Uma grave denúncia.
A pergunta é, como se combater o crime se os servidores da segurança do Rio de Janeiro recebem o PIOR salário do Brasil, e um péssimo treinamento ?
Ok, baixo salário não justifica corrupção, mas o policial receber um salário miserável (o pior do Brasil) acaba estando fragilizado, e portas da corrupção que deveriam estar fechadas acabam sendo abertas.
Nunca se vai resolver o problema da segurança no Rio de Janeiro, quando não se investir e valorizar o policial, isso é fato.
E digo mais, não é só na Favela da Rocinha que isso está acontecendo, em todas as comunidades ditas "pacificadas" o tráfico de drogas está rolando solto, e aí ? E como ?
Ocupada pela polícia há quatro meses, a favela da Rocinha, na zona Sul do Rio, está longe de ser considerada uma área pacificada. Nos últimos dois meses, foram registrados oito assassinatos à bala, parte deles, suspeita-se, ligada diretamente à disputa pelo controle da venda de drogas, que persiste, apesar de enfraquecida depois da prisão do chefão Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, o Nem. Desta semana revela detalhes de uma investigação que mostra que o velho mecanismo que associava traficantes e policiais militares pode estar mais ativo do que supõe quem acompanha a “pacificação” apenas olhando a favela a partir do asfalto.
A secretaria de Segurança do Rio apura denúncia de que policiais militares estariam recebendo propina do tráfico. Um dossiê produzido pela coordenadoria de Inteligência da Polícia Civil aponta inclusive as cifras da corrupção policial. De acordo com o documento, o pagamento consiste numa "entrada" de 200 000 reais, seguida por um "mensalinho" de 80.000 reais por mês. Os valores comprariam a tranquilidade para manter o comércio de drogas sem interferência da polícia nas ruas internas e becos. Enquanto isso, o patrulhamento ficaria restrito às vias principais da favela e acontece sem a exibição de fuzis.
Hoje, dois ex-braços direitos de Nem travam uma guerra pelo comando da quadrilha. O traficante Amaro Pereira da Silva, conhecido como Neto, 30 anos, responde pela venda de drogas no parte próxima ao asfalto - a mais lucrativa. Um ex-comparsa do chefão preso, Inácio de Castro Silva, 32 anos, atua na parte alta da Rocinha e é suspeito de ser o mentor do assassinato do líder comunitário Vanderlan Barros de Oliveira, o Feijão.
UPP e propina - Em setembro do ano passado, outro esquema de pagamento de propina a policiais veio à tona na UPP dos morros da Coroa, Fallet e Fogueteiro, no bairro de Santa Teresa. Assim como na Rocinha, os traficantes subornavam os policiais com o intuito de contar a conivência da UPP na venda de drogas. O comandante da unidade, inaugurada seis meses antes, acabou sendo afastado. A mesada dos PMs variava de 400 reais a 2.000 reais, de acordo com as patentes e o grau de influência na UPP.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Random Stuff to think about..
I believe that the lack of empathy and understanding from outsiders remains a big obstacle to long-term improvement of life in the favelas.
This statement says a lot about society. I do not think anybody wants to be raise in poverty. When we are born, we really do not have choice what class we are born into. I never asked my parents to be born here in Rocinha, it just happened. Rocinha is a place like any that a child would not know anything diferent unless taken outside of Rocinha. I just thought everybody lived like me. It was around 12 years old that I could see and understand that we had diferent classes of people depending on how much money you made. My father tried to protect me from seeing the realities outside of the favela becase he was ashamed of his own circumstances. I remember the first time leaving the favela to go to centro to meet some my fathers friends and seeing a public bathroom and places and how diferent it was from the favela shocked me.
As a kid going to school I was made fun of because of where I lived. I went to a public school where there was a mix of kids. There were basically two classes of people in the public schools, those of us from "the hill" or favela, and those that were from the "asfalto" or formal city. We were the “favelados” or slumdwellers. The rich always went to private schools and did not want to mix with the lower classes. Still, in public schools the non favela kids who were poor but not favela poor, still made fun of us. I guess they felt better becase they could pick on us. I am sure looking back that they got picked on by the upper class kids, so this was a continuation for them to pick on us. A cruel cycle but reality. Being from the favela was just one step up from being homeless or living on the street. If I look at it that way, I am so happy I had a home, favela or not, I had roof over my head, oportunity for school, and some food in my stomach.
We had little but we made do. I had one pair of shoes that I was only allowed to wear to school and otherwise I wore sandals. My father wanted our shoes to last. As my three brothers grew older, shoes and clothes if in good condition were handed down. I remember owned 1 jacket, 1 hat, 4 t-shirts, 1 nice slacks for church, 1 nice button shirt, three shorts, 4 underwear and 2 socks. We ate 1 large meal a day and one snack or small meal. We had acess to Jaca fruit which we ate everyday becase you could eat it off the tree. Every meal had rice and beans. On a good day we had chicken or fish. Rarely did we eat red meat becase it was too expensive for us. Life was simple and predictable.
