I LOVE ROCINHA!

This is a project that I started about 6 months ago to help instill pride and love for this community.

 Yes, favelas have their problems that are obvious but there is so many good things here too and that is what I try to focus on. Favelas are places where real people live! 

I Love Rocinha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tradition comes to the favela

In Canada Hockey is TRADITION!

I often receive visitors here to Rocinha who I share interests with. In February, Alexandre Harvey came to see the favela. He is from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. When I received his first email at the bottom was his signature and place of employment. He works for the Montreal Canadiens pro hockey team. I have always been a lover of hockey and back in the late 70's and early 80's. I used to follow the Canadiens. I loved players like Yvan Cournoyer, Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Guy Lapointe, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden...I could go on. These guys played beautiful hockey with out all the fighting and heavy checking. The played the game the way it was supposed to be played.

So, when I saw this at the bottom of Alexandre's email, I thought, great, I can meet someone from one of the most historic teams in hockey. In Canada, hockey is like a religion and when I lived there, I fell in love with the hockey culture, from the kids teams, junior hockey and the pro's. I always enjoyed the Saturday tv show "Hockey Night in Canada" with Don Cherry.  I lived with families and Saturday night doubleheader games was a way for family to be together. I miss those memories.

Alexandre works as the director of digital media so we made the plan. I asked Alexandre to bring me a Canadiens t-shirt. I was surprised when he not only brought me a t-shirt but he also brought some kid sized shirts and a Canadiens flag. I thought, great, I will find some kids to give this to. I told Alexandre I would give these t-shirts out to some kids and I would take pictures of the kids wearing the t-shirt and including the Canadiens flag. Just another really cool way to bring different cultures and understanding to the favela. You can see how happy these kids are!

Projeto de Cidadania Gol Olímpico- Gol de Placa

Being a tour guide is great work but I also like to be out in the favela aware of projects that are in need. I was introduced to two guys running a small football project at the bottom of the favela. There is a small pitch where the kids can play 5 on 5 and this program runs every Saturday from 9-12 noon. Jorginho and Rogerio run the Gol de Placa project. I thought that the second set of jerseys could be useful. I always try to find projects that really need the help and don't receive help. Here are some fotos of kids playing, a foto of the two coaches Rogerio and Jorginho and a group foto after I gave the kids their jerseys! Thank you Adriana McDonald for your kind donation!

Catching up!

I have been away from the blog for a while as much has been going on and our tours have been really busy. But I want to catch up!

Berit returns!

In December two friends returned. Berit, from New Jersey returned with five more suitcases of donations for the children here. I took her two organizations that set up meetings with residents for the distribution of donations. When Berit comes she brings clothes, toys and school supplies. So, I try to organize meetings with projects that ned these things. Berit also has a few friends here that she visits on her own to distribute her gifts. We distributed donations to two places, Escola Moranguinhos which is a daycare/school for children from 3-6 years old. The second place I took her was the Two Brothers Foundation organization. We always look forwards to Berit coming to visit. She keeps in touch with me and lets me know when she plans to visit. We look forwards to her next visit.

Fanshawe Students visit

In February Adriana McDonald and her students from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario Canada came for a visit to our favela with 15 students to take a tour but also play a game of football with the youth that live here. The students study Landscape design and Integrated Land Planning. So I think visiting a favela was interesting for the. I organized the game with Andre Santos who is the director of the football programs at the quadra at first street at the top of the favela.

When asked why they wanted to visit a favela? Here was the response:

"There were a few things that prompted us to visit Rocinha. One of our goals was to offset the carbon emission we created by traveling. One way we were able to that was by getting involved and giving back to the community. In Rio, the visit to Rocinha allowed us to support you and your DJ school and also we were able to bring the soccer jerseys, once again, giving back to your community.

In a more professional level, students were interested on how an "unplanned" neighbourhood is developed. Very different approach from what they learn in school. They absolutely loved the visit."
 

They did bring 4 sets of football jerseys so during this visit I gave Andre one set for his players. The other sets will be distributed to other programs in the favela. Thank you Adriana for contributing to our favela! Below are photos from the event.