Favelas

We went on a tour of one of Rio's favelas, which was eye-opening in a positive way.

We took moto-taxis to the top of a hillside on which the favelas are built. (Moto-taxi = you on the back of a bloke´s motorbike. Cool and scary!) We then walked through the favelas downhill to end up at the bottom.

We stopped to look into an art studio, where artists teach young adults how to paint, then they sell their canvases. It´s an interesting educational tool. One of the artists, a 14 year old called Jean was there. It seems that by expressing themselves through art, the young in the favelas can keep out of trouble.

We also heard some boys practising Samba drums (plastic buckets) in the hope that one day they can join one of the Samba schools.

The guide told us that most of the people in the favelas are respectable, and try to work hard to one day get out of the favelas, and there are plenty of schemes and schools to encourage the children to go to school and learn to work hard in order to succeed. (Rather than reverting to begging or selling drugs)

The favelas themselves are all over the place, and there is a big problem with sewage and rubbish in the streets. Much caused by houses collapsing in mudslides in the rainy season.

It was an amazing experience, and it was interesting to find out that the favela lifestyle portrayed in the media is quite different to the reality. (In this one, anyway) The people there seem to be like any others, just trying to get on in life and make the best of things. They are not dangerous or violent. They were very friendly.