The area I was raised to what is now Rua 1 high up on the hill, was mostly barracos or shacks of wood. We lived in a two room shack all 6 of us. The bathroom was outside and we had to shower outside in our underwear. A shower was two buckets of water, one to get wet and soap up, the other to clean off the soap. This was life and you get used to it. We had no eletricity, just lamps and candles. We finally got a Tv hookup when I was about 9. He had to run a wire from a neighbors house to get power. My father loved radio and Pagode music, so at least we had noise in the house. The radio was battery operated.
When I was about 11, we moved into a larger more stable house. It was what I called it the “half and half”. I told my friends that if they wanted to find my house just look for the brown and rust colored, half and half. It was a joke but true, our house was half wood, half brick. So, it was easy to find. We were in a beco that was made of dirt becase cement roads where we were, was not common. In the rains the dirt road would become mud and dangrously slippery.
The house was four small rooms, two bedrooms, one for my parents and the other for us four kids. My father was a construction worker who build level beds for us, one on top of each other. There was a small eating/living room area and small bathroom with a toilet and shower. Outside the side door of the house was a tiny sink with a small tacked to the wall mirror, to wash hands or shave. We did not have windows, just sheets of plastic we would use to keep the rain out. We had a small fridge, sink and hot plate type thing that plugged into the wall. Very few people at that time had stoves, like they do today. We had eletricity but it was minimal and did not always work. My father bought kerosne lamps as a backup. We often studied by candle light. Water was inconsistant and you could not drink it. There were days when we had no water which was dificult to wash clothes, shower or clean dishes. Often we would go to neighbors as this was life in a favela.
We did finally get a small used television but we did not watch it much. My mother ruled the tv in the nighttime inviting neighbors over to watch the novelas. Most of the time we were studying or playing outside when she watched tv. That was her time for socialization and connection with community. She also liked to sew and make clothes. She was a English teacher so she had plenty of work but liked being around the house too to take care of us.
Development in my area was slow until a huge migration of people especially from the northeast of Brazil, in the late 70’s came to Rocinha. Then some major building took place in many areas of the favela. Everywhere you walked people were busy building, tearing down, creating some sort of house. It was exciting but also crazy time. Strange accents and expressions were heard and with this migration brought crime. Mostly petty crime but still bothersome to the existing residents.
The drug gangs came into power around this same time and instituted rules in the favela. Since the goverment and police never came here anyways, the drug guys took control of the neighborhoods and set the rules, no stealing, raping or killing inside the favela. I am not sure on the exact details becase I was a kid, but the dealers set up a coexistence with the police. The police were not to enter the neighborhood, and the dealers would keep peace among the residents. This was also a time of tension becase the residents association which was formed in 1961 and established, was not sure what to make of the drug gang. The drug gang bought hearts and minds by aiding some of the poorest residents by providing food and necessities. Also many in the drug gang were “cria” or from the favela.
Interesting dynamic it is and far more complicated than I can explain here. The drug gang became the parallel power and filled the role of the goverment. The gang built community centers and had simple roads paved. If you live in the community what would you think? After years of being neglected and shunned by the goverment, who do you turn to? The gang filled that role. I wouldn’t say people were happy about it, but they accepted it. What else could they do?
For me, school was never fun and it was dificult to make friends. The kids from Rocinha stuck together and the non favela kids had their groups. I hated this becase I wanted to learn about others and make friends. Reading was my favorite subject. I did make some friends from outside of Rocinha, but never did I get to visit their homes or create real friendships with them. It was all superficial. And it was like in my face they liked me but if they were with another non favela kid, they would pretend they did not like me. Weird peer pressure.
Its kind of sad becase in youth is where prejudices are born. It where people learn to hate. As I said in another Blog entry that is in another place: ignorance + fear = hate. How true. So sad becase understanding and learning is what we need. Why cant favelados and asfaltos be friends? Again it goes back to education!
The outside world sees favelas as a place where people have stolen everything. To them we have taken electricity, water, land and do not pay taxes. Favelas are places where "those kind of people" live, dirty, theives, uneducated etc..And there is some truth to that, but rarely do people want to know the "why"???? Why do favelas exist?
We lets start with a history lesson, the goverment promised soldiers who were freed slaves, that if they fought in the war of Canudos (1893-1897) in Bahia, that they would provide these soldiers with jobs and housing. After this war, many migrated to larger cities in the south of brasil. Areas like Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo brought many people with the hopes of jobs. People were able to find jobs but could not find afordable housing. When the soldiers asked the goverment for help, the goverment turned to the hills pointed and said "build your houses there". So, the people did just that without goverment help. The first official settlement was in dowtown Rio in a area called “Morro de Favela” after the plant that grew there on the hill. Later the first “favela” was named "Morro da Providencia" or Providence Hill. Morro da Providencia still exists today in dowtown Rio de Janeiro.
If a favela is without government control or structure, it is obvious that services like water, eletricity, sanitation and proper sewer systems will not exist. If the government does not even recognize you enough to put your community (of 250.000+ people) on a map, that says a lot about discrimnation. So, then where does the community get these things? Well several places. In Rocinha the Estrada da Gavea was paved in 1939 way before Rocinha was favelized (if that is a word). Back then it was a small community of farms where vegetables were sold and car races used to run up and down the estrada. Eletricity was brought to the main street by the influence of the catholic church, who was instrumental in the 1950’s to getting services for the people who settled there. Today there is formal eletricity to most of the residents but not all. The company called “Light” is located at the bottom of the hill near the pasarella. If you are one of the residents who lives deep in a beco, you probably run a “gato” or line to your neighbors and get power from them. But in turn that person’s light bill is higher, so nobody gets for FREE! I am sure there are people who have rigged the system and do steal, but that is a minority.
