Homeless World Cup: Team Canada

My New Friends from Canada


The past week has been interesting. Copacabana hosted the Homeless World Cup from September 19th-26th. There were representatives from 54 different countries both men and women, playing a form of 4 on 4 football on artificial surface on a elevated platform. All this, on the beach within walking distance of the famous Copacabana Palace Hotel. Players from these countries were sponsored by various organizations or did their own forms of fundraising to make the trip to Rio. Nike was a main tournament sponsor, giving the players football shoes, shirts and shorts.

My friend Jim, who lives in Niteroi sent me a message about this tournament and I decided to volunteer to help out. For five days, I volunteered working the security gates at the venue checking badges to make sure the right people entered their perspective areas. My favorite part was to meet the athletes, see them play and hear their stories of how they are dealing with adversity. I have never been homeless, but I did live in a shelter for a while due to economic problems.

The purpose of this tournament is to bring awareness to homeless populations worldwide. The idea was started by Mel Young in a bar talking with friends. What better way to bring people together than the international appeal of football (or soccer). The criteria for the players is that within the last year they had to be homeless. They are only allowed to play in one Homeless World Cup tournament. Their slogan is “A ball can change the world”

The first team I met was from Finland and a player by the name of Patrick Kulmala. This mans story was sad. He was a former drug addict and because of his excessive use, lost his left arm. He still got out there and played with heart. When he returns to Finland he will have a job waiting for him and the support of his family to continue his recovery.

I had the opportunity to live in Canada for a while so when I saw the Canadian team, I wanted to talk to them. Other than my life here in Rio, if I had the chance, I would move to Canada. I love everything about Canada, the people, the beauty of the mountains in Vancouver, the multi-culturalism, the hockey, you name it…

It was difficult not to be drawn to Team Canada as their enthusiasm was amazing. The first player who I made contact with was Peter Chow as I saw an article written about him on the Homeless World Cup website (http://www.homelessworldcup.org). Team Canada had this spirit that everybody notice. They did not have the talent like Brazil or Chile but were so happy to be here in Rio taking part. Before each game they would do this synchronized dance in a circle to get the crowd going.

I made contact with Wendy and Kailin, two of the organizers with the team. They were interested in visiting the favela. Saturday after playing two games, I took the group to the favela. The idea was to play some hockey and soccer and interact with the people in the community. We found some kids at the Quadra Rua 1. It’s a big building that holds samba practices, baile funk parties and football games for the people in the favela. We rounded up some kids and got an informal game going. The kids eventually mixed in with the Canadians so favela kids were playing with them, not against them. For kids of the favela, most of them have never met people from Canada. We need to have more things like this here where our favela can meet and interact with other cultures.

There is much similarity in the social exclusion of favela residents and with the First Nations people of Canada. The majority of Team Canada were First Nations people. We share the same treatment in the countries we live. We are generally seen as a people with little or no value and not treated with respect. There are exceptions, but both Canada and Brazil have a ways to go with eliminating prejudice against “our peoples”. I think this is what drew me to enjoying Team Canada more than any other team. I understood and have experienced the same prejudices they have.

After playing some football we went to a friends rooftop that overlooks a 365 degree view of the favela. Many of the guys were amazed. I was so proud to have them there.
They had many questions and even some said they could easily live here in Rocinha.

The majority of these players come from addiction of abusive backgrounds but you would never know it from their professional behavior and respect of the favela. Not one person mentioned drugs or the social ills that plague our community. They were here to see absorb and take it all in. I am sure it made an impact on some of them.

The guys were hungry so we ate at one of my favorite little places at the top of the hill. Bar do Familia is the place I go when I am hungry and want to eat for under $7R a full meal. We fed the army of 12 Canadians for $50R. I got to talk with goalkeeper Kevin King about life here in the favela on a more personal level. I know that in the beginning he felt uncomfortable being in the favela, as for North Americans, the environment can be shocking. I explained to Kevin that he should not feel bad as most people are happy here. Just the fact of the Canadians being here, we feel like we have value. When you come to visit Rocinha, you embrace us as one of your own. Its not about the poorly built housing or lack of infrastructure that makes Rocinha, it’s the people. Yes, the favela has its problems but we have much good things going on here too. We have had to make do with what we have.

After the stomachs were full, I took them through the labrynth of alleyways that make up 95% of the community. Many took pictures and were intrigued with the chaotic building structures. The favela…no complaints, it is what it is!

I wanted them to see my house as I think it is important to be real with people when I show them Rocinha. I live here and have no shame of my small modest home. It works for me. The players and coaches went out on my roof and took many fotos including a small fireworks display that was going on. I tried to convince them the fireworks were for them, but could not b.s. this group.

When they all came inside to my living room, I showed them various clothing and things I had from my time spent in Canada. I still feel that I left a bit of my heart in Vancouver (which is where the team is from) and Toronto. I also had 6 hockey sticks and the plan was to find some kids to get a little 3 on 3, but all the players were tired from playing two soccer games and walking in the favela. So, we had to pass on the hockey, but I know someday, I will get a street hockey thing going here for the kids and I would love to have the Canadians in some way involved!

