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  • [ December 4, 2025 ] Portrait of a Centenary-Old Favela of Stilt Houses: Belém’s Vila da Barca Resists, Organizes and Fights for Sanitation and Adequate Housing #HousingWatch
  • [ November 30, 2025 ] The Story of Dona Pascoalina, Midwife and Healer of Morro do Borel by Community Contributors
  • [ November 15, 2025 ] ‘There’s No Such Thing as Normal After a Massacre’: One Week After Police Mega-Operation Kills 121 People, Residents From Complexos do Alemão and Penha Speak Out #UPPWatch
  • [ November 13, 2025 ] ‘Human Beings Forget That They Are Nature’: Favelas Teach the Path to the Future at the 2nd Favela Sustainability Festival Civil Society
  • [ November 12, 2025 ] Food Sovereignty and Culinary Heritage Connect with Fight for Climate Justice at the 2nd Sustainable Favela Festival Civil Society
HomeInterviews & Profiles

Interviews & Profiles

#CommunityMedia

Complexo da Maré’s Gizele Martins Receives Rio’s Highest Honor

By Sidney Magana • September 21, 2017

Clique aqui para Português On Saturday, September 16, activist, community communicator, and Complexo da Maré resident Gizele Martins received the Pedro Ernesto Medal at a ceremony at the Museu da Maré (Maré Museum). The Pedro Ernesto Medal […]

#EvictionsWatch

Granddaughter of Horto’s ‘Folha Seca’ Calls Botanical Gardens’ Tribute a ‘Joke’

By Sophia Zaia • Translation by Rachel Fox • September 21, 2017

Clique aqui para Português Orlando “Folha Seca” (Dry Leaf) Pereira da Silva, the first gardener to be formally employed by Rio de Janeiro’s Botanical Gardens, died on June 1 at the age of one hundred. […]

Library decorations. Photo by Hector Santos of Raizes em Movimento.
Favela Qualities

Community Library in Alemão Seeks Support and Volunteers

By Evan Fantozzi • June 27, 2017

Clique aqui para Português “We always wish for the transformation of our world, but the world will never be transformed if we don’t start in the minds of youth.” These are the words that drive Paulo Cesar Avelino, a pastor […]

Heloisa Helena in Front Line Defenders video
#EvictionsWatch

Life After Eviction: Heloisa Helena’s Struggle Against Religious and Racial Discrimination [INTERVIEW]

By Cerianne Robertson • June 20, 2017

Clique aqui para Português On February 24, 2016, the City of Rio demolished Heloisa Helena Costa Berto’s home, one of the last houses to be destroyed in Vila Autódromo next to the Olympic Park. Over […]

José Martins fights for proper sanitation in Rocinha. Photo by AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo
*Highlight

Water Activist José Martins Looks Back Over Five Decades Living and Organizing in Rocinha [INTERVIEW]

By Claire Jones • March 29, 2017

Clique aqui para Português José Martins de Oliveira, a long-time activist and organizer in Rocinha, and currently co-director of Rocinha Without Borders, marked exactly fifty years since he first came to Rio de Janeiro on March […]

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RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
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In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

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Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

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  • Violations
    • Human Rights
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    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
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    • Participation
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    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
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      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
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