Water has always been in Rocinha but acess has not always been easy. There is a water source deep in the woods close to Portao Vermelho and other areas higher up where water is pumped by CEDAE, which is a municiple company. The majority of residents have water but still problems occur. Two months ago I went 2 days without water and had to use neighbors facilities.
Sewage is more dificult to understand as it exists but there are many open places where sewage is visable and contributes to health hazards for residents. There is a open sewer ditch in a area called the Valao, instead of building that PAC project of the futebol field/swimming pool next to the samba school, they should cover the Valao! There are pipes you can see that criss cross the hill but nothing like the USA where you never see or hear it.
Sanitation and garbage pick up a problem. There are areas on the side of the road desgnated for pick up. The prefeitura is supposed to pick up the garbage 2 times a day, but rarely do they.The residents also need education about not littering in the becos or small alleyways deep in the favela. But it starts with having garbage cans available for people to put garbage in! The residents association does have people who they hire to clean the streets. I would think it would be easier for them to clean if there were garbage cans around. I walked one day for about 30 minutes before I found a garbage can. Garbage on the streets and in the becos also attracts rats!
As far as taxes, well in Rio, if you make under 1.300 reais a month you do not pay taxes. The majority of favelados that I know make from $500-$800 reais a month. So, that explain the taxes situation. And with that little money, where else could you live but a FAVELA!
Many of the services came about due to the residents association and the influence of the church. They both fought for attention to be brought to the community. The services are still substandard but are better than nothing.
If somebody does not understand the community or have fear, they create a dislike automatically and avoid. This is how I feel the asfalto world looks at the favelas. Better to avoid and marginalize, than to include in everyday society. This is where opportunity comes in. Who has it, and who does not? The people in power distribute that opportunity according to one’s worth. In Rio, monetary worth, specifically, where you live. If I live in Gavea or Barra de Tijuca, automatically, I am seen as a person of value and opportunities of all types are “given” without question, to me.
If I am from Rocinha or another favela, I am seen as a person not of value. Instead I am seen as a servant to service the upper classes.
Opportunity changes things dramatically. But opportunity comes in diferent ways. Education is number one! They say in Brasil, everybody has the right to education and that is true, but the quality of education is what everybody deserves. The favelado gets minimum education that prepares him to be a “servant” for the rest of his life!
If a person has access to decent education, they can change their life. How much, is dependent on what society will allow. What I mean by this is if a guy from the favela is smart enough to become a doctor through all the schooling necessary, will he be given the chance to practice? Or will he be not valued just becase he comes from the favela? Hard to say on that becase the few who do make it to that level, have to lie and deny their roots just to get ahead. I am certainly not close to that level, but in my past I lied about where I was from, becase the media constantly pumps negative images about favelas in the news. Who would want to say they are from such a horrible place.
So now back to this statement:
I believe that the lack of empathy and understanding from outsiders remains a big obstacle to long-term improvement of life in the favelas.
There is much truth in this, but I feel there needs to be exchange on both parts, favela and asfalto. Only the next generations can change perspectives about how each are viewed. The outside needs to get to know and understand people of the favelas. And the favelados need to give them the chance to get to know them.
This statement says a lot about society. I do not think anybody wants to be raise in poverty. When we are born, we really do not have choice what class we are born into. I never asked my parents to be born here in Rocinha, it just happened. Rocinha is a place like any that a child would not know anything diferent unless taken outside of Rocinha. I just thought everybody lived like me. It was around 12 years old that I could see and understand that we had diferent classes of people depending on how much money you made. My father tried to protect me from seeing the realities outside of the favela becase he was ashamed of his own circumstances. I remember the first time leaving the favela to go to centro to meet some my fathers friends and seeing a public bathroom and places and how diferent it was from the favela shocked me.
As a kid going to school I was made fun of because of where I lived. I went to a public school where there was a mix of kids. There were basically two classes of people in the public schools, those of us from "the hill" or favela, and those that were from the "asfalto" or formal city. We were the “favelados” or slumdwellers. The rich always went to private schools and did not want to mix with the lower classes. Still, in public schools the non favela kids who were poor but not favela poor, still made fun of us. I guess they felt better becase they could pick on us. I am sure looking back that they got picked on by the upper class kids, so this was a continuation for them to pick on us. A cruel cycle but reality. Being from the favela was just one step up from being homeless or living on the street. If I look at it that way, I am so happy I had a home, favela or not, I had roof over my head, oportunity for school, and some food in my stomach.
We had little but we made do. I had one pair of shoes that I was only allowed to wear to school and otherwise I wore sandals. My father wanted our shoes to last. As my three brothers grew older, shoes and clothes if in good condition were handed down. I remember owned 1 jacket, 1 hat, 4 t-shirts, 1 nice slacks for church, 1 nice button shirt, three shorts, 4 underwear and 2 socks. We ate 1 large meal a day and one snack or small meal. We had acess to Jaca fruit which we ate everyday becase you could eat it off the tree. Every meal had rice and beans. On a good day we had chicken or fish. Rarely did we eat red meat becase it was too expensive for us. Life was simple and predictable.
