Inside the Favelas

photographs and essays byDOUGLAS HEALAN MAYHEW

foreword byTHE HONORABLE SÉRGIO CABRAL FILHO

Governor of the State of rio de Janeiro

Brazil

rio de Janeiro

2012

r i o d e Ja n e i r o

photographs and essays byDOUGLAS HEALAN MAYHEW

foreword byTHE HONORABLE SÉRGIO CABRAL FILHO

Governor of the State of rio de Janeiro

Brazil

rio de Janeiro

2012

r i o d e Ja n e i r o

ContentS

FOREWORD BY THE HONORABLE SÉRGIO CABRAL FILHO,

Governor of the State of rio de Janeiro 00

FOREWORD BY JOãO MAURíCIO DE ARAúJO PINHO 00

AUTHOR’S PREFACE 00

are yoU StronG enoUGh, rio ?INTRODUCTION Under PreSSUre 85

1 i Got YoU BaBe! 78

2 StePPinG oUt 65

3 orGanizinG the trooPS 34

4 eviction noticeS 47

5 new neiGhBorS 35

6 i am Born 52

7 movinG daY 96

8 GrowinG UP 52

9 one thoUGht remainS 52

10 whY StairS? 52

CONCLUSION finiSh the JoB 36

ENDNOTES 123

hookinG UP in rio: the Cat’S tale, a hiGh-voltaGe draMaINTRODUCTION the Gordian Knot 85

1 on the Prowl 78

2 watch oUt! there’S a new cat in town 65

3 BlacKoUtS and anarchY 52

4 reconStrUction 47

5 noteS from mt. olYmPUS 35

6 wearinG the Shirt 52

7 SPraYinG hoPe 96

8 Power to the PeoPle 52

9 a SteP toward the Great SocietY or the Scalded cat retUrnS? 52

10 redrawinG the line 25

CONCLUSãO “i am he aS YoU are he aS YoU are me and we are all

toGether.” 36

ENDNOTES 123

POSTSCRIPT 123

ACkNOWLEDGEMENTS 123

FURTHER READING 123

ContentS

FOREWORD BY THE HONORABLE SÉRGIO CABRAL FILHO,

Governor of the State of rio de Janeiro 00

FOREWORD BY JOãO MAURíCIO DE ARAúJO PINHO 00

AUTHOR’S PREFACE 00

are yoU StronG enoUGh, rio ?INTRODUCTION Under PreSSUre 85

1 i Got YoU BaBe! 78

2 StePPinG oUt 65

3 orGanizinG the trooPS 34

4 eviction noticeS 47

5 new neiGhBorS 35

6 i am Born 52

7 movinG daY 96

8 GrowinG UP 52

9 one thoUGht remainS 52

10 whY StairS? 52

CONCLUSION finiSh the JoB 36

ENDNOTES 123

hookinG UP in rio: the Cat’S tale, a hiGh-voltaGe draMaINTRODUCTION the Gordian Knot 85

1 on the Prowl 78

2 watch oUt! there’S a new cat in town 65

3 BlacKoUtS and anarchY 52

4 reconStrUction 47

5 noteS from mt. olYmPUS 35

6 wearinG the Shirt 52

7 SPraYinG hoPe 96

8 Power to the PeoPle 52

9 a SteP toward the Great SocietY or the Scalded cat retUrnS? 52

10 redrawinG the line 25

CONCLUSãO “i am he aS YoU are he aS YoU are me and we are all

toGether.” 36

ENDNOTES 123

POSTSCRIPT 123

ACkNOWLEDGEMENTS 123

FURTHER READING 123

rio, você é forte o BaStante? 31

introdUCtion: Under PreSSUre

Which is heavier: carrying a thirty pound sack of manioc flour up 215 steps everyday or bearing the constant weight of unpredictability and upheaval? For residents of the “favelas,” it not only takes physical strength and cardio-fitness to climb the stairs, it takes character and courage. Strong hearts are needed either way you cut it. “One day it rains, the next day you’re dead,” one guy said stoically. He carries propane gas tanks up the steep stairs in favelas for a living. He fears the ricocheting bullets that whiz around during the territorial wars waged between Rio’s drug lords.

On these daily climbs nothing goes unnoticed: a new crack, a new plant growing from the new crack, a new cat pissing on the new plant in the new crack, a new bowl of milk for the new cat pissing on the new plant growing from the new crack. But residents aren’t the only ones who notice the plant, the cat and the milk. Besides the thousands of people who tread the same steps every day, there are people who watch everything from above and report what they see to their bosses. They are the “eyes” behind the shutterless windows,1 the backbones of a narco-driven, community-watch system gone berserk. And so, favela inhabitants learn their ABCs at a very early age: A) keep your head down and keep on climbing B) learn well the old adage “hear no evil, see no evil, mind your own business,” and C) don’t stand up to be counted.

