{"id":22962,"date":"2015-07-31T07:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T10:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=22962"},"modified":"2016-12-11T10:20:46","modified_gmt":"2016-12-11T13:20:46","slug":"a-glimpse-of-favela-julio-otoni-guided-by-community-leader-naldo-marinho-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=22962","title":{"rendered":"A Glimpse of Favela Julio Otoni, Guided by Community Leader Sizenaldo Marinho [VIDEO]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Julio Otoni is a favela nestled between the neighborhoods of Laranjeiras\u00a0and Santa Teresa in the\u00a0South Zone<\/a> of Rio. The entire community is located at a single street address: 298 Doutor Julio Otoni Street.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arriving at this address, I\u2019m greeted by Sizenaldo\u00a0Marinho, born and raised in the community and active in a number of initiatives for years. A community center Sizenaldo\u00a0helped establish in 2004 has offered recycling programs, paper-making workshops, percussion lessons, and tutoring. Sizenaldo\u00a0has managed classes at the center, coordinating projects with international volunteers. Sizenaldo also represented the community on the Santa Teresa Safety Council. The community center is an important asset in a community lacking in public investment. Unfortunately, Sizenaldo says the center \u201cis closed more than it\u2019s open\u201d lately.<\/span><\/p>\n

Julio Otoni\u2019s first residents settled in the 1950s, building houses of wood and clay, as well as large bricks available at the time. When Sizenaldo\u2014who now splits his time between a home in Jacarepagu\u00e1 in the\u00a0West Zone<\/a>\u00a0of Rio and Julio Otoni\u2014was born in 1968, the community consisted of 15 families in 29 houses. In 1986 the government brought basic services\u2014sewerage, water, waste collection, and so on\u2014to the community. Since the 1990s, however, it has expanded rapidly, with growth far outpacing public works to accommodate the larger capacity. Inadequate public infrastructure and services<\/a> coupled with the surge in population has engendered a sense of neglect for public and community spaces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sizenaldo\u00a0wants to change that: \u201cI want services to enter here. The\u00a0Pacifying Police Unit\u00a0(UPP)<\/a> entered [the community], but other services didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Sizenaldo\u00a0identifies expansion as a major challenge facing the community: \u201cTo the contrary of what people think, no community wants to grow more than it has already grown.\u201d Sizenaldo\u00a0expresses that when communities\u2019 populations surpass the scale for which they were invested, they become \u201cdeurbanized\u201d and \u201cdehumanized\u201d as they grow beyond capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Expansion during the 1990s and 2000s transformed the favela into a less familiar place for Sizenaldo, particularly as the drug traffic entered the community. Sizenaldo\u00a0describes: \u201cThe hills started to trade soldiers [traffickers], and a guy would walk in here who has no connection to the community. He doesn\u2019t respect the elders, doesn\u2019t respect the history of the place. His function here is only capitalistic\u2026 He\u2019s not here to respect anyone. He respects the capital.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Julio Otoni\u2019s growth was further fueled by the\u00a0eviction<\/a>\u00a0of 96 houses in neighboring favela Vila Alice, beginning in 2005 and concluding with the removal of the entire community by 2007. Drug traffickers offered the community center in Julio Otoni as squatting grounds for evicted residents of Vila Alice, prompting Sizenaldo\u00a0to speak up to reclaim the community space for its intended purpose. \u201cA community leader lives on a razor\u2019s edge,\u201d says Sizenaldo. His complaint to the traffickers resulted in death threats forcing him to leave the community in 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Rio de Janeiro experienced intense\u00a0real estate speculation<\/a>\u00a0in recent years, the demand for affordable housing has surged, particularly affecting centrally located favelas in Rio\u2019s\u00a0South Zone<\/a>.\u00a0Encircled by environmental preservation area (APA) S\u00e3o Jose and wealthy neighboring areas, Julio Otoni has little room for outward expansion, heightening tensions over the right to build in and occupy public and community spaces. While the 2010 census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE) recognized 231 households and 758 residents\u00a0in Julio Otoni, Sizenaldo\u00a0estimates the real figure closer to 400 families and 1,500 inhabitants. The discrepancy likely reflects a combination of three phenomena: incomplete data collection, inaccurate data collection to justify reduced public services for what is truly a larger population, and population growth in the five years since the census was conducted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the growth, however, Sizenaldo\u00a0perceives a sense of emptiness. He points to a square at the entrance of the community where popular Festas Juninas (traditional \u201cJune Parties\u201d) were once held. Formerly a lively hub for the community, a few small bars and other buildings have encroached on the right side of the plaza; piles of construction materials lie to the left. As Sizenaldo\u00a0walks further down the road, he runs into longtime resident Regina Celia, who says: \u201cIt\u2019s such a good place to live. It\u2019s calm\u2026 near everything. But it seems like an abandoned community.\u201d Proudly indicating her bright blue house, Regina says: \u201cI take care of my house. If I had the money to help, I would take care of this place,\u201d pointing to a small plaza containing disassembled playground equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the community wants to do,\u201d explains Sizenaldo, \u201cis to reactivate the daycare. There are people who have the capacity to run the daycare once again.\u201d Pointing to the deteriorating building that once housed the daycare center, Sizenaldo identifies a wall dotted with bullet holes. Following a period of\u00a0violence<\/a>, residents have enjoyed tranquility in recent years. In operational times, the daycare provided an important function for working families in the community. Currently, squatting tenants\u2014unknown to Sizenaldo\u2014occupy the space.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Lacking public investment in infrastructure and services, residents in Julio Otoni are often left to deal with problems that arise on their own. Indicating a leaning telephone and electricity post on the verge of collapse, Sizenaldo explains: \u201cWe send requests to [electric utility] Light, and they don\u2019t come. We send requests to [telephone company] Oi, and they don\u2019t come\u2026 Each of these wires is the telephone line of a resident. So when one breaks, we don\u2019t know whose it is. You have to take it [with your hand] from the end of the house, and go until you arrive at the wire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While most homes are sturdily reinforced, heavy rains pose environmental hazards for some of the more precarious houses in the community. Three months ago, the foundation of one house began to collapse. Sizen<\/span>aldo recounts that \u201cpeople were afraid that they [authorities] would [take advantage of the incident to] come to evict [residents in the house and beyond]\u201d and so they \u201cnever called the Civil Defense\u201d\u2014the municipal emergency relief agency. Rather, the family managed to repair the house on their own.<\/span><\/p>\n

