Favelas

We visited two Favelas in Rio de Janeiro this morning. The Favelas are communities, mostly on the hillsides, where the poorer members of the community reside. Although by reputation the Favelas harbour the criminal and the indolent the reality, we have been told by our various guides, is quite different. Perhaps 90% of the population of these shanty towns is in employment including in all likelihood providing many of the smartly uniformed staff attending to us in our luxury beachside hotels. We were told there is high level of school attendance by the children. However there is up to fifth generation residents of Favelas nowadays and the best, perhaps only, escape to a richer environment is through the luck of achieving fame and fortune as a footballer or entertainer.

These tours of the Favelas are officially sanctioned as a means for bringing the reality of their character as well as lifestyle to a wider audience and for improving their reputation. That's what we were told and  there was nothing in the lack of interest or curiosity to our presence to suggest otherwise. There clearly are numerous daily tours and apart from those who gave us wide smiles or wished us a good morning there was no indication of hostility or any other negative response to our traipsing around their world.

The population of greater Rio is about 9 million and about 20%  (or a total of 1,800,000 people) resides in a Favela. There are 950 Favelas in Rio and we visited two of them. One is the largest in the city with a community that ranges from 80,000 to 250,000 depending upon what figures are used. It is the only one in the city with roads running through it and therefore with access to the public bus system. The other Favela is far smaller with a community of about 2,800.

It is extraordinary how the Favelas sit side by side with very wealthy elements in the city.

Here are several images.

Commerce looked to be thriving in this Favela

Narrow lane ways, twists and turns