Like the tough “faveleira” tree whose name defines the city’s neediest communities, the residents of Rio’s favelas are there to stay even though successive governments throughout the twentieth century have told them to get out. Counteracting efforts to eradicate them, favela communities have grown deep roots, though residents are often pawns in a terrible game in which they have few moves. To the irritation of many who would like to see favela-free horizons, it’s in the resilient nature of the residents that Rio’s favelas most resemble their namesake tree.

A favela’s existence is a continual act of protest against authority. Veteran soldiers returning from the Canudos Civil War in 1898 created Rio’s first favela when the government failed to provide them with the housing and back pay they had been promised. The soldiers named the settlement Morro da Favela after the prickly, hive-inducing tree that was prevalent in the area of the conflict2 Their settlement, known much later as Morro do Providência, was near the old center of town; the choice was significant because the Brazilian War Ministry office complex occupied a large portion of the same hilltop. The soldiers’ permanent “sit-in” on the adjoining undeveloped land and in vacated buildings became a daily reminder to the government of their failure to care for their people; the favela and what it presaged would become a vexing thorn in the government’s side throughout the coming century and into the next.

Times change, governments don’t as the saying goes. Approximately forty years after the war, with worldwide demand for Brazilian agricultural commodities declining, the explosive industrial growth promoted by President Getúlio Vargas brought hundreds of thousands of rural workers into the region especially from the drought-stricken northeastern part of Brazil. At the same time, the housing crisis of the forties and rising real estate values forced the poor away from the city center leaving them without adequate, affordable housing. Since the city’s surrounding lowlands were subject to flooding and available housing had dried up, many displaced people moved to the

rio, você é forte o BaStante? 31

introdUCtion: Under PreSSUre

Which is heavier: carrying a thirty pound sack of manioc flour up 215 steps everyday or bearing the constant weight of unpredictability and upheaval? For residents of the “favelas,” it not only takes physical strength and cardio-fitness to climb the stairs, it takes character and courage. Strong hearts are needed either way you cut it. “One day it rains, the next day you’re dead,” one guy said stoically. He carries propane gas tanks up the steep stairs in favelas for a living. He fears the ricocheting bullets that whiz around during the territorial wars waged between Rio’s drug lords.

On these daily climbs nothing goes unnoticed: a new crack, a new plant growing from the new crack, a new cat pissing on the new plant in the new crack, a new bowl of milk for the new cat pissing on the new plant growing from the new crack. But residents aren’t the only ones who notice the plant, the cat and the milk. Besides the thousands of people who tread the same steps every day, there are people who watch everything from above and report what they see to their bosses. They are the “eyes” behind the shutterless windows,1 the backbones of a narco-driven, community-watch system gone berserk. And so, favela inhabitants learn their ABCs at a very early age: A) keep your head down and keep on climbing B) learn well the old adage “hear no evil, see no evil, mind your own business,” and C) don’t stand up to be counted.

Like the tough “faveleira” tree whose name defines the city’s neediest communities, the residents of Rio’s favelas are there to stay even though successive governments throughout the twentieth century have told them to get out. Counteracting efforts to eradicate them, favela communities have grown deep roots, though residents are often pawns in a terrible game in which they have few moves. To the irritation of many who would like to see favela-free horizons, it’s in the resilient nature of the residents that Rio’s favelas most resemble their namesake tree.

A favela’s existence is a continual act of protest against authority. Veteran soldiers returning from the Canudos Civil War in 1898 created Rio’s first favela when the government failed to provide them with the housing and back pay they had been promised. The soldiers named the settlement Morro da Favela after the prickly, hive-inducing tree that was prevalent in the area of the conflict2 Their settlement, known much later as Morro do Providência, was near the old center of town; the choice was significant because the Brazilian War Ministry office complex occupied a large portion of the same hilltop. The soldiers’ permanent “sit-in” on the adjoining undeveloped land and in vacated buildings became a daily reminder to the government of their failure to care for their people; the favela and what it presaged would become a vexing thorn in the government’s side throughout the coming century and into the next.

Times change, governments don’t as the saying goes. Approximately forty years after the war, with worldwide demand for Brazilian agricultural commodities declining, the explosive industrial growth promoted by President Getúlio Vargas brought hundreds of thousands of rural workers into the region especially from the drought-stricken northeastern part of Brazil. At the same time, the housing crisis of the forties and rising real estate values forced the poor away from the city center leaving them without adequate, affordable housing. Since the city’s surrounding lowlands were subject to flooding and available housing had dried up, many displaced people moved to the

Por dentro das favelas_boneca_fotos.indd 22 07.12.11 16:18Por dentro das favelas_boneca_fotos.indd 23 07.12.11 16:18






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Inside the Favelas