{"id":32164,"date":"2016-08-31T21:02:33","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T00:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=32164"},"modified":"2016-11-06T09:37:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-06T12:37:31","slug":"interview-with-jorge-luiz-de-barros-dos-santos-president-of-pereira-da-silva-in-santa-teresa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=32164","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Jorge Luiz de Barros dos Santos, President of Pereira da Silva in Santa Teresa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The\u00a0Pereira da Silva<\/a>\u00a0favela sits between the Laranjeiras<\/a> and Santa Teresa<\/a> neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro’s\u00a0South Zone<\/a>.\u00a0Entering the community, there are\u00a0small wooden signs with encouraging words\u2013\u201cThink about the things that make you happy\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t give up!”\u2013by Project Morrinho<\/a>, a miniature model of Rio\u2019s favelas built by a group of young Pereira da Silva residents that grew to international fame. The community of 8,000 residents has not received a Pacifying Police Unit (UPP)<\/a>, but has experienced military intervention in the past<\/a>. Though the small community is in a prominent South Zone location, residents\u00a0feel they’re overlooked by government projects and most improvements are carried out by the community itself.<\/p>\n

RioOnWatch<\/em> sat down to speak with Jorge Luiz de Barros dos Santos, who has served as Pereira da Silva Neighborhood Association president since November 2015, to learn about Pereira da Silva, his life story and leadership role, and his hopes for the\u00a0community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: How long have you lived in Pereira da Silva?<\/h3>\n

Jorge<\/b>: I was born in Laranjeiras, then came straight to Pereira da Silva. I lived in Sepetiba<\/a> for a short time then came back.<\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: What are your earliest memories of the community?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge:<\/b> We had the freedom to play, go out running, play soccer until ten at night, fly kites. <\/span><\/p>\n

I have some memories that are more negative as well. There was a time when it was very dangerous here and there were lots of shootings. <\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: What are the biggest changes the community has undergone since then?<\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>Eight or ten years back this was considered a risk area. Today you almost never\u00a0see shootings here. Today there are more resources, the residents have more work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now we have concrete paths, basic sanitation<\/a> is better. The Comlurb<\/a> (Municipal Urban Cleaning and Waste\u00a0Collection Company) works better. Before when it rained, everything would fall.<\/span> The community has been upgraded<\/a>. Now there are containment walls\u00a0to protect ravines that are at risk of collapsing. There are almost no houses in areas of risk.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are times when the government doesn\u2019t help. But there are others who end up helping. Do you know the soccer champion Bebeto<\/a>? He is a state representative and helps us here. He helped us build a daycare and has supported us on several other projects.<\/p>\n

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

RioOnWatch: What changes have you made as president? What would you like to accomplish moving forward? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>I installed a gym for the senior citizens at the bottom of the hill. We also have a gym now for children with jiu jitsu, boxing and muay thai classes. We are preparing now the first cultural center and we plan to have English, Spanish and dance classes that will help get kids off the street and give them a goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

We fill the\u00a0holes that appear\u00a0when pipes burst. We recently installed a channel which redirects the rain water from the community so it doesn\u2019t go\u00a0into peoples\u2019 homes. We are working with Comlurb in the community to get rid of trash and with [state water utility]\u00a0CEDAE<\/a> to fix broken pipes. We are going to build a fence so as the community grows it doesn\u2019t expand into the environmental protection area.<\/p>\n

Now we are starting a recycling process, on our own. There are takers\u00a0of recycled material we might distribute to in order to generate internships for the community, as well as basic awareness and maybe even material that could be used for maintenance. There will\u00a0be two community street sweepers picking up plastic\u00a0bottles and used cooking oil. The oil can be used to make soap and things like that. The project will\u00a0provide courses to the youth from the community.<\/p>\n

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

RioOnWatch: What is your role as the neighborhood association president? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>My duty is to ensure that the community evolves by providing maintenance, repairs, classes and everything that brings improvements to the community. To represent the community in the best way possible. To make my community a model community.<\/span><\/p>\n

The president\u2019s job is 24 hours a day. Something might happen at the break of dawn. A pipe breaks and you have to go help out. There is no break.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have community meetings and hold <\/span>mutir\u00f5es<\/a><\/em>\u00a0[collective action]\u00a0<\/span>to clear trash from the hillside. We are part of a Community Union of about twenty communities throughout Rio who meet to talk about electricity<\/a>, Comlurb, Cedae, and what can be done to improve our\u00a0communities. The electricity\u00a0company, Light, is what gives us the biggest headache. They still haven\u2019t come to fix fallen posts that we\u2019ve had here for some time. Some residents are taking legal action against Light\u00a0because they are paying exorbitant amounts<\/a> for energy they don\u2019t use. This is what we talk about in the community meetings. Other than that people talk a lot about politics. At that point I run away. I had a boss who taught me that to get stuff done\u00a0you don\u2019t need to suck up to\u00a0politicians.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have meetings with public\u00a0agencies\u00a0to talk about our demands. They don\u2019t always make the changes [we ask for]. They look for contexts with a greater incentive to act that will bring\u00a0more visibility for them, such as areas at great risk or pacified areas. Here you won\u2019t find either of the two, so it won\u2019t give them publicity.<\/p>\n