I think the team enjoyed my interest and love for their country. Before we left my house, several of the team presented me with a gift. The special act of receiving the “Eagle Feather” from the Canadians is something I will NEVER forget!!!! Now, I need for them to give me instructions on how I should display it as I want to show it the ultimate respect it deserves. I have it put away in a safe place until further instructions.

We continued our walk down the hill and at the bottom, my Capoeira friend Mestre Manel of Acorda Capoeira, was having a demonstration. To me, there are similarities in the First Nations Pow Wow gatherings and Capoeira. It’s a gathering of a cultural form of expression of specific peoples. There are rituals that are respected in both. To me, a Pow Wow and a Capoeira “roda” (or circle) are sacred and there are rules. Daniel Errey, one of the Team Canada coaches decided to participate in the “roda” and did very well for himself. I later found out that he had some experience and trained for sometime.

We moved on to the “Pasarella” or footbridge that crosses over to the Rocinha Sports Complex. The players took more fotos from the bottom of the favela looking up the hill of 54,000 houses. The Sports Complex was closed. The last stop was to see the Academicos da Rocinha Samba School. I explained about the history of samba and how it’s the focus point in many favelas in Rio.

At this point after about 6 hours, I could see the guys were tired of walking and wanted to get food and return to the hostels. I went with them in the van back to the Mellow Yellow Hostel in Copacabana, to eat dinner and then some decided to jump the subway train to party a little in Botofogo. I sat and talked until 2 am with the players and coaches and then had to get home as the next day I had the team from Belgium planning to visit the favela.

Team Canada, I know this will not be the last time I see you guys..I want to thank Wendy and Kailin for making this happen..and for coming and enjoying my community and showing yourselves as professional representatives of your country and cultures. I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS!!!!!!!

A Short History of Rocinha

Ok, I had this request to post a short history of Rocinha IN PORTUGUES...for my Portugues friends..so here it is

O breve histórico da Rocinha –

Parte 1

O breve histórico da Rocinha

A comunidade da Rocinha celebra aproximadamente 80 anos de mudanças, lutas e conquistas. Teve origem no final da década de 20 era uma enorme fazenda de café, inicialmente foi povoada por imigrantes portugueses e espanhóis. A forma de subsistência se dava com o cultivo de hortaliças que ofereciam às pessoas que percorriam a estrada da Gávea, como alimentos oriundos de suas rocinhas. Daí o nome da maior favela da América latina.
As terras foram divididas em grandes glebas para consumo agrícola, a maior parte delas pertenciam a CIA portuguesa Cássio Guidon, a bairro Barcelos a CIA Cristo Redentor e o Laboriaux pertencia a uma CIA Francesa. Nesta época alguns guardas sanitários foram instalados para controlar uma infestação de mosquitos que estavam causando febre amarela na barra da tijuca.

Em 1938 a estrada da Gávea foi asfaltada, local onde ocorria o circuito da baratinha. Contudo, acelerou-se o processo de ocupação por pessoas que acreditavam ser as terras públicas. A partir dos anos 50 houve um aumento de migração de nordestinos ao rio, principalmente direcionados para a Rocinha e em 1960 e 1970 houve o segundo surto de expansão, pois o projeto para construção dos túneis Rebouças e dois Irmãos para melhorar a integração da cidade, ofertou para a população opções de emprego. Nas décadas de 50 e 60 se iniciou então as grandes modificações na arquitetura, nos hábitos de vida e nas relações socias desta população predominantemente nordestina.

O descaso do governo com a comunidade, a falta de infra-estrutura, isto é, construção de barracos de papelão, degradação da floresta, crescimento desordenado, distribuição de água através de bicas entre outros problemas, provocou grande indignação, reivindicações e abaixo assinados. Sobretudo a população se organizou e muitas lutas se iniciaram e fizeram parte das conquistas desta comunidade. As lutas de nossos antepassados nos anseia coragem e esperança para dar continuidade por melhores condições de vida.


Parte 2

E foi a partir da década de 70 que a comunidade obteve os primeiros progressos, resultado das reivindicações ao poder público, como a implantação de creches (a veterana foi ASPA), escolas, jornal local, passarela, canalização de valas, agência de correios, região administrativa...Já o posto de saúde foi criado em 1982 com muitos esforços dos moradores, através da iniciativa do padre local que ofertou à comunidade um presente de natal. Então os moradores se mobilizaram para acontecer a canalização do Valão, por conseguinte, criou-se o posto de saúde. Nesse processo algumas famílias que habitavam no Valão foram deslocadas para o Laboriaux, no qual havia 75 casas construídas pela prefeitura, sendo que 2 estas foram fundidas e criada a creche Yacira Frasão.

E a luz? As pessoas contam algumas histórias que parecem lendas. Porém é interessante lembrar, que a primeira luz não foi elétrica. Diz o povo que um cavaleiro atravessava a rocinha acendendo lampiões das pequenas casas. Depois foi implantada cabines de energia que fazia distribuição para as famílias mais próximas. No proceder passou a ter comissões de luzes (bairro Barcelos e Rocinha). A igreja católica em parceria com a pastoral de favelas, pressioram a light para implantar energia elétrica nas comunidades. E a Rocinha foi uma das primeiras beneficiadas.