The area I was raised to what is now Rua 1 high up on the hill, was mostly barracos or shacks of wood. We lived in a two room shack all 6 of us. The bathroom was outside and we had to shower outside in our underwear. A shower was two buckets of water, one to get wet and soap up, the other to clean off the soap. This was life and you get used to it. We had no eletricity, just lamps and candles. We finally got a Tv hookup when I was about 9. He had to run a wire from a neighbors house to get power. My father loved radio and Pagode music, so at least we had noise in the house. The radio was battery operated.
When I was about 11, we moved into a larger more stable house. It was what I called it the “half and half”. I told my friends that if they wanted to find my house just look for the brown and rust colored, half and half. It was a joke but true, our house was half wood, half brick. So, it was easy to find. We were in a beco that was made of dirt becase cement roads where we were, was not common. In the rains the dirt road would become mud and dangrously slippery.
The house was four small rooms, two bedrooms, one for my parents and the other for us four kids. My father was a construction worker who build level beds for us, one on top of each other. There was a small eating/living room area and small bathroom with a toilet and shower. Outside the side door of the house was a tiny sink with a small tacked to the wall mirror, to wash hands or shave. We did not have windows, just sheets of plastic we would use to keep the rain out. We had a small fridge, sink and hot plate type thing that plugged into the wall. Very few people at that time had stoves, like they do today. We had eletricity but it was minimal and did not always work. My father bought kerosne lamps as a backup. We often studied by candle light. Water was inconsistant and you could not drink it. There were days when we had no water which was dificult to wash clothes, shower or clean dishes. Often we would go to neighbors as this was life in a favela.
We did finally get a small used television but we did not watch it much. My mother ruled the tv in the nighttime inviting neighbors over to watch the novelas. Most of the time we were studying or playing outside when she watched tv. That was her time for socialization and connection with community. She also liked to sew and make clothes. She was a English teacher so she had plenty of work but liked being around the house too to take care of us.
Development in my area was slow until a huge migration of people especially from the northeast of Brazil, in the late 70’s came to Rocinha. Then some major building took place in many areas of the favela. Everywhere you walked people were busy building, tearing down, creating some sort of house. It was exciting but also crazy time. Strange accents and expressions were heard and with this migration brought crime. Mostly petty crime but still bothersome to the existing residents.
The drug gangs came into power around this same time and instituted rules in the favela. Since the goverment and police never came here anyways, the drug guys took control of the neighborhoods and set the rules, no stealing, raping or killing inside the favela. I am not sure on the exact details becase I was a kid, but the dealers set up a coexistence with the police. The police were not to enter the neighborhood, and the dealers would keep peace among the residents. This was also a time of tension becase the residents association which was formed in 1961 and established, was not sure what to make of the drug gang. The drug gang bought hearts and minds by aiding some of the poorest residents by providing food and necessities. Also many in the drug gang were “cria” or from the favela.
Interesting dynamic it is and far more complicated than I can explain here. The drug gang became the parallel power and filled the role of the goverment. The gang built community centers and had simple roads paved. If you live in the community what would you think? After years of being neglected and shunned by the goverment, who do you turn to? The gang filled that role. I wouldn’t say people were happy about it, but they accepted it. What else could they do?
For me, school was never fun and it was dificult to make friends. The kids from Rocinha stuck together and the non favela kids had their groups. I hated this becase I wanted to learn about others and make friends. Reading was my favorite subject. I did make some friends from outside of Rocinha, but never did I get to visit their homes or create real friendships with them. It was all superficial. And it was like in my face they liked me but if they were with another non favela kid, they would pretend they did not like me. Weird peer pressure.
Its kind of sad becase in youth is where prejudices are born. It where people learn to hate. As I said in another Blog entry that is in another place: ignorance + fear = hate. How true. So sad becase understanding and learning is what we need. Why cant favelados and asfaltos be friends? Again it goes back to education!
The outside world sees favelas as a place where people have stolen everything. To them we have taken electricity, water, land and do not pay taxes. Favelas are places where "those kind of people" live, dirty, theives, uneducated etc..And there is some truth to that, but rarely do people want to know the "why"???? Why do favelas exist?
We lets start with a history lesson, the goverment promised soldiers who were freed slaves, that if they fought in the war of Canudos (1893-1897) in Bahia, that they would provide these soldiers with jobs and housing. After this war, many migrated to larger cities in the south of brasil. Areas like Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo brought many people with the hopes of jobs. People were able to find jobs but could not find afordable housing. When the soldiers asked the goverment for help, the goverment turned to the hills pointed and said "build your houses there". So, the people did just that without goverment help. The first official settlement was in dowtown Rio in a area called “Morro de Favela” after the plant that grew there on the hill. Later the first “favela” was named "Morro da Providencia" or Providence Hill. Morro da Providencia still exists today in dowtown Rio de Janeiro.