\"Residents<\/a>
\n<\/b>RioOnWatch: How have the residents received your work? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>We publish our projects on the community Facebook page<\/a>. The residents are grateful that we are fighting\u00a0for something that will benefit them. Despite this there are some who complain, everyone complains about change. \u201cWhat are you doing that for?\u201d but afterwards say \u201cDamn, that turned out well!\u201d It\u2019s always like that.<\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: Why did you run for president? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>The last president had to step down\u00a0because of her son\u2019s poor health. We didn\u2019t have a president for a\u00a0year, so the community was left a bit neglected until they held\u00a0a new election. Some residents invited me to support them in running for president, but they later said, \u201cthe people here really like you. Why don\u2019t you run for president?\u201d I said I would only run if my vice-president Paola Victor ran with me. Paola is young and well-respected and likes to do good work. So we ran and it was the greatest voter turnout we\u2019ve ever had in the community. The people here liked us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The community\u00a0agreed that instead of a four year term, we would change the presidency to two years to give an opportunity for the president to really improve the community, or to replace them with someone who really wants to do something, sooner rather than later. It was an agreement between the parties\u00a0for the benefit of the community. <\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: What is your ideal for the community? What do you hope to see for the community ten years from now?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>My dream is to complete the community sports center. I would like to see the community more relaxed, more activities for the community, fewer houses in areas of risk, fewer people in need, to be able to go help out.<\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: Do you plan to run for president again? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>I won\u2019t run for the presidency again. I only became president to do the things I thought we could fix, and to give opportunity for others to come after me and make things even better. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

RioOnWatch: What have been the greatest challenges you’ve faced as president of Pereira da Silva? The greatest rewards? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>The greatest challenge are the residents, because you have to convince them you will do your best. <\/span>The greatest reward is when everything is ready. When you see the things you planned out realized, that people liked your work. When the children say, \u201cCool, it came out great.\u201d That is the greatest reward. It\u2019s not about money because we don\u2019t receive any.<\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: What is government intervention in the\u00a0community like?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>Because we are not considered a risk\u00a0area, and we are not a pacified favela, the authorities\u00a0don\u2019t want to come in to fix things or do maintenance, because of the [lack of]\u00a0visibility. So we depend on ourselves to make the improvements with the support of friends who come to help.<\/span><\/p>\n

RioOnWatch: Have the 2016 Olympics<\/a> had any impact on your community? Do you think the Games will leave a legacy? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorge: <\/b>Impact here in the community? None. No benefits. Legacy? Maybe there will be one. Depends on the political will to leave a lasting legacy<\/a>. But that depends on them, to come together with the communities instead of closing themselves up and being the only ones to benefit. But if they leave it only to the high executive power, nothing will happen. The communities will [continue] to be abandoned.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas The\u00a0Pereira da Silva\u00a0favela sits between the Laranjeiras and Santa Teresa neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro’s\u00a0South Zone.\u00a0Entering the community, there are\u00a0small wooden signs with encouraging words\u2013\u201cThink about the things that make you […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":32301,"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":[1668,1277,1284,1329],"tags":[371,484,1102,779,258,397,221,1592,485,1605,1590,218,618,5,15,152,1591,172,156,471],"writer":[2121],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-participationwatch","8":"category-uppwatch","9":"category-interviews-profiles","10":"category-by-international-observers","11":"tag-cedae","12":"tag-comlurb-waste-collection","13":"tag-community-leader-profile","14":"tag-community-leaders","15":"tag-community-solution","16":"tag-education","17":"tag-favela-culture","18":"tag-laranjeiras","19":"tag-light-electricity","20":"tag-martial-arts","21":"tag-morrinho","22":"tag-mutirao","23":"tag-neighborhood-association","24":"tag-olympics","25":"tag-pacifying-police-unit","26":"tag-participation","27":"tag-pereira-da-silva","28":"tag-santa-teresa","29":"tag-south-zone","30":"tag-sustainability","31":"writer-sophia-zaia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32164","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\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32164"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=32164"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=32164"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=32164"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=32164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}