Hello Futureworkers
I've just spent a month living in the slums of Sao Paulo, Brazil. While
down there, I tried to send you a message on the conditions I encountered.
I don't think it got through to you, so I'll post it again. As you'll see,
it ends with questions, not answers.
The posting, as written on November 14th, follows:
*********************************
I'm writing this from the Heliopolis favela (slum) in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
For those of you who have never seen it, Sao Paulo is an enormous city of
some 18 to 20 million, two-thirds of the population of Canada.
The Heliopolis favela is said to contain some 100,000 people, and it is just
one of many favelas. It is what is known as a "third stage" favela. It is
permanent. Streets are paved with asphalt or cobblestone, and buildings
are of brick block, often attaining heights of three or four stories. There
is electricity, water and sewage, though not everyone has access to all such
services. While the people do not own the land, they do have the right to
sell their buildings. There is a "second-stage" favela not far from here.
The buildings are less permanent "shanties", made of whatever bits of old
board and plywood people have managed to find. There is also a "first
stage" favela not too far away. Squatters have tacked shelters together
from cardboard boxes or whatever else is available. There are no services.
First stage favelas are usually occupied by people who have recently come in
from the country, especially from the north of Brazil, to look for work.
They have no money and no friends to take them in, so they have to fend for
themselves. Second and third stage favelas are occupied by people who have
put roots down in the city. Heliopolis is probably a second generation
favela - i.e., the kids of the people who first moved in now live here and
are raising their own kids.
There is a tremendous crush of people in Heliopolis. The streets are very
busy because both pedestrians and vehicles must use them. There usually is a
sidewalk, but it is so cluttered that pedestrians are forced out onto the
street. There they have to dodge cars, trucks, bicycles and motorcycles,
all of which are dodging each other, often at considerable speed.
The population of Heliopolis is strongly biased toward young age groups.
There are thousands of kids of all ages wherever you look. Many of the
kids, about 20% according to one estimate, are borne to single mothers.
Being Brazilian, the kids are of all colours, ranging from very black to
very white. You can see their ancestry in their faces - various
combinations of African, Amerindian, European, and Oriental.
The favelados are part of the enormous pool of Brazilian poor. According to
UN data, Brazil has the highest Gini coefficient among all of the countries
for which the coefficient is calculated. The richest tenth of the
population receives more than half the country's annual income, while the
poorest tenth receives less than one percent.
The rate of unemployment among favelados is high, perhaps 40%, so ever so
many people don't do anything very much, or nothing much that is legal.
Drugs and drug distribution networks likely employ quite a few people.
Drugs can be a dangerous business. A couple of Sundays ago there was a drug
related shoot out a couple of blocks from here. It resulted in the deaths
of three adults and two small children. One report has it that the children
were caught in a cross- fire, another that they were deliberately killed to
distract the police.
Those favelados who are legitimately employed do a variety of things. Most
have little formal education, so they work at menial jobs in downtown Sao
Paulo. Others operate small businesses, of which there are many different
kinds. People do their own washing, but they do just about everything else
for each other. There are many small shops of every conceivable type
opening up onto the very busy streets.
Education is a major barrier to finding and maintaining good employment.
Kathy Cheveldayoff, a Canadian missionary who works in Heliopolis, surveyed
a sample of 21 families and found that no family member had completed High
School. Most family members had completed grades ranging from 3 to 8.
While this sample is small, it is likely that a larger one would not yield
significantly different results.
Somewhat surprisingly, education does not appear to be a high priority among
favelados. The sample group surveyed by Mrs. Cheveldayoff indicated that
the most important need was expressed as jobs (61%); then spiritual (22%);
then housing, money and car (11%); and then food, education, and health
(6%). It should again be stressed that the sample is small, but perhaps not
contrary to what would be found if it were larger.
The Baptist Community Centre, which I am here to help build, already offers
a variety of educational programs - most notably adult literacy, English,
and remedial education. Classes are well attended, but the objectives of
students are limited. For example, people ranging from young teenagers to
mature adults are taking English to enable themselves to qualify for jobs in
tourism or restaurants or hotels. Among the children of Heliopolis, there
are few illusions about going on to higher education.
The work being done by agencies such as the Baptist Community Centre is a
small but vital aspect of filling a vacuum left by the state. Brazil
invests very little in public education in comparison with Canada or the
United States. According to a paper by Mrs. Cheveldayoff:
"The sad fact is that the median investment per student up to the end of
grade twelve is $148.00 per year. The figure comes out to .7% of the GNP.
20% of school age children are not going to school, the dropout rate being
80% in high school. There are several reasons for this - the children who
desist, generally do not have the money to get the required documents for
registering (birth certificate and the like). Of the children that do
attend school, a large majority of the poor, especially in slums, are not
officially registered and therefore do not receive their diplomas upon
completion of their schooling."
The lack of housing - decent, affordable housing - is an endemic problem.
Again, from a paper by Mrs. Cheveldayoff:
"What is it like to live in a slum? Words cannot explain the hopelessness
one finds within the squalor. An average family of four people can expect
to have ten to twelve square meters of living area. If the family is better
off, they will have a place to shower and go to the bathroom. Otherwise,
it's into a plastic bag and over the side of the building where it stays
smelling in the hot sun until the city decides to send a truck to pick up
the garbage. When a family has enough money to add on to the property, than
perhaps a second story is built providing that the area has been zoned
'level three'. Where one building ends, the other begins and so forth until
the whole hillside is covered with buildings with absolutely every square
meter taken up with construction. Here your rarely see green belts used
for leisure and peace of mind of the citizens. Instead the whole area is
crowded by people trying to survive. How much family pride do you think a
person will have living in such conditions?"
I am trying to think of what relevance any of this may have to this list.
Here is one thought. We know that the world is getting increasingly
crowded. Megacities like Sao Paulo and megaslums like Heliopolis will
increasingly become the norm as population grows and the rural and small
village environment becomes less able to support populations. Access to
education and good jobs may become increasingly restricted to a fortunate
few. What can we learn from Heliopolis? How can the people, and
particularly the children, of a vast third world slum become connected into
the benefits the modern world can offer? Valdizi, the cook here at the
community centre, has a six year old daughter, a very bright pixie of a
child. What will become of her? What chance does she have to develop her
large potential? Will she in turn become the cook to the next generation of
first world volunteers who come here to help out on a next-generation
project? Or can she be helped to do more than that? Grand international
pronouncements such as the "international year of the child" will not help.
But then what will?
Best regards to all,
Ed Weick
