Favela

[+ Lucky]

With the new movie City of Men opening today, the companion piece to the more harrowing City of God, favellas in Rio will get more attention.

 

I was wondering how many other Hooville travellers to Rio have been to a favela. I went five or six years ago on a walking tour of one of the better ones, or so I was told. We stopped at a rather nice house at the bottom, and the guide either paid a fee or just paid homage, to protect ourselves during the tour.

 

And we were left alone. We hiked the favela, seeing for ourselves the poverty of the people, the shacks that were homes, the little stores that carried convenience items often being hardly more that a shelf or two in a hut. Not a single person, other than a small child, acknowledged our presence. Maybe they didn't like being the subject of a tour, or maybe they were told to ignore us.

 

It was an interesting visit but I sure was happy to be done with it. I learned that the gang leaders all lived at the top of the hill, almost in a hierarchy. They weren't up there for the views so much as they wanted to be the last place police on foot could get to. We didn't go all the way up, we didn't see any weapons, but, speaking for myself, I saw enough. It's one thing to be told about the favela, it's another thing to actually see it.

 

Hillside homes that would capture big prices in other cities were left to the very poor here. No road for cars existed once you started climbing. Plenty of motorcycles though.

 

So, did anyone else go to a favela? What did you experience?

[CT Dick]

I've debated taking a favela tour. I haven't done it because I'm afraid I'd feel like a voyeur gawking at their sad lives. I think I caught an undercurrent of that in your posting.

 

Was there and positive reason to go?

 

Dick

[+ Lucky]

Yes, there was a bit of voyeur feeling, particluarly because the residents were so uninterested in our visit. If they had been welcoming, it might have been better. Usually going to see someone's home is a compliment to them, or at least showing an interest in how they live. But, better that we were available for interaction by walking through rather than sitting on a tour bus.

[+ Axiom2001]

In 2002 I took Marcelo Armstrong's tour of at least three major favelas within a time frame of four hours. With me were four others, Europeans, and the guide. After the small van let us off at the top of the hill across from the American International School, we treked the slightly rugged street and walked downhill amongst the varying structures: many looking as if they were in need of much repair yet NEAT and CLEAN.

 

The people whom we encountered were hospitable and welcoming, but what bothered me was feeling the acute need to purchase items from small store front museums as well as from the school that had been established to help youngsters who had been "caught up" in the system in one way or another.

 

Our guide never really specifically stated why these kids were in this setup and did not seem enthusiastic about telling us even when questioned.

 

I went on this one to gain another perspective and view of the social structure (a big one) that exists in Rio and Sao Paulo and in other large cities in my favorite county.

 

In 2004 I think, I did another favela tour with another company but did not enjoy or like it as well. It has a subtle religious bent to it, and I was not seeking to be saved. One young man asked me out right if I have found God. I can't remember how I responded, but I did not enjoy being queried in this manner.

 

As a side note: Marcelo Armstrong originated tours to the favela which have been sanctioned by the gangs which control the "governmental" components of the favelas.

 

That's all! I went and plan to go again to get, I hope, another perspective and outlook. I'd recommend it; I did not feel as if I were a voyuer.

[+ Lucky]

I went to see the movie City of Men and was intensely disappointed. The filmmakers seemed much more obsessed with the pornography of violence they create rather than any serious look at the people living in this "city."

[Guest EuropTravl]

>>Not a single person, other than a small child, acknowledged our presence.

 

They probably would have if you had paid them anything. What's in it for them? I've been to Brazil many times (Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Rio) and can't imagine wanting to walk through slums and "be acknowledged". Imagine a bus load of Parisians wanting to walk-through Cabrini-Green in Chicago when it housed tens of thousands of people. Different groups of people going in and helping I get. Tourists visiting a human zoo I don't.

[+ Lucky]

You are misreading my post if you think I went there to "get acknowledged." I was there to learn about the life in the favela, something I was curious about. Maybe ignorance is bliss for you, but some of us like to understand others better.

[Luv2play]

I've only been to Brasil once and visited Rio and Sao Paulo, where I saw favelas up close but never on the inside. I did see the squalor however and knew the reputation for crime, drugs and violence associated with the favelas. Shanty towns are endemic in most third world countries but what shocks in Brasil is the proximity of great wealth and utter poverty in these two cities.

 

I am not comfortable being a voyeur in such circumstances and would not take such a "tour". I did buy a painting by a street artist which depicted a favela in a completely unrealistic, colorful way. I put it in an antique gold frame when I got home and it is stunning, as an artist's image.

 

But my mind knows the reality, and the only colors I saw (admittedly from the outside) were dingy grays and browns of the cinder blocks, corrugated iron and other detritus used to construct very primitive housing.

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: Favela...

 

...liked your analysis and definitely could relate in spite of what I'd previously written! Muito obrigado! Axiom2001

[Guest EuropTravl]

>>I did buy a painting by a street artist which depicted a favela in a completely unrealistic, colorful way. I put it in an antique gold frame when I got home and it is stunning, as an artist's image.

 

I did the same thing in Belo Horizonte at their Sunday "Hippie Fair" and the smiles on that artists three little kids as some American was buying their papa's painting. "Food tonight!"

[+ Lucky]

There is an article in today's NY Times on the subject of "slum tours."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/travel/09heads.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

[+ Axiom2001]

Obrigado! ...interesting read! :-) :-) :-)