Em meio a realizações que foram adquiridas com o tempo, a rocinha ainda carecia de equipamentos sócias e culturais suficiente para atender toda a comunidade. Mas os raros que atuam desenvolvem trabalhos significativos. Nesse sentido políticas públicas deveriam resolver as questões crucias que afetam esta população.


Parte 3

A Rocinha têm características peculiares, por exemplo, atualmente encontramos no bairro Barcelos uma grande variedade de comercio e serviço e um grande número de imóveis residências de qualidade. Já em outras áreas, como a vila Macega, encontramos casas de madeira em situação de risco sem infra estrutura, onde diversas famílias vivem em extrema pobreza. Sua população é estimada em 120.000 moradores pelos registros da CIA de energia elétrica, em 62.000 pelo último censo oficial e em mais de 250.000 segundo os moradores.

A comunidade teve um grande avanço, pois recebeu um projeto do governo federal, cujo nome, Rocinha mais legal, que visa, legitimar os imóveis com a legalização do terreno. Através da ONG Bento Rubião. Sobretudo, receberá um novo projeto para reurbanização que trará grande beneficio para os moradores melhorando o espaço de convivência.

E essa a Rocinha.

: )

Zezinho da Rocinha!

Sit Down, this is going to be a long one!

fotos: Mike do Skate with the board I gave to him and a foto of the Puzzle project being done by Ryan J Goode, professor of Geography is San Diego.


God helps those who help themselves…this is a long one..

My mother used to say this to me. I am not sure how much god has to play in all this so I interpret it as “you can’t just talk the talk, you need to walk the walk.”

After reflecting on the years I spent abroad, coming back to Rocinha, I am very thankful. Rocinha has given me so much. I made a decision to start helping the community back in 2004 when I started raising money for Two Brothers Foundation, a non profit here in Rocinha. I have since moved onto other projects, but that was the start. I am now involved with many different projects of different sizes. I feel like the octopus with 12 arms, each representing something I am involved in.

My website is helping to make things happen here: My website has brought so many good things happening here in Rocinha. I have had the opportunity to meet some great people from all over the world. But like anything, success (not necesessarily monetary) brings people who question my intentions and who are jealous. These are mostly people from foreign countries. There are enough people here in Rocinha who know the work I am doing and it is not just about “favela tours”. It suprises me to see foreigners questioning my work. These are people who are staying in favelas or volunteering in favelas. I think they think that somehow I am exploiting my own community. One person was doing research on favela tourism. The other was working for Catalytic Communities which is a NGO working in several favelas. I guess that because they are staying in a favela, there thought of the favela tour as exploitive. I can understand if I was from the outside, but I am from here and LIVE here. Any money I earn is used here in the favela. My money does not leave here. I buy everything from here. I am a active participant in the favela economy. I will write more below about what things and projects I am working on here.

Please respect my work: I receive many emails from students who are studying various things about favelas. Most are great people but I have recently met some who expect the world of me. They send me all these questions to answer for their research and they want a “complete” tour….all for FREE! I live in the favela because I don’t have a lot of money. They expect all of this for nothing? Then you are either cheap or you don’t really value my work. Exploitation of the favelado. I am tired of this. I am not stupid and I am not here to be taken advantage of. My work is good and it has value. So, please respect my right to earn my living.

Thank You Y: I returned to Rocinha becase I felt I could more to help the community. The idea of the website is to promote Rocinha. Anybody who takes the time to look through and read the 40+ pages or so can see that its not just a tour website. My website involves many people from the community. This was how I wanted my site to stand out from the others. Yvonne of Toronto, Canada, I need to thank a great deal for coordinating the design and content for the website. She first came to Rocinha in 2002, she loved to dance and the samba culture here and decided to return each year after. Two years ago she wanted an intensive, complete tour of the favela. This took 3 days, about 8 hours each day. She wanted to know everything about the place. So, I gave her the tour. After seeing my work, she wanted to help. I did not have money and I knew nothing about websites. She offered to help for no cost, so I told her she will always have a place to stay in Rocinha. I thought this the best as I had a extra room that she could stay.

My life in the US: My mother, who is American, thought I may have more opportunities in the US and this is why I was there to see if this was true. Many people ask about my living in the US. When I was living in the US my quality of life was actually worse because of my living conditions. Because of lack of money and only a part time job, I had to resort to some “illegal” living situations. One place I was living was in the basement of a nightclub. I rented the small space for $150 a month. I told the people that I was going to use the space as storage. By American standards, nobody would ever imagine somebody living in this space. They knew I was a dj, so I think they thought I was using the space for dj equipment and to practice. The club was open until 3 am so I never had a problem coming or going. The floors were made of cement and it was only a room, no kitchen services or bathroom. My “bed” was a door supported on bricks and several layers of blankets. I could not afford a mattress at the time. I had to go to the restaurant next door to use the bathroom and I also got a cheap membership at a gym to be able to shower. To wash clothes I had to walk four block from my place. Another place I stayed was a monastery run by monks. Again it was just a room. It was simply furnished but I had to contribute 15 hours a week of work to stay there. I also squatted in abandoned buildings sleeping in fear that somebody might “jack” me or my stuff (not that I had a lot of stuff). The difference is here in Rocinha, I have stability with family, a good circle of friends and people in the community who support my work. The whole idea about living in the US was to see life there. There was no money tree or American dream for me, only struggles and trying to survive. I think living there and having those experiences made me stronger but also made me realize how good I had it in Rocinha. But I do not regret any of it. Its part of life experiences.

