Day 15 - Monday, June 1, 2009: Rocinha

by Tianna Mays

When most people hear the word favela, the first thing they think is “what is that?” In response I reply “Have you seen “City of God” or “The Hulk?” and then the recognition dawns on their faces. Many times I have been asked why I would want to visit such a place. Some would compare visiting a favela to taking a tour through the south side of Chicago or Compton. Although I was not equating the favela, Rocinha with those two areas, I was definitely expecting the worst.

The day started off rainy, dreary, and cold. We put on our warmest clothing and rain jackets while dreading the moment when we had to untie “THE bag.” The bag was a plastic grocery bag most of us (at least us girls) had tied our Amazon jungle shoes up in two weeks prior. Once everything else was done, we all stood out in the rain and untied “the bags” and put on the shoes. (We did this because we feared the smell of the shoes would make the room smell even worse than it already did!). As we bounced along the highway I wondered what we would experience once we got to the favela. I was already imagining myself and my two friends, Whitney and Jenny, sliding down the streets as Whitney tripped over one of her feet and grabbed for us to steady her. I was sure someone was going to wipe out because it was so rainy and I thought the favela had dirt/mud roads.

We arrived at the bottom of the favela and all got out of the van. Next was the fun part. We jumped on motorbikes and headed to the top of the hill zipping in and out of traffic and racing each other. Of course the group did the typical “Ladies First” thing, so we girls got to the top of the favela and were sitting there alone waiting on the rest of the group to join us for about ten minutes. (It’s nice how chivalry is not dead, however I am pretty sure it was more than chivalry that made the guys let us go first!). As we waited at the top of the hill for the guys to join us, I looked around and took in all that was the favela. There were stores and markets, and surprisingly a nicely paved road that ran to the top! Although I am not sure what I thought would be there, I definitely did not think I would see storefronts and other businesses. Also as I waited, I looked around and noticed all of the cable/telephone/electric wires mangled and tied together running to one pole. It looked like if you touched the wires it’d be immediate death by electrocution! From this, it was obvious to see that no one paid for these services; they just tied theirs in to everyone else’s.

When everyone arrived at the top and we were good and soaked from the exhilarating ride up the hill, we were given the ground rules: 1) No taking pictures of the kids with guns or drugs and 2) No taking pictures until we are told it is okay to do so. We started off down a narrow throughway. As we walked, we passed more stores, houses with open doors, and children and parents on their way from school. Walking pass some of the houses I couldn’t help but look in. The house I looked into was about the size of my living room in my one bedroom apartment. There was a bed, couch, and kitchen very close together with a tv in the corner and family photos on the walls. In some of the other homes, there was a kid sitting on the computer on Facebook!

The first stop we made was on top of a building that housed an art studio, which was next to the school. As we stood there in the cold looking out, we listened as our tour guide told us about how much the drug dealers that ran the favela made, and how old he was. The favela brings in $4 million US dollars a week!!! And the man who runs it is 25!!!

The next stop we made, was the art studio. This was a studio that was used to teach the children of the favelas how to draw and practice graffiti. There were gorgeous favela paintings and newspaper clippings about the violence of the favelas and the clashes the drug runners have with police. Because I am a shopaholic, I stopped and purchased two paintings. When I say purchased, I really mean bought them on credit. This artist let other students and I walk out of the studio with the art with the promise to leave the money at the front desk of our hostel so our guide could pick it up later and give it to him. That’s ALOT of trust! I think combined we ended up leaving around 200 reais in the drawer. How many people do you know would let you walk out of a place carrying their merchandise, owing them $200?! There was another section of the room that sold drawings the children had made, and the proceeds from those paintings went to the children and to help fund their art classes. As we wound down the steps, we prepared ourselves to venture out in the rain once again. The next stop after that was the bakery/ convenient store. This place had some of the best looking pastries I had ever seen! Of course Jenny, Whitney, and I had to get a donut filled with dulce de leche (caramel) and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. DELICIOUS!!! The best ever! I can still taste the rich pastry melting in my mouth. So, after we had stuffed our faces, we continued our walk to burn off the calories we had just eaten! (Yeah rite!)

As we were walking, we came to an area where the children of the favela sold various items that they’d made. There were bracelets made of telephone wire, and more pictures. Many of us had no money, and although we stopped to look, we journeyed on. The next stop was the day care. In my opinion, this was the saddest stop. There were children of various ages asleep on cots or in cribs on various floors because it was nap time. It was a very nice day care...one that was actually funded in part by our tour group (“Be A Local”). Apparently, this is where the money we pay for the favela tour goes to: this daycare and another one in the favela. Once we got to the top floor, there was a landing where we stood and listened to our tour guide answer questions we had about the favela and we watched as she pointed out the various places we had been walking down the favela. It was amazing that we had started all the way at the top, and then slowly made our way to the bottom. Also at this stop we had a great view of the favela. It was at this point that I walked over to Adam McCoy and he said with such despair “This is the most depressing shit I’ve ever seen in my life!”

Once he said that, I realized that I had completely tuned myself out to the favela, and made myself disconnected somewhat from what I was seeing. I realized that had I allowed myself to feel the sorrow that I wanted to; I would not have made it down the hill because I would have been weeping in sorrow. I mean, how could I really FEEL and walk by children who were playing inside doorways which were merely inches from sewage and trash flowing by them in the rain as it washed down to the ocean?! At that moment, I just prayed for everyone in that favela, and for all of those beautiful children that I had just seen lying peacefully in their cribs and cots oblivious to the despair that surrounded them. For me, this experience was more than an “opportunity” to live life like a local, and more than a bunch of photos and stories that I will tell for years to come. It changed my life in ways that I cannot begin to put into words. What I can say, is that I am much more appreciative of what I have and I realize how blessed I really am. I can only hope that this experience doesn’t get catalogued in my classmate’s minds as part of another tour, but rather a blessed opportunity to have a precious glimpse into the lives of those who call home: the favela Rocinha.