Posts tagged gender
An Interview with City of God’s Iara Oliveira
Feb 7th
Cidade de Deus, Rio’s most famous West Zone favela, was made (in)famous thanks to the book and international blockbuster by the same name, City of God. The community today is occupied by a Pacifying Policy Unit (UPP). Here we interview Iara Oliveira, a CDD (as the community is popularly known) teacher and political activist. Iara is coordinator of Alfazendo, a community-based NGO in Cidade de Deus. Alfazendo’s focus is literacy for community residents of all ages, but they also serve as an advocacy organization and provide general educational opportunities and enrichment for the community. Mostly self-educated, Iara has built her career More >
Bolsa Família and the Feminist Revolution in the Sertão
Jan 14th
For the original article in Marie Claire in Portuguese click here.
Over the past five years anthropologist Walquiria Domingues Leão Rêgo has witnessed a change in behavior in the poorest, and probably most sexist, areas of Brazil. The money provided by the federal income subsidy program Bolsa Família has brought the power of choice to women. They now decide everything from the grocery list to whether to file for divorce.
Money from "Bolsa-Família" brought the power of choice to the women of the Sertão, Brazil's hinterland (Photo from: Editora Globo)
A revolution is underway. Silent and slow—52 years after the creation of the More >
Transcarioca: Irregularities and Evictions in Olympic Roadworks
Oct 31st
Transcarioca, in blue, will connect Rio's west zone with the international airport
Connecting Barra da Tijuca and the Olympic Park with the International Airport, the Transcarioca highway and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route is the most visible transport infrastructure work the city of Rio is undertaking in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Officials estimate that the 39km expressway and its 45 bus stations will serve 400,000 passengers per day and cut journey time between Barra and the airport by 60%. However, of the three BRT transport projects under construction – the others being the TransOeste linking far West Zone More >
“We Know What’s Best for You” City Officials Tell Resident During Eviction Proceeding
Oct 22nd
A Babilonia couple that now owns two houses in the increasingly pricey Zona Sul favela may end up owning nothing, and all because they tried to follow the city’s ever changing rules.
In 2003, City authorities came up the Babilônia favela in Rio’s South Zone and told Rosemeri Silva Santos, 37, and her then husband Tião, 48, that their house was in an Environmentally Protected Area (APA), that they and their four children would be evicted, the house demolished, and they’d be given compensation to find a new home. A year went by and nothing happened. With their small house damaged by More >
The Story of Dona Maria
Oct 3rd
Maria Garcez looked on devastated as City workers demolished her home in Favela do Metrô on November 4th, 2010. Her image accompanied RioOnWatch’s first report on the brutal eviction of the community to reportedly build a parking lot for the World Cup 2014 at the nearby Maracanã stadium, though to this day no official project for the site has been released.
Two years later we met up with Dona Maria, 65, at the apartment she shares with her granddaughter in Minha Casa, Minha Vida replacement housing in the distant West Zone neighborhood of Cosmos. With expressive outbursts in her thick Northeast accent, Dona Maria, who has More >