Honesty about my work: Most who contact me, want a more personal visit to the favela. I do not mislead people with the tours. I do let my guests know that they could come here on their own if they wanted but would probably get lost or not know where the points of interest are. Rocinha is a huge place. Some do come back for funk parties or just to hang out and eat. Feel free to come into Rocinha on your own but stay on the main street and leave your camera at home. The media is the culprit for spreading fears about favelas. So, for the average foreigner who does not have contacts, who wants to visit the favela, how else are they to do that? What truths are they given about favelas? So, this is why they take a tour. It is important to know that depending on the favela, it is not advisable to just go walking in on your own. There are some favelas that are dangerous and do not receive tourists. Rocinha is different in that we receive over 200 visitors a day. Daniel and Amanda from Stockholm Sweden not only took a tour but came back several times just to visit, eat and go shopping. I have a rule, the first time, guests pay because it is my work. The following times I was with them, there was no fee. You return as a friend, who respects me and the community.

Poverty tours? People ask me about “poverty tourism” or “poverty tours”. I am not showing that. Yes, favelas are poor, but poor compared to what? India, Africa? I had one visitor from Egypt tell me that Rocinha reminded them of back home in a middle class area. Rocinha is a poor working class area, the focus being on “working class”. I am here to provide a social and cultural experience, that focuses on the good things. Everybody already knows about the bad and I don’t feel it is important to reinforce negative and sometimes exaggerated media stories.

I don’t even like the word “tour”, because it really does not describe what I do or offer. When creating the website and the name, I was confuse as to what names to use but Yvonne told me that I need the word “tour” in my website address otherwise nobody would find me. Hopefully in reading the website, the informed person can then make decisions based on what they read. And if they want to know more, they can always contact me.

People’s Perceptions: Just because I am a tour guide here does not mean that I am making lots of money. It is now low season, so work is little. The month of April I only made $430R. One month I can make this or I can make $1200R a month. I never know. When I returned to Rocinha, many people had assumptions that I had or made a lot of money in the US. To give you a idea, the average house here in Rocinha costs about $30,000R (about $17,000US). My dream is to someday have a house that I own. I still have not reached that dream. Most people by my age here in the favela own their places, while I still rent. So this should give you a idea of my financial situation. I am not starving but there are many people who live here in the favela that have and make much more money than I do.

The challenges of outdoor tourism are, if it rains, I can not make tours here because its miserable and the place looks more ugly and gray. But people have this idea in their head that if you are a tour guide, you must be making a lot of money, because you are working with tourists. If you are a older established tour company then you will be making much more. I am still new guy out there. People need to understand this. My website is only one year old. I started this FAVELA ADVENTURES to expose favela culture to the outside world and to dispel the myths about the people who live here. If I am able to create a job for myself and others, then even better. I have always believed that people who live in the favela, should be the tour guides.

Employing Guides from Rocinha: this has always been the first priority for me. I think it is the right thing to do. Again it involves WE who live here. At this time, I have three guides available who are all from Rocinha. Washington, who was raised in Roupa Suja, is my best and most reliable guide. He speaks English perfectly and with confidence. Melodia, born and raised on Rua 4 (4th street). His English is getting better everyday. It helps that his girfriend only speaks English to him. Melodia is also one of the instructors from ACORDA Capoeira which is one of the cultural programs on my website. Tomas right now is in school but after he completes, I will be working with him. He is 21 years old, from Vila Cruzeiro, a part of Rocinha, but lived in the USA for some years. And he also speaks English perfectly. I will only hire guides from here in the favela. (see fotos of Melodia and Washington)

Helping programs in the community: I started helping people here in Rocinha when I found out about this school who taught English. This was in 2004. This was before my tour guide days. I was djing and making art to live. But I saw this project needed help, so I would donate a portion of what I earned djing and with the t-shirts to this program. It was called Two Brothers Foundation. I dj’ed a party at a fundraiser for Two Brothers in December of 2008 at the Loca Luna Lounge in Atlanta. Through working with Two Brothers, I met Viviana (Vivi) Rodrigues, the president of Two Brothers at that time, and she introduced me to a friend of hers, Alexandre who lives in Sao Paulo. Alexandre has a football program for favela youth in Diadema. He needed equipment for the kids. I was able to talk to a guy in San Francisco about donating used or old football things. Sunset Soccer, is a store owned by Toby Rapport. Toby loves Brasil and football. He has been to Brasil many times with teams who are competing. He currently teaches football programs all over San Francisco. So, Toby donated footballs and uniforms to the kids. I packaged and sent them on to Alexandre’s project. These two projects were the beginning of my helping people. You can contact Viviana at viviana2bros@hotmail.com and Alexandre in Sao Paulo at: alexandrebmx@hotmail.com. Alexandre has a link his program go to Facebook and type in "IBCFOFICIAL ONG" "Crianca Feliz" is the name of the project.

