Living conditions in the world's slum districts are the focus of global attention on this year's 'Habitat Day' - an annual event organised by the United Nations each October. And an example of how things could be improved - by redeveloping shanty towns into normal suburbs - can be found in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
She explains how her district has undergone a huge metamorphosis: "Three years ago we didn't even have asphalt roads, just sandy paths. When it rained, the streets turned into one large mud pool. Pigs would just walk into your house."
Facelift
Vigario Geral owes its facelift to the Favela-Bairro project, in which the municipal authorities are converting the shanty towns into 'normal' suburbs. But despite the makeover, Vigario Geral is still a 'favela' or slum, says Nanko van Buuren, the Dutch founder of the IBISS organisation, which has been trying to improve living standards in the slum districts for the past 15 years:
"The infrastructure has improved, but Vigario Geral is still a favela because of the amount of violence in the area." Mr Van Buuren explains how rival drug gangs are the cause of the crime and violence in the area: "Shooting incidents happen here, and the bullets fly, about six times a week. The police and council officials don't dare come into the area. All amenities have to be set up by the local people themselves, from waste disposal to medical facilities."
Social rules
Brazilian slum districts are a world of their own, with their own social rules. The government has let the favelas grow out of control over the past 50 years without paying any attention to them. As a result, most such districts are without decent roads and have no electricity or water supplies.
People from the countryside have been drawn in large numbers to the big cities and, once there, have built homes for themselves illegally. Nanko van Buuren says the Terra Encantada - "the promised land " - district is a good example of how these districts get established: "First you have an invasion of people who occupy wasteland, in this case the former site of a factory. People built slums here, then they tried to measure out the land out so that everyone has a equal share. The next step is to create a better infrastructure."
She says that many favelas looked just like Terra Encantada 20 years ago, but now some have been transformed into pleasant suburbs. Even so, for many people the stereotypical image of the slums still remains, says Patricia Mota Guedes, a researcher at the Fernand Braudel Institute of World Economics in Sao Paulo. For her research into patterns of consumption in the outlying areas of Sao Paulo, she asked around 1000 'favela' families about their daily lives:
"There are many myths about life on the edges of the big city. People who don't live in such areas think they'd find nothing but slums here, and violent people who don't have dreams. With this research we tried to debunk this myth."
For example, Ms Mota Guedes discovered that the number of local inhabitants with mobile phones and televisions was much higher than she had previously imagined: "Many of these people had nothing 20 years ago, but they have since improved their lives." She also believes that these people as a group are vital to the development of Brazil, "Brazil needs a workforce for the development of the country. In the slums, you find very hard working people who are creative because of the many problems they've had to face."
Ms Mota Guedes argues that, in order to debunk the myths surrounding the slums, you first need to bring the inhabitants out of their isolation. Nanko van Buuren says this is also an important goal of the Favela-Bairro project. An example of this is being achieved can be found in the shape of a viaduct which has been built in Vigario Geral. It makes it easier for the local residents to leave the district to go to school or go shopping.
And Mr Van Buuren says its proved very effective, "Almost 70 percent of the local children between the ages of four and 16 didn't go to school before. Now around 95 percent of them take part in education and as many as 47 young people are going to university."
These young people are proving to the area that there is an alternative to drug dealing. He expects this will eventually lead to a drop in violence, and he doesn't fear the prospect of these young people leaving the area after they 'make it' in the outside world: "People from the favelas are very loyal to their own district and social network. Furthermore, you only have to take a look around to see for yourself how nice it is here."
*Translated and Edited by RNW Internet Desk (CC)
Tags: facelift, favela, Living conditions, Rio, slums, transformation