The favelas in Rio de Janeiro definitely are not what they used to be. The country has been cleaning up its act and most favelas now have police. The country has started to clean itself up for the upcoming World Cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016. Before then, there was a significant amount of crime and most favelas didn’t even have police protection. This favela was part of the view from when we rented a penthouse on the mountain of Santa Teresa in Rio de Janeiro. I just love the colors and textures of all of the small houses nearby. There are only a handful of favelas that do not have police protection that are in the north of the city. While Brazil still has special SWAT teams that are designed for favelas they are nowhere near as dangerous as they used to be.
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great picture! also makes me feel much better about visiting knowing they are safer
I know life has to be hard there, but to me as an outside observer favelas have always been quite fascinating! Just recently, I´ve seen pictures of the most colorful murals done by the Dutch duo Haas & Hahn in the favelas in Rio. People might argue what´s the point when this part of the city seems on the verge of the collapse, but after seeing that rainbow of colors and beautiful design I say they are bound to bring at least some hope and positivity!
Greate Capture..!
It’s interesting and, albeit, I went to Brazil 10 years ago, but I went on a favela tour (which actually ended up being one of my favourite things that I did in Rio de Janeiro) and our guide – who worked with communities in the favela – told us that while it was a dangerous place to live in for people involved in the drug trade, most tourists were absolutely safe! Any favela dwellers robbing or harming tourists in any way would be caught and punished by the local drug lords for attracting attention to themselves! And we felt perfectly safe when we went. I’m wondering what the impact of police presence would be! Hoping it really means things are better than ever.
Hey ! This is a great article.
It makes me think of JR talk at TED. He is a french photographer and street artist that as stick some of his photos on favelas. The undertaking involved mother of young people who have lost child(ren) because of gang wars and violences.
Even if the talk is 20 minutes long it is really worth watching it all… This guy is really inspiring !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAy1zBtTbw
Hope you like it !
I saw a documentary on how people live in favelas and in some areas homes look surprisingly good inside. I was amazed how well it looked inside, so totally different from the exterior slum.
hello!
What was the name of the penthouse in Santa Teresa?
I’d like to stay in this part of rio
Thankyou!
Fraser
Can’t remember the name but its on airbnb