Tio Lino: In 2009, I parted ways with Two Brothers. I found a project here that called out to me, it was Tio Lino’s Mundo de Arte in the Valao (a area of Rocinha). I have always loved to draw and design t-shirts. So, meeting Tio was one of the best things that happened to me. I asked around to many friends here about Tio and not one person had anything negative to say about him. Tio is about 60 years old and is born and raised here in Rocinha in the house that he currently uses for his art school. He has been teaching kids for 30 years. He used to be a lifeguard down at Posto 13 on Sao Conrado beach. Now that he is retired, he dedicates his time to the kids. I was not sure how I could help and decided just to hang out and help Tio teach the kids art. When I started doing the tours, I asked Tio if there is anything he needed. Even though I live in the favela, I still wanted to give money to a project that is deserving. Tio later suggested that I could help with art materials. Kids needed paints, brushes, glue, markers, scissors etc. So, I started buying materials and giving a portion of what I made to his school. Many tourists also make donations of art materials as well. Tio is one person in the community that I look up to and admire. In December, Tio stepped on something sharp that cut his foot. Soon after, his foot became infected and several of his toes turned black. He had gangrene. In January he went into the hospital to have half his foot removed. Tio’s art school was closed for almost 4 months. He did not return to the school until the end of April. I was not able to bring visitors by the school because it was closed. I really wanted to show them the project I support but how could I? Tio is back, but he is still in a cast and walking using crutches. We are all happy Tio is back.

Mike do Skate: Mike is another guy I admire here. He is about 40 and sells beer at all the parties here. Mike has no use of his legs so his transportation is his skateboard. I saw a program on television with this guy Raimiro who has only one leg. Raimiro’s show is about him taking part in activities that most disabled would not do. I have seen Raimiro skydive, bungee jump and ski. In his regular life, Raimiro uses a artificial leg. But this show was to be different. Raimiro wanted to learn how to get around on a skateboard, so they filmed the show here in Rocinha. Mike taught him how to ride. At the end of the show Mike gave his skateboard to Raimiro. When I saw this I thought it would be nice if I could design something nice for Mike. He had always been asking me about t-shirts and designs. But for this, I wanted it to be different. So, I got a board with wheels and trucks. I stripped off the design that was already on the board and painted Mike sitting on his skateboard holding a beer. Added the words “Mike do Skate” (Skateboard Mike). When I returned to Rocinha, I saw Mike one day selling beer, so I went home and got the board for him. When I gave it to him, he was shocked. He thought he was not deserving of this, but I told him he was. A few days later I saw him and asked him why he was not riding the board I gave him. His response was “Its like a trophy, I can not ride that.” I guess if he really needs it, he will ride it. (see foto above in title of blog entry)

Rebecca and the rooftop project: I met Rebecca several times when I was in San Francisco at parties. She is university student who later contacted me about interest in Rocinha. She came to visit Rio July 2009 with her friend Luciano who is a portugues instructor in San Francisco. Rebecca contacted me through email about wanting a tour of the favela with Luciano, who is from Brazil. I am surprised because I rarely get Brazilians who have interest to tour favelas. Well, I met Rebecca and Luciano and after their visit, Rebecca told me that she would like to return to make a project here. I told that I would help her get the contacts to make her project happen. She went back to the US to study and was able to get a grant to make her project here. Her idea is to teach people in the favela how to make rooftop gardens. When she arrives I will make sure she can complete her project. Rebecca’s website: http://www.rebeccanajdowski.com Contact Rebecca here : rebeccanajdowski@yahoo.com (see foto Rebecca & Luciano)

Money as a tool: Some people get strange when the topic of money is brought up, especially in poor areas, because there is not much of it. I believe money is a tool that can affect change and be used to help others. Unfortunately we all need it to survive and it measures our “work” value in society. I want to get money but not just for myself. Because with money, I can then make things happen. When I returned to Rio, I wanted to link with programs that could benefit people. The first contact I made was with Casa 579 in Santa Teresa, a guesthouse. I told Teresa who manages the guesthouse that I wanted to help a program that they support. Within 15 minutes walk there is a small favela called Julio Otoni, which Casa 579 supports. When Casa refers me people, I give a portion to the Julio Otoni project, which is a small community center in the favela. These places help me and in turn I can help them. Their website is: http://www.casa579.com

Painting houses: I heard about Haas and Hahn through the media. Two Dutch guys painting in favela communities. The first was Vila Cruzeiro where they painted a boy flying a kite that covered several houses and the koi fish design near a large stairway going up the community. And now painting houses in Santa Marta. I am a artist and loves anything to do with art here in the favela.

