
doorsteps, large sewage channels
meander between the streets where
the children play. In a country as
wealthy as Brazil, it is simply heart
breaking to see how things are so
poorly managed.
Deep in recession, with soaring
unemployment, Rocinha needs all of
the tourist income. The 2014 World
Cup and the 2016 Olympics have
helped Rio, but is there really an
excuse for neglecting the favela’s
squalid conditions anymore?