{"id":15737,"date":"2014-06-07T17:18:48","date_gmt":"2014-06-07T20:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=15737"},"modified":"2014-06-21T13:37:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-21T16:37:26","slug":"world-cup-spirit-still-hasnt-reached-the-favelas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=15737","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Spirit Still Hasn’t Reached the Favelas"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the original by Viva Favela correspondents in Portuguese on Viva Favela click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

If in some way the\u00a0favelas\u00a0and asphalt share similarities at this time, it is in the lack of enthusiasm for the World Cup. Ribbons, flags and streamers in the national colors are scarce. The huge banners which would\u00a0cover entire streets in previous events, today have moved onto a few walls in deserted areas like Rua Canitar, one of the main entrances to the Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With few exceptions, despondency\u00a0regarding the World Cup permeates a wide circle of communities throughout the city, leading to testimonies like the one correspondent Rodrigues Moura heard from a neighbor: “People are fearful, because no one knows what might\u00a0happen. When you suggest to someone you pull resources to buy decorations you hear:\u00a0won’t that create trouble?'”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The feeling, that in Alem\u00e3o there is fear of interfering with the recommendations of groups in conflict with the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP)<\/a>, is revealed in other favelas as the discredit of\u00a0the government. In Vila Kennedy<\/a>, housewife Maria Cristina told Guilherme J\u00fanior that cities have been made over for the Cup. \u201cEverything is for the gringo to see. A mulatta is hired to dance samba and after her shift, she goes back to the favela to sleep in a shack.”<\/p>\n

However, electrician Paulo Afonso, also a resident of the area, does not agree with this. He does not think that Brazil will be the final champion, but he bets that it is enough for Brazil to win the first game for people to run into the streets. “The next day everyone will be painting the cobblestones and sidewalks.” This is how physical education teacher Fernando Borges also feels. Although he\u00a0identifies the expenses as unnecessary and in the millions, he considers it “more than a dream,” for a soccer lover like him, to watch the World Cup in his own country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fernandes Tavares, a newspaper seller who lives in Piedade, also felt this way. “When they made the announcement, I was thrilled,” he said to correspondent J\u00falio Lopes. But he became discouraged in the face of incomplete works and no significant improvement. “I think they took from our\u00a0children to build\u00a0stadiums,” he concluded. But like the cook M\u00f4nica Souza and student Juliane Santos, also of Piedade, Tavares thinks that enthusiasm will return when Brazil takes to the pitch. “Unfortunately, we Brazilians forget quickly.”<\/p>\n

Maybe that’s what awaits the people of Morro do Fub\u00e1, where Raphael Smith interviewed the Carnival designer Luciano Santos. \u201cI see no preparation on the hill, I see no excitement or movement. It does not seem like there is a World Cup and, worse, it does not seem like it’s Brazil,\u201d affirms Santos. Nevertheless, Ron Leal da Rocha, a bar owner on Rua Euclides da Rocha in Morro de Cabritos<\/a>, will not fail to cheer on the Brazilian team. He told correspondent J\u00fanior Almeida\u00a0that not even the dissatisfaction with the political situation the country is facing will prevent him from organizing barbecues on match days when Brazil plays.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Also unhappy is history teacher\u00a0Luiz Felipe Bergara, who accepts\u00a0the sport as an instrument that unifies people of different social classes and ethnic groups, but disagrees with the choice of Brazil as World Cup host. Resident of the Penha<\/a> neighborhood, he told Cairo Aquinas that he sees no sense in building modern stadiums, if \u201cwe do not have public health<\/a>, security<\/a>, or quality education<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

In general, respondents echo what they have heard in protests that relate poor quality of services offered to the population with the costs for holding the Cup. None, however, distinguish between what is public money and private investment. This is clear from the testimony of Carolina Mara of Nil\u00f3polis. The Cup, she says, “is not a priority like\u00a0health, education and security, which are being treated with contempt because there is the obsession to make everything nice for foreigners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This thinking, with minor variations, cuts across pacified and unpacified favelas. In Rocinha<\/a>, despite the banners that encourage residents to adorn the streets in order to compete for prizes offered by the Neighborhood\u00a0Association, few have rallied. Among them is Kimberlin Souza, who wants little to do with soccer. “I am not excited nor see any reason for joy, when I see people going through hardships,” she told the correspondent William de Oliveira.<\/p>\n

At the other end of the spectrum, Katia Pires, from\u00a0Complexo do Caju<\/a>, who despite the indifference of the majority of the community in Parque Boa Esperan\u00e7a, went knocking door-to-door gathering help to decorate the Rua Amanhecer. “You never know what will happen tomorrow. So I think it’s important to make the most of\u00a0these events to increase unity among people in the community,\u201d she told correspondent Lina Soares.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The same spirit inspires housewife Rosangela Oliveira in Madureira<\/a>, who decorated her house and street with style and with the help of her daughter. “Here everything is in the family. I watched the last World Cup with a granddaughter. Now I have two grandchildren. With my son, husband, daughter and brother-in-law, we throw a party and bet that we will be champions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Excitement greater than this is only in Sepetiba, where business owners like Carlos Tavares, although they admit difficulties, have great hope in the increase in beer sales. To help with this, correspondent Telma Lopes discovered, the Pra\u00e7a do Coreto will have a big screen where residents can watch the games and, who knows, celebrate on the streets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the original by Viva Favela correspondents in Portuguese on Viva Favela click here. If in some way the\u00a0favelas\u00a0and asphalt share similarities at this time, it is in the lack of enthusiasm for the World […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":15744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1294,1736,1328,1268,1330],"tags":[801,32,35,673,1313,989,1312,37,193,1314,12,106,1173,612,167],"writer":[1750],"translator":[946],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-communitymedia","8":"category-1736","9":"category-by-community-contributors","10":"category-favelaculture","11":"category-translation","12":"tag-caju","13":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","14":"tag-madureira","15":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","16":"tag-morro-do-fuba","17":"tag-morro-dos-cabritos","18":"tag-nilopolis","19":"tag-north-zone","20":"tag-penha","21":"tag-piedade","22":"tag-rocinha","23":"tag-sepetiba","24":"tag-soccer","25":"tag-vila-kennedy","26":"tag-world-cup","27":"writer-viva-favela","28":"translator-amanda-bradshaw"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15737"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=15737"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=15737"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=15737"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=15737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}