I went out to watch some of the painting they were doing. Coral was their sponsor who contributed paint and uniforms to the residents who helped in the project. About 28 men were able to paint about 35 houses mostly in the main square at the bottom of the favela.
I returned one day to see the last days of painting and they invited me to a party celebrating the project that would be held about 2 weeks later. I decided that I was so moved by the beauty and colors of the houses, that I wanted to do something. I had some t-shirts done up in honor of Santa Marta “Uma Comunidade Linda”. When I went back for the party I gave out the shirts for free to the painters who took part in the project. I don’t know why I did this, but it felt good to see people happy and proud of their community. For more information on favela painting and how you can help: http://www.favelapainting.com

Blessings from the North: In 2008 and 2009, I had opportunities to talk to many universities and students about favelas and the culture of life here. Through the internet, I found this website http://www.blessings4brazil.com . I noticed that they helped favela communities here in Rio. I cannot remember the first contact or who made it. All I know is that Lauri Francis, the creator of this NGO came to hear me speak at NYU (New York University) in downtown Manhattan. She traveled over an hour just to meet me. I was honored for her to think of me as having this value. She is a woman who is working full time, going to school to get her doctorate in education, and she is running this NGO.

Her project helps teachers with materials and support in the classroom. This is especially needed here in the favelas. She began her work in another favela and had interest to visit Rocinha. She wanted a tour but also wanted to spend some time here and see some of the projects I am working with. I first introduced her to Tio Lino because I know he can use the help. Liliane Smith from Holland and Lauri, both helped to build and create a small library in Tio’s studio. Lauri also bought many books and materials to help the kids there. Lauri has other plans to help Tio and I to raise money to repair the roof of the studio that was destroyed by the heavy rain in April.

The next week, Lauri returned to Rocinha to look into another project that I thought needed help. Viviana who used to work at Two Brothers, teaches pre-school full time at Escola Moranguinhos. Lauri met Vivi and they both made a connection. Lauri returned to Escola Moranguinhos and brought many books with her. It makes me happy that I am able to connect people who can offer help to those who are deserving. Viviana and Tio Lino do not have computers. But for more information about Tio Lino’s Mundo de Arte, Escola Moranguinhos or blessings4brazil, you can contact Lauri at lauri@blessings4brazil.com

Puzzle Connections: It’s amazing how connections with people work. In june of 2009, Ryan Goode, a teacher at San Diego State University contacted me through Facebook about visiting his university to give a talk to the students about favelas. He wanted me to come in October. I went, gave the talk and stayed in touch. He was nice to show me around the city and we ate at this Italian restarant that I will never forget. The best spaghetti and meatballs I ever had. He contacted me soon after saying he was coming to Rio to study portugues and do some university work. He needed a place to stay and he wanted to stay in Rocinha. So, he stayed with me for two months. We were on my roof overlooking the community one day and I made the comment that it would be interesting to have a “quebra cabeca” or a puzzle made with a fotograph of Rocinha. With the density of the houses I thought it would be a great challenge for people who like puzzles. Ryan agreed. My idea would be to make such a puzzle to sell, but to raise money to help with Tio Lino’s damaged roof. Part of the profits would go directly to Tio. The other part of the money would go to the costs of developing the puzzle. I think this kind of puzzle would be a great learning tool for students. So, I contacted a friend of mine Tee Cardaci who is a web designer to hook up with Ryan to build a small website about our fundraising efforts. The site is in the development stages and I hope it will be up soon. All I want out of all of this is just one of the puzzles. I will let you know how this goes as the project moves forward. If you want to contact Ryan about this his email is: rjgoode@gmail.com

Surf favela: One of the guys I work with is a surf instructor. He is Ricardo “Bocao” Ramos. He has been teaching surfing to the kids in Rocinha for 22 years. He used to be homeless and lived on the beach. He was a surf bum. But as he got older things changed for the better. As he was surfing he met guys on the beach that would give him broken surfboards. He would fix these boards and then give them to kids and teach them how to surf. His project became a realty and a full NGO after getting interest from Jack Johnson and several professional surfers. Jack Johnson and the Surf Rider Foundation came to Rocinha in 2007. This gave “Bocao” more exposure to his program of teaching favela youth how to surf. He has over 65 students enrolled in his programs. His non profit is called “Surf Escola Rocinha” and is located in the front of the new sports complex just outside of Rocinha. I often receive visitors to my website that want to learn surfing. So, I will set them up with “Bocao”. The last guest Bocao taught was Michael Kranz from Germany. This past April a brother and sister from Vancouver both took lessons from him and they did not even know how to swim. The guests paid Bocao directly for the surf lessons and I do not take a commissions fee. I saw Bocao teach before I decided to work with him. I wanted somebody who I trust and who is good at what they do. Bocao has been great according to the guests who wrote me after to say how much they enjoyed learning to surf with Bocao. This August 31, I will be Dj’ing a party for the surf school to help promote their work. If you are in Rio at the time, come on by. If you want more information about Bocao’s program or you would like to learn to surf, contact me and I wil set up a meeting with him.

