To Favella or not to Favella
I was in two minds about doing a favela tour. All the agencies and hotels offer it as a great tourist opportunity ‘see the favelas that have made Rio famous’ and I had a hard time digesting the fact that I was going into peoples homes and communities for amusement and pay for the ‘privilege’ to do so. On my own I was not going to do it. However as my Intrepid Tour started in Rio for 2 days, this was included as part of our itinerary.
Firstly, may I introduce you to my fellow Intrepid Tour travellers?
- Nicole – 28 yr old from Melbourne who owns her own beauty business
- Allan and Karen – Americans who have lived in London for about 25 years who are on a worldwide tour
- Yasmina – our lovely tour guide
So together we head out for a tour of the city taking in the favela. Intrepid hired a local tour guide (Luiz Malcher from Urban Adventures) to take us around Rio for the day, he lives near the favela and actually participates in activities in this particular favela, is known to the community, and because of his association with it was able to give us a very in-depth and informative insiders look and understanding of this community.
A bit of history
In the past favela’s used to be ruled by the drug cartels and were definitely a place to avoid. They had AK47’s and ruled with fear and intimidation. They didn’t want anything from the faavela to be reported outside and give any reason for police to show up. This meant that a lot of crime and violence, (especially against women) was not reported. When police did show up generally they were greeted with gun fire! We saw evidence of this gun violence in existing walls and let me tell you, some of those holes were not small!
It is estimated that over 1.5 million people live in over 200 favelas across Rio. However with Rio winning the bid for the 2016 Olympic Games back in 2008, the government decided that something had to be done to improve life and conditions in the favelas and generally clean them up and restore Rios reputation. Programs were devised and slowly implemented across 4 phases. So far 85 of 200 favelas are on the program.
How are the going to do this?
- Phase 1 – Get in and take down the cartels with leading police squads
- Phase 2 – Build police stations in the favelas in order to maintain calm and give a sense of security to the community, they stay there and establish networks and relationships in the community. Many of the policemen who were given this task were graduates.
- Phase 3 – Introduce social programs by bringing families and children together in cultural and sporting ways including music, judo, dance and soccer in permanent and ongoing programs and agendas
- Phase 4 – Introduce infrastructure to the favela
The favela we visited was Santa Marta which has been around for 70 years. When slavery was abolished, people had no where to go and had to move from their owners’ land. So they went into the hills (as the town of Rio was expanding and was on the lower area near the water) and in Rio, if you can prove you have lived somewhere for 5 years (even if it is not your land) then you cannot be moved, and that is how the favela’s came into being. The government cant move them. Some of these guys however have the best view over Rio and of the Christ the Redeemer statue.
The basics
And so we visited with Luiz leading the way and explaining so many details with us that you couldn’t help but be grateful for everything that we have in our lives. Its amazing how people can live. Some of these houses are just tin soaking up the disgusting heat and people live here day after day. They only started getting running water to every house in 2010 as part of the Government program and in 2008 a cable car was introduced to help residents get up and down the steep incline to where they live, and also get supplies up easily, rather than on their backs which they had done for decades.
MJ was here
This was the favela that Michael Jackson used to film his video clip (They don’t really care about us) and there is a massive memorial and remembrance area of Michael here. All the locals spoke of him and the experience they had with his visit and the filming. Something I think they will all remember very fondly.
MJ was everywhere.
The people that live in favelas these days are not only low income people but also some working class people who have been part of the community for so long that even though they may have started to do well for themselves, this is their home and they don’t want to go. From what we understood, no one begrudges someone doing well for themselves, ad you generally find that those whoa re are very generous in giving back to their favela community.
In all, this was a very humbling tour and I think because it was done with someone who is local to the community it made it seem more friendly intimate and gave us a deeper understanding.
Carnival rehearsal
Luiz was also part of this favelas’ Samba school which is in Division 3 of the Carnival competition, and they were competing in a few weeks’ time in Carnival. They were going to be rehearsing the night we were at the favela and Luiz was able to secure us a spot for the group to come and watch the rehearsal, which we did. Turns out it was the band rehearsal not the dancers but it was still a great experience.
We arrived about 9.15 and stayed till 11.30pm. The band were mostly drummers with 5 singers who seemed to yell rather than sing but hey ho! Anyone in the community can come and watch the rehearsal and most of them get up and dance. Kids included and some of them, all dressed up with hair pieces and all had quite a few moves on them! I’ve got nothing on these kids, they were goooood.
Then a lady gestured to us to dance, surprisingly enough, there no takers. How can we compete with kids that good? A little while later she gestured for a second time and came over to our group – again no takers so I thought……bugger it – and I’m up. Gotta have a go right?.
Oh dear what have I done?
My 1 hour dance lesson a few days ago came in very handy but I was dancing at 2 moves per beat to their 8! Nothing like an elephant of a tourist trying to keep up. I was wearing sandals of all thing so not going terribly well and certainly I was not convincing. After a very short period of time she led me back to my seat, gave me a little clap – perhaps out of pity at the shame I just brought on myself rather than anything else.
All in good fun though and when in Rome……
In all, I have really appreciated the day of visiting and better understanding this side of Rio and experiencing this community more than most may have the chance to.
Travel is the best.