If a favela is without government control or structure, it is obvious that services like water, eletricity, sanitation and proper sewer systems will not exist. If the government does not even recognize you enough to put your community (of 250.000+ people) on a map, that says a lot about discrimnation. So, then where does the community get these things? Well several places. In Rocinha the Estrada da Gavea was paved in 1939 way before Rocinha was favelized (if that is a word). Back then it was a small community of farms where vegetables were sold and car races used to run up and down the estrada. Eletricity was brought to the main street by the influence of the catholic church, who was instrumental in the 1950’s to getting services for the people who settled there. Today there is formal eletricity to most of the residents but not all. The company called “Light” is located at the bottom of the hill near the pasarella. If you are one of the residents who lives deep in a beco, you probably run a “gato” or line to your neighbors and get power from them. But in turn that person’s light bill is higher, so nobody gets for FREE! I am sure there are people who have rigged the system and do steal, but that is a minority.
Water has always been in Rocinha but acess has not always been easy. There is a water source deep in the woods close to Portao Vermelho and other areas higher up where water is pumped by CEDAE, which is a municiple company. The majority of residents have water but still problems occur. Two months ago I went 2 days without water and had to use neighbors facilities.
Sewage is more dificult to understand as it exists but there are many open places where sewage is visable and contributes to health hazards for residents. There is a open sewer ditch in a area called the Valao, instead of building that PAC project of the futebol field/swimming pool next to the samba school, they should cover the Valao! There are pipes you can see that criss cross the hill but nothing like the USA where you never see or hear it.
Sanitation and garbage pick up a problem. There are areas on the side of the road desgnated for pick up. The prefeitura is supposed to pick up the garbage 2 times a day, but rarely do they.The residents also need education about not littering in the becos or small alleyways deep in the favela. But it starts with having garbage cans available for people to put garbage in! The residents association does have people who they hire to clean the streets. I would think it would be easier for them to clean if there were garbage cans around. I walked one day for about 30 minutes before I found a garbage can. Garbage on the streets and in the becos also attracts rats!
As far as taxes, well in Rio, if you make under 1.300 reais a month you do not pay taxes. The majority of favelados that I know make from $500-$800 reais a month. So, that explain the taxes situation. And with that little money, where else could you live but a FAVELA!
Many of the services came about due to the residents association and the influence of the church. They both fought for attention to be brought to the community. The services are still substandard but are better than nothing.
If somebody does not understand the community or have fear, they create a dislike automatically and avoid. This is how I feel the asfalto world looks at the favelas. Better to avoid and marginalize, than to include in everyday society. This is where opportunity comes in. Who has it, and who does not? The people in power distribute that opportunity according to one’s worth. In Rio, monetary worth, specifically, where you live. If I live in Gavea or Barra de Tijuca, automatically, I am seen as a person of value and opportunities of all types are “given” without question, to me.
If I am from Rocinha or another favela, I am seen as a person not of value. Instead I am seen as a servant to service the upper classes.
Opportunity changes things dramatically. But opportunity comes in diferent ways. Education is number one! They say in Brasil, everybody has the right to education and that is true, but the quality of education is what everybody deserves. The favelado gets minimum education that prepares him to be a “servant” for the rest of his life!
If a person has access to decent education, they can change their life. How much, is dependent on what society will allow. What I mean by this is if a guy from the favela is smart enough to become a doctor through all the schooling necessary, will he be given the chance to practice? Or will he be not valued just becase he comes from the favela? Hard to say on that becase the few who do make it to that level, have to lie and deny their roots just to get ahead. I am certainly not close to that level, but in my past I lied about where I was from, becase the media constantly pumps negative images about favelas in the news. Who would want to say they are from such a horrible place.
So now back to this statement:
I believe that the lack of empathy and understanding from outsiders remains a big obstacle to long-term improvement of life in the favelas.
There is much truth in this, but I feel there needs to be exchange on both parts, favela and asfalto. Only the next generations can change perspectives about how each are viewed. The outside needs to get to know and understand people of the favelas. And the favelados need to give them the chance to get to know them.
Mixed Thoughts
I made this post just before the police invasion on Nov 13, 2011
Favelas
I have been reading a lot lately about favelas and Brazil’s opinion of them. Afer living here in my youth and now returning, I certainly have a diferent perspective on things. Interesting how ideas opinions change as we age. I observe more what people say and their body language.
I think I can say that the majority of those who live outside of favelas have absolutely NO IDEA of what goes on here. There only views are those that which the news spits to them each night. It is the same old prejudices, crime, drug trafic and violence. I just don’t see all that exagerated stuff here, and YES I live right in the middle of it all. There are crimes here but crimes is everywhere. Rocinha has a estimated population of about 300,000 people, so of course there will be bad people too.
Yes, it is true that traficantes live here and in the open walk armed with high powered weapons, but last night while taking a walking break, I sat myself down to smoke a cigarette. Right by the entrance of the beco where I live, two dealers hopped off mototaxis and stood not more than 2 meters in front of me just standing observing things. I just sat there observing. I notice one of them was wearing expensive jewelry and had his hair dyed blonde which is very common here. The other had brown hair with the top of his head spiked with blonde highlights. Both of them were about 18-20 years old. I have not seen anyone who appears to be under 17 years old carrying a gun here. So the idea that there are 8 to 12 year olds running around here in Rocinha with guns is just plain stupid.