There are some other projects still in the talking stages, one is about bringing solar energy to rocinha clarkenigel@gmail.com , starting a kids road or indoor hockey program, and there are others but I will write about them as they get closer to action being taken.

One last thing, I want to mention is this…

Perdeu… perdeu!!!!! These are the words often said by a robber to his victim in Rio. They say this as they are taking your money or backpack..you name it..they says this..
My idea started after reading this blog about my friend Leandro, who had his backpack stolen. I know Leandro personally and he is class A people. He is a university student, a photographer and currently has a job working with the PAC (slum upgrading) project here in Rocinha. He also lives in Rocinha very close to my house.
As I was reading his blog, I was saddened by the thought of him losing his passion of photography. I know if I was robbed of my passion, I would be depressed too. The story goes is that he was in Barra de Tijuca (which is a rich neighborhood) and he was on the sidewalk when a motorcycle came out of nowhere. The robber stuck a gun in his face and told him to give the backpack. So, my friend gave him the backpack. It’s ironic that in the favela this kind of thing would never happen.
Leandro had already asked me to Dj his party as his birthday is on the 16 of October. I have enough time to put my plan into action. Leandro has no idea but I will be buying him a new camera. I think he will be very happy. I made some money in the last two months and I put savings away for this. I want nothing from this, only the satisfaction that I was able to help somebody who needed it. The person who is helping me with this is Rick Echavarria of New York. He has returned to New York and I have given him the money to buy the camera. Cameras are more than double the price here in Brazil. Rick will be returning to Rocinha in September before my friends birthday. I invited Rick to Leandro’s party as I want him to see Leandro’s face when he opens the box to see a new camera. And then he can go back to his passion of Photography. Leandro’s website is: http://www.faveladarocinha.com its in Portugues, but I guess if you need translate it, google should be able to help. To contact Rick about this project, his email is: rickechavarria@gmail.com

As you can see, I am very involved in the community and not just a tour guide. I have always said, the Favela is about WE not ME!!!

If you have questions about any of the projects I have listed here, feel free to contact them.

BOPE/UPP and the taking over of Favelas

As many of you know, because of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics arriving here., the city is trying to clean up the image of Rio being a dangerous place. Statistics say that about 5-6 people a day are killed in Rio, this with a population of about 6.5 million. Most, if not all, are usually people from the favelas involved in drugs or innocent bystanders in these communities.

The UPP are supposed to be the “new” police force, a branch of the Policia Militar, who are to installed in the favelas. The idea is to get rid of the guns and violence. They know that they cannot eliminate drugs totally but they want the guns gone. There are many problems that come with this. Most communities of corse want guns and violence gone, but the problem stems in trust of the police. Favela residents, me included have no liking for the police becase of what they represent. To us they are corrupt and abusive people.

We have experienced so many years of abuse from the police even back when Brazil had the military dictatorship. Its very difficult after years of mistrust to all of a sudden expect the people to embrace the “new” police forces coming to “pacify” our communities. The police have a lot of work to do to gain the trust of the people and it will not happen overnight.

The way the police overtake a favela is they first send in the Elite Forces (BOPE) with their big skull, an armoured vehicles that drives through the favelas intimidating the residents, children included, by threatening to shoot them if they are on the street. They usually come in shooting. I think of them like trigger happy mercenaries that just want to destroy any living thing. The police usually announce they are coming beforehand to give the drug traffickers the opportunity to leave without incident. With most of the recent take overs, it has been fairly simple for the BOPE to come in and then after the UPP’s (Police Pacifying Units) are installed in the community. I often wonder if this is a temporary thing and if after the Olympics, will they leave and open up opportunity for the traffickers to return?

Once the UPP’s are there, their job is to show a presence in the community. In Santa Marta in Botofogo which has been under UPP control for over a year, there have been problems. When I went there to visit a friend, I spoke to him about the installation of the police and he felt, not much had changed in regards to them being there. Yes, the guns were gone, but drugs still were there. The safety net and security of the community that the traffickers provided was gone. People now in the favela were experiencing petty crime in the favela like house break ins and bicycles being stolen. These things did not happen when the traffickers were in control. These things are happening becase there is no punishment becase the police to not POLICE the favela. When I was there, they sat at the bottom of the hill in their car or were sleeping. I saw NO police walking through the favela trying to create a sense of dialog with the residents. My friend told me that not only petty crime but police abusing residents for no reason is still common.

I think most people, including the rich have a dislike for the police because they don’t do anything other than try to hustle bribes from mostly honest people. When I lived in the USA, I never saw this kind of thing. The police tried to police, but here they rarely do anything unless there is a cash payoff for them. This is becase they get paid so little. The police military starting salary is $1200 reais a month. I wonder where these guys live on this salary? Favelas perhaps? No wonder they extort bribes from innocents.

I live here in the favela and I fear the police more than the drug traffickers. There is something wrong with that when a law abiding citizen takes more comfort in feeling safe with a traffickers versus a police officer. There is something very wrong here. But this is our reality in the favelas of Rio.