The community only received public investments once\u2014in 1986 during the tenure of Governor Leonel Brizola. On that occasion, the government provided a technician and the materials<\/a> as part of the “Projeto Mutir\u00e3o” to address the problem of sanitation, so residents banded together in a\u00a0mutir\u00e3o<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(collective action project) to build the sewer. Yet nowadays, the sewer only services one section of the favela: \u201cThe community started to grow more, and the question of sewage returned once again.\u201d Sizen<\/span>aldo identifies the danger posed by a small stream of open sewage running down an alley: \u201cKids have fallen here\u2026 an elderly woman fell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Trash collection<\/a>\u00a0(or the lack thereof) poses an additional challenge for the community. In response to the cancellation of the Gari Comunit\u00e1rio\u2014a program in which the City employed local residents as street-sweepers in favelas\u2014one resident, Seu Lima, takes individual initiative to clean public spaces and posts signs around the community that encourage environmental awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n

These do-it-yourself (DIY) collective and individual actions demonstrate residents\u2019 capacities to create alternative solutions<\/a>\u00a0in the absence of publicly provided services. Yet, many of the issues Sizenaldo identifies are large-scale, citywide problems; residents\u2019 resourcefulness does not absolve the City of responsibility for addressing public challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch\u00a0our 2-minute accompanying portrait of Julio Otoni by filmmaker Kiratiana Freelon:<\/h3>\n