{"id":22281,"date":"2015-06-27T09:25:54","date_gmt":"2015-06-27T12:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=22281"},"modified":"2015-08-15T14:26:58","modified_gmt":"2015-08-15T17:26:58","slug":"favela-connection-how-touring-pavao-pavaozinho-can-change-a-kids-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=22281","title":{"rendered":"Favela Connection: How Touring Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho Can Change a Kid’s Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"PT\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On Saturdays in the community of Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho<\/a>, a high-reaching favela overlooking Copacabana beach in the South Zone<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro, children stream up the steps to an airy patio in the home of Gabriel Abreu, with notebooks in tow. They gather at a table and take out their pens and pencils, as a young volunteer writes a lesson plan on the whiteboard. They are boys and girls of all ages from the favela in which Gabriel grew up and has lived his life. This past year, Gabriel has successfully turned the profits from his tourguide business<\/a> into creating and hosting a small English school out of his home. Although Gabriel\u2019s modesty would prevent him accepting this description, he is an extremely bright\u00a0social entrepreneur with a fantastic\u00a0business model for creating change in his community.<\/p>\n

\"Gabriel<\/p>\n

From the beginning of his diligently curated community tour, it is clear Gabriel cares deeply for the community where\u00a0he grew up. When he developed\u00a0the tour five years ago, one of his biggest fears was bringing unwanted outsiders into the community of almost 20,000. He feared that by leveraging his language skills, others in the community would feel invaded, or worse, exploited. This is a legitimate fear, as favela tourism is rightfully\u00a0a deeply contentious subject<\/a>, especially in Rio. Gabriel takes care to navigate this issue by addressing and correcting some of the pitfalls of other tours. He begins by addressing the group, assuring them that \u201cfavelas are places where you will feel a community, and should feel more comfortable than walking the streets and beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. You don\u2019t need to worry about your phone getting stolen\u2014it won\u2019t.\u201d He then adds: \u201cBut you are entering a community and you need to be respectful with photos. Taking pictures of any person is not okay. You will also notice that many people keep their doors open, so please be respectful of people\u2019s homes and lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Copacabana<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to providing necessary etiquette skills to every visitor, Gabriel came to accept favela tourism because he based his mission not on gaining pity or attention from tourists, but instead on generating understanding<\/a> and showing how favelas are different from how they are portrayed<\/a> in the mainstream media. \u201cI just want people to see with their own eyes. I don\u2019t want to change anyone\u2019s perception,\u201d he states. Gabriel knows that his community and other favelas in Rio have qualities that are unseen, overlooked, or misunderstood<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cTo tourists who come to visit Rio, it doesn\u2019t matter to them if they go to Santa Marta<\/a>, Rocinha<\/a>, or Vidigal<\/a>\u2014just that they see a<\/em> favela.\u201d It is therefore up to the tour guide, in Gabriel\u2019s opinion, to provide an informative, sustainable and positive experience for all those involved.<\/p>\n

Gabriel’s true passion is education. As a child growing up, he was fortunate to take private English lessons, but laments this is not the case for most\u00a0kids in favelas. Gabriel has since taught himself French and Spanish and is working to conduct his tours in German as well. To Gabriel, education<\/a> is among the biggest issues in the community, along with accessibility and trash collection\u2014issues that have not been adequately addressed by the government. He says: \u201cKids go to school only five hours a day when their parents spend at least eight hours working. That\u2019s three hours that children are uncared and unaccounted for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"English<\/a><\/p>\n

Gabriel stops the group at a construction site where cement rollers, tractors, and white dust mark the beginnings of a controversial road intended to connect the favelas of Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho and Cantagalo<\/a> to the metro station and elevator. \u201cAs you can see, the government is still working on this project<\/a>,\u201d he says with humor. \u201cIt has reached almost 50 meters\u2026in the past eight years.\u201d As he says this, a young boy hops on a ledge behind him, using hand motions and repeating unintelligible English words, gaining both the attention and poorly concealed laughter of his audience. Gabriel smiles and turns around, helping the boy down. \u201cAnd now you see! This is exactly the reason I began the English school. The idea started when I was doing tours just like this, and I saw kids interested in learning about what I was saying.\u201d Gabriel addressed\u00a0this demand in the community by drawing together\u00a0his language skills and tour profits. He admits that in the early stages of his school there are still issues and growing pains that need solving. \u201cThe biggest problem I have is just finding someone who knows how to teach and can develop a proper and lasting curriculum for the students,\u201d he remarks.<\/p>\n

\"Kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past six months, Gabriel has been working on his business model with six students from the University of North Carolina\u2019s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Under the direction of Dr. Lynne Gerber, these students not only provide careful consulting, but also spend two weeks in Rio with Gabriel to get to know his community, compare other favela tours, and assist with branding and marketing. They also worked to define a curriculum and expansion plan for the\u00a0English school. The students, comprised of four MBA candidates and two undergraduates, presented their recommendations, suggestions, and changes to Gabriel before\u00a0their departure. Included in these recommendations were a formal website<\/a> soon to be hosted in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, new names and logos for his tour company and school, and marketing brochures to increase awareness.<\/p>\n

\"Favela<\/a>In addition, they suggested educational partnerships to help provide curriculum guidance as well as connect English-speaking volunteers. Favela Connection<\/a><\/em>, the new name for Gabriel\u2019s tour company, now has a presence on diverse social media platforms and is ready to engage curious and respectful visitors in the vibrant favelas of Cantagalo and Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho.<\/p>\n

\"Pavao<\/a>From this point forward, Gabriel intends to grow his English school, now officially named \u201cPav\u00e3o Acima<\/a>,\u201d to incorporate crucial after-school hours and accommodate the many students who want to learn. He points out that with English skills, his students will one day have opportunities to continue their education, assist in leading tours, or begin their own small businesses. He remarks: \u201cI can\u2019t possibly change everything. I am just one man. But I am trying to change small things, to help in any way I can. [The favela] needs changing, of course, a lot of changes. I\u2019m just trying to do a little to make it better.\u201d Gabriel is setting an example for young kids that effective\u00a0development can come from within the favela.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Gabriel, his tours and programs,\u00a0visit his website<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, and Instagram @favelaconnection.<\/p>\n

To contact Gabriel directly about his tour and English classes, email: favelaconnection@gmail.com.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On Saturdays in the community of Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho, a high-reaching favela overlooking Copacabana beach in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, children stream up the steps to an airy patio in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":22343,"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":[1288,1271,1670,1284,1503,329,1329],"tags":[260,112,1102,258,364,136,397,445,1561,1560,129,155,156,194],"writer":[1664],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-favelaqualities","9":"category-favela-tourism","10":"category-interviews-profiles","11":"category-opportunities-to-support-favelas","12":"category-solutions","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-after-school-program","15":"tag-cantagalo","16":"tag-community-leader-profile","17":"tag-community-solution","18":"tag-community-based-organization-cbo","19":"tag-copacabana","20":"tag-education","21":"tag-entrepreneurship","22":"tag-favela-tour","23":"tag-favela-tour-operator","24":"tag-leadership","25":"tag-pavao-pavaozinho","26":"tag-south-zone","27":"tag-tourism","28":"writer-julia-jones"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22281","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\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22281"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=22281"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=22281"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=22281"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=22281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}