Right now the favela is tranquil and quiet. We still have the PAC projet going on here which is why I think nothing big will happen yet. But after the government sponsored slum upgrading projet (PAC) is finished, I expect the UPP’s to make their move here. They want to clean up any tourist areas especially in the South Zone here in Rio.

It will be very interesting to see how things “go down” here in Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio with the implantation of these UPP units and if it happens. Who knows maybe the traffickers will make some sort of deal with the police. Hard to say as we can only wait and see.

For me, I am happy the way it is now as “the devil you know is better than the devil you DON’T know”

Jeep Tours Cancelled

I have written before about tourism here in the favela in previous blogs. I know that the Jeep Tours have been making tours of this favela for at least 10 years now. I remember seeing them back in 2001 but had no idea they were tours. I thought it was researchers working on specific projets here. I never really took notice of them until I started working in tourism myself. Then I started to take notice of what they do. This was important for me to know so I could offer a better experience for guests coming here.

They are a company that also does other tours around Rio de Janeiro. They are owned by a person who does not live in the favela and never did. Every now and then I would see then hire a driver from the favela, but not once did I ever see one of the tour guides from here. This is common with all the tour companies that work here. I only know 3 guides from the favela that work with these large companies. Favelatour.com I know has 10 guides working for them and only one is from here in Rocinha.

I know in the last three months many people in the favela started to speak up more against the Jeep Tours as they felt the tour operator presented Rocinha in a not very favorable way. First, people sitting in jeeps driving through a community, especially a poor one, made the visit out to be like a safari. The second was lack of connection or interaction with the residents. I know that I felt strange when walking in my community and somebody in a jeep would take my picture. I am not a (dangerous) animal in a zoo. I am sure that if I went to this persons community and did the same thing, I do not think they would like this. I know this sounds strange but imagine if I went to your community and took pictures of you, your house, your car, your child(ren), cat, dog etc., with little or no interaction with you…..you get the idea I am saying now? I can speak for most here in the favela when I say, that if you come on a tour here, please make a walking tour and try to find a guide who is from HERE IN THE FAVELA. When you walk through the community, you show that you embrace our community without fear. We appreciate this! And when you use a guide from here, you will get someone who knows everything about this place and will answer your questions honestly.

So, I cannot say the whole story but these tours stopped after the death of our Vereador (Councilman) Claudinho da Academia. All I can say is that our residents association decided that it best that these tours are not allowed here anymore. And I for one, are happy that they are gone. Who’s next?

Why English

Many people write and ask me why I write in English. The main reason is because in Brazil, people do not want to read about favela life. They have no interest. Actually most Brazilians have fear of favelas or they are ashamed about them. The majority of people who want to know about life here in the favela are people who are not from Brazil. Foreigners do not have the same kind of prejudice or judgement. Te media bombards people here in Rio especially about favelas and very rarely is anything nice said about them. This is why people grow up in Brazil, having these fears.

It is a shame becase a lot of good things come from places you would not expect, like favelas. My life is far from being a paradise or perfect, but I can say that my life is good and I am thankful. I have wonderful people in my life who I value. These same people are proud to live here and not ashamed to say they live in a favela.

I know many here in Rocinha that would not admit to living here to outsiders for fear of being judged. Unfortunately, there is this classist system here where poor people who live in favelas are made out to be criminals. The media does not help as all they show on tv about favelas are negative things. No wonder the middle and upper classes have fears of us. But these images need to change. The outside world needs to know that the favela is much more than the drugs and violence. There are many good and hard working people here.

I do not think people in Rio understand but take away, Carnaval, Samba, Capoeira, Feijoada, Pagode and Brazil, especially Rio would not have a identity. Those things I mentioned are ALL from the favelas.

Everyday life

Living in the largest slum in South America has its challenges. Life is very simple here. Water is one of those daily challenges. Here in Rocinha our water tanks on the roof are filled once a week. We have a pumping station at the top of Rua 1, which gets the water from the forest deep in the woods beyond Portao Vermelho, here in the favela. In the woods this water reserve is like a fresh spring and you can drink the water from there. Once the water is pumped through pipes, you cannot drink the water.

I watch how much water I use but I always have a back up. When it rains, I put buckets on the roof to collect the rainwater. I filter the water and put it in 2 litre bottles. I save this extra water for times when there is no water. I have saved about 30 bottles, about 60 litres. In the past, I have been without water, so conserving and saving is important.

When it rains its great as our resource builds up but for those who live high up the hill it can be dangerous. Some people who built shacks up under the tract of two brothers mountain did not think about erosion or building their houses into the rock. I read yesterday that 2 barracos (shacks) and a small bar were destroyed in the favela, becase of the recent rains. If it rains more than 3 days, there is always someone’s house damaged.
In April 3 lives were lost and 6 houses completely destroyed. This happens in many favela communities.

The streets here also flood and the water running down the hill could easily sweep a small child away to their death. Garbage is also taken down the hill. I once saw a refrigerator, a desk and a motorcycle helmet “swimming” downhill. The city clean up crews are used to this here in Rocinha as all the garbage meets at the bottom of the hill very close to the rich areas. So, of corse the city cleans it as soon as they can so the rich people do not complain.