I am really getting to dislike people (asfaltos) who judge me negatively because I live in a favela. The prejudice is right out in the open and people will call you “favelado” which is a negative word if said by somebody outside the favela. Their image is that everybody who lives in a favela is stupid, dirty and a theif. I think every place has these types of people. So the word favelado is used by outsiders to describe the things I just mentioned.
For me favelado just means somebody who lives in a favela.
But I can say, I do not feel fear as I am a resident here. Now I must say, I would prefer the favela without them (drug dealers), but the reality is much different. I accept this as “it is what it is”. But for those Brazilians who only read papers or listen to the news, they need to visit or live in a favela to really understand how the comunity works here. There is so much more to the favela than the drugs, guns and crime.
Another thing I have noticed is that people do not complain here. They have much they could complain about, but they do not. The residents are happy and just go about their lives. I am sure they do complain becase we all do, but it is not out in the open. And you actually see people smiling here. Not like in the USA where people are spoiled and everything is fastfood “I want it now”, mentality. Also here people I can say good morning to them and they respond positively, unlike in the US, where people think you want something from them and turn away in fear of you. From living here, it is true, Americans overall fear each other and here in Brazil, especially the favela, I just do not see that. I really think Americans need to come to a place like Rocinha so they can appreciate how good they have it in the US. I do not have much, but I am thankful for everything I have.
Favelas
I have been reading a lot lately about favelas and Brazil’s opinion of them. Afer living here in my youth and now returning, I certainly have a diferent perspective on things. Interesting how ideas opinions change as we age. I observe more what people say and their body language.
I think I can say that the majority of those who live outside of favelas have absolutely NO IDEA of what goes on here. There only views are those that which the news spits to them each night. It is the same old prejudices, crime, drug trafic and violence. I just don’t see all that exagerated stuff here, and YES I live right in the middle of it all. There are crimes here but crimes is everywhere. Rocinha has a estimated population of about 300,000 people, so of course there will be bad people too.
Yes, it is true that traficantes live here and in the open walk armed with high powered weapons, but last night while taking a walking break, I sat myself down to smoke a cigarette. Right by the entrance of the beco where I live, two dealers hopped off mototaxis and stood not more than 2 meters in front of me just standing observing things. I just sat there observing. I notice one of them was wearing expensive jewelry and had his hair dyed blonde which is very common here. The other had brown hair with the top of his head spiked with blonde highlights. Both of them were about 18-20 years old. I have not seen anyone who appears to be under 17 years old carrying a gun here. So the idea that there are 8 to 12 year olds running around here in Rocinha with guns is just plain stupid.
I am really getting to dislike people (asfaltos) who judge me negatively because I live in a favela. The prejudice is right out in the open and people will call you “favelado” which is a negative word if said by somebody outside the favela. Their image is that everybody who lives in a favela is stupid, dirty and a theif. I think every place has these types of people. So the word favelado is used by outsiders to describe the things I just mentioned.
For me favelado just means somebody who lives in a favela.
But I can say, I do not feel fear as I am a resident here. Now I must say, I would prefer the favela without them (drug dealers), but the reality is much different. I accept this as “it is what it is”. But for those Brazilians who only read papers or listen to the news, they need to visit or live in a favela to really understand how the comunity works here. There is so much more to the favela than the drugs, guns and crime.
Another thing I have noticed is that people do not complain here. They have much they could complain about, but they do not. The residents are happy and just go about their lives. I am sure they do complain becase we all do, but it is not out in the open. And you actually see people smiling here. Not like in the USA where people are spoiled and everything is fastfood “I want it now”, mentality. Also here people I can say good morning to them and they respond positively, unlike in the US, where people think you want something from them and turn away in fear of you. From living here, it is true, Americans overall fear each other and here in Brazil, especially the favela, I just do not see that. I really think Americans need to come to a place like Rocinha so they can appreciate how good they have it in the US. I do not have much, but I am thankful for everything I have.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
20 Janeiro 2012 meeting of DJ's na Rocinha
Jan 20th Patrick Alves organized a meeting of dj's in the favela. Over 25 dj's from the comunity showed up and took their turns playing for about 30-40 minutes..Every Sunday they have a pagode party on rua nova or the new street from 6pm until midnight..we met on a friday afternoon at 4pm and various dj's got to play everything from hip hop, funk, pagode, top 40 and anything else you could think of. The place where we played was in front of a bar so our crew attracted a lot of attention and music always brings out many people from the favela. I am sure the bar was happy.
I brought my cdj's and patrick brought turntables, mixer and speakers. The bar hooked us up to electricity to get us going. Big shout outs to Patrick for organizing this event, Dj Markao de Charme, Dj Bola, Dj Fernado Nere, Sem Terra, Dj Ramon and many others. We are planning another one very soon..
I want to thank all the tourists that I received in january and february as witout you, this dj school would not exist. I was able to buy some nice speakers for the school. We are growing the school slowly with students and equipment. Eventually it would be nice to have a sponsor for equipment so I can use the money from tourism to buy a permanent location for SPIN ROCINHA..
