This foto really has nothing to do with the questions but I saw these two and I thought why not? For some of these questions are serious and I had to really think. So have two adorable cats as a foto just helps for me to appreciate the simple things, the good things, like my two cats who love each other dearly. "Fuzzy" is the cat on the left and he is the oldest at 4 years old and his fluffy sister "Joy" to the right.
I receive many emails and people asking me questions about my favela life. I don't know of anybody else that writes a blog about their life in a favela. I think many don't like to talk about their life because they think nobody is interested. I started this blog because people were curious and little information about favelas is known other than what you hear in the media. So, I started this blog and I am happy I did. Many of you read my posts and then email me. Its nice to have people wanting to know what life is like.
Below is some questions that were recently sent to me, and I want to share them with you. I answered the best I could for the amount of time I had. Im sure I could have said more or gone into more detail, but then I would not be posting it now.
• How is it like to
live there in the favela?
This is a very general question and I could probably write a book about living here. It can be chaotic and
everywhere you go you see people. I love living here because there’s so much to
do and so much activity. Rocinha is like an anthill. You can see people
working, kids walking to school. There is a lot of traffic with cars, buses and
motorbikes everywhere. We who live here are very fortunate because Rocinha has
everything. We have over 6,000 different types of businesses here. We have 4
national banks, 2 radio stations, 1 monthly news paper, 3 forms of public
transportation, 8 sushi restaurants. Rocinha really is a city of about 300,000
people packed into 190,000 sq meters of space. Sometimes the weather affects
the electricity or internet connections. Many people now use internet. We only
have internet here since 2002 so its still new for many people. People are
always improving their houses to make them better and you can always hear
construction work going on somewhere inside of here. And Rocinha is still growing.
• How would you
describe your community?
Its amazing what the
people do here. This place is organic, built by the hands of the people. So
much creativity and even with all the problems we have, people still smile and
there is a good vibe to this place. The amazing people inside this favela is
what makes this place what it is! I enjoy when people in the favela get
together to watch the football games or any sporting event. Today the Flamengo football team beat Vasco and so much happiness on the street!
• What do you have
here that does not exist anywhere else?
A real sense of
community. We all know each other. People say "hello" to you on the street. They
stop and shake your hand. For me, I feel loved, needed, wanted and cared for
and this is the only place that I feel this. I have lived in other places (not
favelas) and I never felt such warmth of the people that I feel here. Rocinha
is love!
• What annoys you the
most?
That the government
will not help us improve the social services here. They can spend billions on
the World Cup to please investors and the rich, but how about the almost 2
million in Rio that live in favelas? We are the people who work in the service
industry and make the city run. Without us, the city does not operate! We need
some better system of waste management for the garbage. We need open sewers to
be covered. Better education for our youth so they can have improved
opportunities to go to university and get better jobs. It would be nice to see kids not getting into trafficking or other crimes. Its all about education! Brasil does not invest
in its youth. What a waste especially in the favela where there are so many
talented people. People deserve to live in dignity. We need a police that
respects every citizen no matter the social class.
What does make you
proud?
We are survivors. We
experience a lot here. Life can be difficult but we have each other and we do
help each other. Even with the challenges we still manage to keep going. The
favela needs to continue to improve. And slowly inside the community we are
making changes that we can. People start their own small businesses. They
improve their houses. They problem solve with help of neighbors or community
leaders.
• Would you like to
live in another place? Why, could you explain?
No, I prefer to stay
here and help by being one of those who is actively trying to improve things
for people here. I cannot abandon this place. If I were to leave,
where would I go? What would I do? Especially moving to a different place, I
wouldn’t have friends. And being favelado outside the favela, life would be
even more complicated for me. I see no reason to leave here.
• Do you think that
the community is united or divided? (as if it had sub neighbourhoods?)
I don’t think we are
divided in a bad way. In Rocinha we have about 25 sub neighborhoods within this
large favela. I live in Cachopa and I have friends that live in Vila Verde, Rua
1, Roupa Suja, Via Apia, Boiadeiro, many areas. Every area is a little different. Some
areas are more residential and where I live on the main street there are a lot
of small businesses. As far as people themselves being divided, no.
• Do you feel safe,
or do you fear living here?
Most of the time I do
feel safe here. I walk through all areas of the favela and have no fears. The
only time its dangerous is when the police and traffickers decide to start
shooting at each other. But as for residents here, I don’t have fears of anybody
here and there is no reason for me to fear anybody.
• What are the places
that you find most safe? And those you are afraid of
going to? I am not afraid to go
anywhere inside of here. I live here and many people know me. I am more afraid
of certain neighborhoods outside the favela.
