This is some updated information on Rocinha: click here :: Currently there are drug wars that have been going on since February 2004. The link is an article brought to my attention by a forum member on JiuJitsugear.com . Please take the time to read this. Thank You. In Rio de Janeiro you will find at least 600 favelas with populations varying from a few dozen people to 250,000 people or more. The term favela seems to have several explanations. The most logical stems from the location of the first settlement, Morro da Favela. Today the term favela takes on the meaning of a "shanty town" built along the hillsides of Rio and other Brazilian cities. Rio's favelization started approximately in 1888 following the law liberating the slaves. Rocinha started in the '40s after a group of squatters took over the land. The population boom occurred in the '70s with the construction fever in Barra da Tijuca, a neighboring high-class area. Most of the people who live in the favelas work in the different sections of Rio as maids or in construction. Some work in the nearby hotels holding menial jobs. They move into the favela that is closest to where they work to cut down the commuting time. These favela residents make up about a third of Rio's population. This is a society in which the wealthiest top 1 percent have more money than the poorest 50 percent combined. Rocinha, however, has shown how the poor could evolve into a working-class district. It is known as "The First World of the Favelas" for many reasons, primarily being one that has constructed a working system for itself. There are shops and transportation. They have about 4 schools as well as clubs and other organizations. Don't let all this fool you. In the light you will see the dilapidated homes and the children who are running around in filth. Then you turn a corner and you find yourself coming across Rocinha's main canal, polluted by raw sewage. There is no official power grid or water line for most of the residents of Rocinha. Most people tap into the power lines and water mains that crisscross the slum. At the top of hill you will find heavily armed guards who keep watch of the turf of the drug lords and crime gangs. It is estimated that $500,000 worth of drugs go in and out of Rocinha every week. Police never patrol the favelas. If there's a problem they shoot from a helicopter down into the slums. Its a city of crime and poverty existing within a city filled with riches. |