Update on SPIN R0CINHA
Our students finally had the opportunity to play outside the favela. Garyt Lineback a mutual friend, works for VALE, a mining company and the second largest company in Brazil.
So, on 12th of November 2011, we met at the bottom of the hill at 12 noon, Vinny. Johnathan, Ariel, myself and Garyt to head out to some far off place about 75 minutes out of the city of Rio. It was a sitio out in Recreio dos Bandeirantes. A BBQ party for middle to upper class brazilians to be dj'ed by students from the favela.
This is good exposure for the students to get used to playing in front of crowds. About 1 hour after we arrived Andre our 12 year old student arrived with his father on the back of his fathers motobike. Everybody got a chance to play various styles of music and to show their skills.
Vale also made donation of rice, beans and other foods to give to projects we have in the favela. I gave some to the kids to bring home and to the daycare just on the otherside of my street. I want to thank Garyt and Vale for having SPIN ROCINHA to play their party. I hope this is the begining of great things to come for the students of our dj school..
***a sidenote...the day following this party on 13 of November, the armed forces and over 3000 police took over the slum without a shot fired. Still a shocking thing for me to watch at 4:09am military tanks and men in fatigues with big military assault rifles roll by my front door..
Monday, September 5, 2011
Beginning of our DJ School- SPIN ROCINHA & Rocinha Media School
For over 10 years, I have had people ask me to teach them to dj. I think that everyone who is a dj has had friends ask them to teach them. Dj schools are rare and most dj’s are self taught. It starts out as a love for music, then getting some tables in your bedroom and practicing. Depending on your skills and desire, some venture out into playing in bars or clubs. Almost all of us at one time has done the family party or wedding. Putting your time in on the decks has its perks. For me it was being able to play in front of a crowd and gain experience. I had the opportunity to play a lot outside of Brazil too, which was great. I played mostly Brazilian parties and funk music was my love. My home for about 8 years was San Francisco so I had the opportunity to play in many clubs there. I will never forget the “Underground”, “Pink” and “el Rio” as some of my home clubs.
So, out of all of this, about 2 years ago I decided that I wanted to make something special here in Rocinha. There were many people in the favela that wanted me to start a English school but for me, I would rather start something that is my passion. There are already English schools here. I started asking people around the community if they were interested. Many showed interest, then I decided to research about how I was to do this. I had told many people from facebook my idea. Everybody said go for it.
About 5 months ago a Dj Phi Pham, from New York contacted me about the dj school and said they wanted to be a part. I told them about my contacts with dj’s here and our plan to have free classes. But I needed help with equipment. Electronics here are very expensive, probably close to triple what the costs are in the United States.
During this same time many more people were interested in this project. Harry Daley a dj from Canada, had contacted me after reading my blog and I put him in contact with Phi in New York. After a few months Harry took a trip to New York to meet Phi and talk about their project called “Building Beats”. Their idea is to help fund dj/music projects in poor areas.
I had some equipment but had to find a way to get more. If we are going to have a good school, we need enough equipment for people to practice on. Ryan, a friend of mine from San Diego put me in contact with a woman who was interested in projects going on here in the favela. I met Lea Rekow one day while showing her Tio Lino’s art school. After seeing the art school, I told her about my idea of making a dj school. She became interested and we started meeting and talking about organizing how we would do this.
She has much experience in doing this kind of thing. Her experience covers many areas including film making and curating large art shows in New York. We set the plan in motion. My job was to find a place to have the classes, find the students, advertise in the favela, buy the notebooks, the white board and host Ryan and Harry for a month. They both brought dj equipment down with them. Lea had friends who donated equipment, website hosting and development. We have both put in a lot of time to get this project off the ground.
We had our open house on August 1st and started the classes on August 15th. We have classes every Monday and Wednesday for now. Eventually we will expand when we find a new space. For now, we are running the school out of my living room. This is just temporary until we secure a good location. The classes run for about 90 minutes. We have nine students that include 6 guys and 3 women. The ages of the students are from 13 up to 34 years old. I absolutely love this project as it is off to a great start and already we are getting interest from other residents who want to take part in the next set of classes.
In order to expand we are always looking for new/used equipment. Lea handles all monetary donations. So, if you have interest to help us expand the program you can contact Lea at info@rocinhamediaschool.org
Below is a video on youtube of our Open House that happened on August 1st, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjodZv-31iA
Please cut and paste into your browser as I have no idea through this blog how to make a link..
Kay Fochtmann- Germany - Living in Rocinha
- Can you tell me your name, where you are from?
My name is Kay Fochtmann and I am from Leipzig, Germany
- Why did you come to Brasil?
I came to Brazil because I am a geography student of the University of Leipzig writing his final thesis about Favela-Tourism. I have been to Brazil 9 years ago and I just fell in love with the country and its people and ever since I wanted to come back and stay a little longer, get to know a Brazil, a Rio, far from the tourist spots.
- When you arrived where did you live?
I lived in Rua Farani, Botafogo, for a month in a small apartment which I shared with another friend from Germany.
- How did you find out about favelas?
