{"id":27318,"date":"2016-03-07T09:55:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T12:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=27318"},"modified":"2016-03-07T09:55:12","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T12:55:12","slug":"community-leader-uses-social-media-to-unite-residents-of-vila-cruzeiro-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=27318","title":{"rendered":"Community Leader Uses Social Media to Unite Residents of Vila Cruzeiro"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

For the original article by Fania Rodrigues\u00a0in Portuguese published in Brasil de Fato\u00a0<\/em>click<\/em> here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The idea seemed simple: to create a Facebook page to share information among residents of the community where she lives. The desire to help others led Cl\u00e1udia Sacramento Mathias to create the Vila Cruzeiro RJ Facebook page<\/a>, which now has over 23,000\u00a0Likes.<\/p>\n

It really was simple. But what Cl\u00e1udia didn\u2019t anticipate was that this initiative would make such a difference to people living in Vila Cruzeiro<\/a>, in the Penha<\/a> neighborhood in North Zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The daughter of a domestic worker, Cl\u00e1udia Sacramento Mathias had polio\u00a0as a baby and still has difficulty walking today. Now, aged 46, she receives financial assistance from the government, something she only realized she was entitled to two years ago. The poverty she was living in meant that she lacked information on her most basic rights.<\/p>\n

Even so, her physical limitations never paralyzed her. Today her aim is to keep informing and contributing to her community.<\/p>\n

Daily struggle<\/h3>\n

The Vila Cruzeiro RJ Facebook page<\/a> was created two years ago and since then residents go online to get daily information about security<\/a> issues in the community and to help each other as well. Cl\u00e1udia tells of how she stays up until the early hours of the morning giving information to workers who need to get home late at night.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally I stay up until 2am\u00a0sharing information. When there\u2019s a shootout or another problem, such as power cuts, I go to bed later,\u201d Cl\u00e1udia says.<\/p>\n

Whenever there is conflict in the Vila Cruzeiro favela she is the first source of information residents turn to. They go to the page to find out if they can get home safely. \u201cSince the page was created there have been fewer cases of stray bullets [causing injury or death],\u201d says the page administrator.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Facebook page, the community also organizes<\/a> using WhatsApp<\/a> groups. Five groups, each formed of 100 people, share information in real time for the benefit of those who are making their way home while there\u2019s conflict in the community. And all these people are in contact with Cl\u00e1udia, who is now considered a community leader in Vila Cruzeiro.<\/p>\n

Generosity<\/h3>\n

The Facebook page has\u00a0been such a\u00a0success that it now functions like a huge solidarity network. Cl\u00e1udia tells of how a Vila Cruzeiro resident recently used the page to ask for help for her 11-year-old son who needed urgent psychological treatment. \u201cSo many people appeared on the page to offer help, it was really impressive,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Another resident, the mother of a 10-year-old child with a physical disability, needed a special mattress, food and diapers. \u201cHer husband had left her and she couldn\u2019t work as her child is very dependent on her. We posted about it on the Facebook page and managed to get her everything she needed,\u201d Cl\u00e1udia says\u00a0with pride.<\/p>\n

In a recent post on the page, Cl\u00e1udia asked for help for the family of Rafael Braga Vieira<\/a>. The young man was arrested during the protests of 2013<\/a> with a bottle of disinfectant in his bag, accused of carrying explosive materials. Now his mother and brothers, Vila Cruzeiro residents, are having financial difficulties and she is asking the community to donate food for the family.<\/p>\n

Public service<\/h3>\n

The page is also used to share opportunities for jobs, professional training courses and internships for young apprentices and university students. Cultural initiatives are also announced on the page, such as the Teatro na Laje<\/a> theater group and community parties.<\/p>\n

Vila Cruzeiro\u2019s history<\/h3>\n

The Vila Cruzeiro favela was formed\u00a0in the 19th century and its first residents were escaped slaves who stayed in the area under the protection of an abolitionist priest from the local Penha Church. Even today the land on which the community stands is the property of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas For the original article by Fania Rodrigues\u00a0in Portuguese published in Brasil de Fato\u00a0click here. The idea seemed simple: to create a Facebook page to share information among residents of the community […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":26929,"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":[1294,1290,1271,329,1330],"tags":[1102,779,756,258,1811,221,37,1292,193,443,796,520,1403,30,31,1922],"writer":[1943],"translator":[1401],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-communitymedia","8":"category-civilsociety","9":"category-favelaqualities","10":"category-solutions","11":"category-translation","12":"tag-community-leader-profile","13":"tag-community-leaders","14":"tag-community-organizing","15":"tag-community-solution","16":"tag-facebook","17":"tag-favela-culture","18":"tag-north-zone","19":"tag-organizing","20":"tag-penha","21":"tag-security","22":"tag-social-media","23":"tag-solidarity","24":"tag-solution","25":"tag-urban-violence","26":"tag-vila-cruzeiro","27":"tag-whatsapp","28":"writer-fania-rodrigues","29":"translator-sarah-jacobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27318","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27318"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=27318"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=27318"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=27318"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=27318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}