Well, I first saw Favelas during my trip to Brazil in 2002. I knew they existed because I read a lot of travel-guides to prepare myself for the trip but when I actually saw them and especially how many there are I was still overwhelmed and somehow fascinated of the structure / architecture and how people can survive. After I returned to Germany I read some books and a lot of articles and of course, also my geography-studies dealt with Favelas.
- Why did you decide to move into a favela (Rocinha)?
My actual plan was to do an internship in a Favela and to hand out questionnaires to the tourists taking a Favela-tour because I was interested in their motivation and the image they have of a Favela before they actually saw one. So I wrote to a lot of Rio’s Favela-Tour-Guides and finally you were so kind to give me the opportunity to be a part of your tours and you even invited me to actually live in Rocinha, a thought that actually never crossed my mind. My plan was to meet the guide at the pick-up-point, hand out the questionnaires, join the tours and leave when the tour is over. I must admit I really had to think about your proposal since I read and heard a lot of bad things about Favelas and since every guide-book I know strongly recommends Rio-visitors not to enter any Favela without a guide, let alone to live there. My decision to move in was based on the emails we exchanged and because I found it only fair to live in the Favela, experience the same conditions – the good and the bad ones – if I want to write about that place and its people! And as stupid as it sounds I won’t deny that I was also driven by a tiny bit of thirst for adventure and regarded that as a once-in-a-lifetime-thing. (Luckily now I can say that I hopefully will come back soon.)
- Before moving here what did you know about favelas?
Thanks to the new media you access a lot of information really easily and find what you are looking for. If it wasn’t for the internet I would have never thought about entering a Favela and doing my project. I knew that it’s a slum, that there are different districts within a Favela, some poorer, some better off. I read about horrible sanitation, infrastructure and the influence of the drug-traffickers. Well, let’s say there is a lot of information you can find about how bad the situation is but rather less about the good stuff, especially the people and the miracle. But then again, if you really look for that kind of news you can find them but you need to dig a lot deeper.
- Since living here, have your impressions of favelas changed much?
Sure. And I am very glad about it as it wouldn’t have changed didn’t I actually live there for three months.
- What do you like about living in the favela?
There were so many things I liked and it’s all about the people. The way they treat each other, the way they help one another. Of course these social interactions are born out of necessity but they do work. People share things: the owner of one apartment has a TV, everybody comes in to watch TV, one of the guests has washing machine, so he can offer the people to wash their clothes, others have a computer and internet access - people share, people help each other. People know each other. I was out of water for several days and I wanted to buy some water down at the little market and one of the workers just offered me to use his shower and I rarely knew him. I was overwhelmed. I liked that there is a big sense of community, that you are respected. And I, too, respect the people living under the conditions they live in and knowing how to survive with dignity and pride. I liked learning about all the things that matter, all the knots that are holding this community together. That is just something you can read about but never really understand unless you didn’t experience it at first hand. Living in Rocinha felt like two things: living in a state within a state and on the other hand living in a small village where everybody knows his neighbor.
- What don’t you like?
As there are many things I liked about the Favela, there are many things I didn’t like. Teen pregnancy is one of them. And the fact that it seems completely normal to guys in their twenties+ to start flirting with 12-year-old girls. And what disturbed me most is the fact that the girls seem to like it. I wanted to blame the men but it’s not that easy. It is hard as there is a lack of role models for guys and girls in the Favelas. It seems like most young girls want to be models and most young guys want to be in the soccer-stars or be a kingpin in drug-trade when they are grown-ups. So, beauty seems to be a much more important issue than education to a lot of girls and for older guys those girls are an easy target as they feed their appetite for recognition. Of course another disturbing thing is the presence of guns, especially in the hand of teenagers. As I never had any problems with those kinds of guys it is still certain that a place filled with guns is a dangerous one. There is a lot more to write but in case someone wants to know something, feel free to contact me via email.
- If you had a magic wand and could change anything, what would you change about the favela?
Besides the things that come into your mind at first like solving the garbage-problem, teach the kids self-respect and so on, I think one important thing would be to make Favelas and their inhabitants more visible to Brazil’s middle- and upper class. Visible in the context of how life is really like for its people and that not everybody chose to live under those conditions and that not everybody is a poor, lazy bum or a drug-lord. I met people who were working 5 (five!!) jobs to make ends meet, who get up at 6 in the morning and work til 3 at night! It is such a contradiction that, especially in Rio, you can see Favelas from every part of town and so little is known about the lives of the people living there, especially strange because every middle- and upper-class family has a housekeeper who is most likely from a Favela. So there are lots of knots where those different classes connect and there is still no further interest in trying to tear down prejudices. They might rather believe the news than believe the words of the woman who takes care of their children every day. How sad is that?
- Has your experience been worthwhile?
Absolutely! I made a lot of dear friends and learned so much about living in a Favela. Knowledge which can only be gained through experience.
- What advice would you give someone who wanted to move/stay here?
Well, in case he/she still has doubts whether to do it or not: DO IT, GO!!!
Otherwise: be open, smile, don’t take yourself too seriously – and you will learn to be happier with less.
- Would you come back to live here again?
No doubt.
- Anything else you would like to comment about regarding life here?
Not really, I think I said everything that came into my mind. I mean, there really is a book to write but for now I will leave it at that. Anyone got further questions: shot!
Thanks a lot for the interview, Zezinho
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