{"id":4771,"date":"2012-08-29T08:30:31","date_gmt":"2012-08-29T11:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=4771"},"modified":"2016-02-11T10:47:44","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T13:47:44","slug":"curicica-part-3-awaiting-morar-carioca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=4771","title":{"rendered":"Curicica (Part 3): Awaiting Morar Carioca"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

This is the third of\u00a0four articles<\/a>\u00a0about the\u00a0cluster of favelas in Curicica<\/a>, Jacarepagu\u00e1, that are awaiting urban integration projects through the\u00a0Morar Carioca<\/a>\u00a0upgrading program.<\/em><\/p>\n

Quando ser\u00e1? (When will it be?)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Residents’ Association of Vila Calmete sits above polluted waters that run alongside the community’s residential streets. On the other side of a short bridge, rich plantlife springs out of diverse pots of soil, framing the river through its length: a stark juxtaposition that accents both the potentials and the limits of community capacity absent public provisions. \u201cNone of this was here when I first visited Vila Calmete,\u201d said Bezerra, president of the neighboring Asa Branca<\/a>. \u201cTilz\u00e9 made this community beautiful. But people still want better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 da Cruz, or Tilz\u00e9, isn’t the type one would imagine to spearhead a community-wide gardening project. The air he carries is stern and initially intimidating, his talk pointed and frank, often bitingly cynical. A trace of fatigue cradles his eyes and his voice \u2013 though this does nothing to hinder his contributions to the community where he resides. As part of the Community Council of Public Security’s ethics board for 9 years and president of Vila Calmete for 8, he’s dealt with many of the issues facing Curicica’s favelas, and has run again and again into the constraints that limit community action.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThe communities here have been abandoned, and mine among them,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s no basic sanitation, no legalized water. And when all you have is a community leader and a board of directors, there’s no force. There are limits to what you can change.\u201d Sitting in a shaded square next to the Resident’s Association where martial arts lessons are held for the community’s youth, he described past projects that dissolved due to lack of space, and the difficulty in organizing residents who are already busy working to sustain their own families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve been told that Morar Carioca<\/a> will be coming in to improve the community,\u201d said Tilz\u00e9 of the city government’s program to upgrade and integrate all of Rio’s favelas by 2020 through a slew of urban investments. He remains eternally skeptical: \u201cIt’s written, at least. But nobody really knows.\u201d With measured irony, he half-sung a line from a tune by Rio-born artist Z\u00e9 Rodrix:\u00a0\u201cQuando ser\u00e1, quando ser\u00e1 o dia da minha sorte?\u201d (<\/em>\u201cWhen, oh, when will be my lucky day?\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother name for Favela-Bairro.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Turquoise marks the future Olympic Park. Red are the Curicica favelas featured in this series. See the map close up here: http:\/\/bit.ly\/CuricicaMapa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe only thing that the Prefeitura (city government) has done here,\u201d said Tilz\u00e9, \u201cwas a daily cleaning of the river that started 3 years ago. But it ended because of politics, a change in the government. That’s really what decides everything. It’s all politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scarce selection of government investments throughout the history of the favelas around Vila Calmete have been similarly half-hearted. In Vila Uni\u00e3o de Curicica, a row of houses that faces out of the community used to be connected to Rua Ventura by durable concrete footbridges stretching across a stream that lines an edge of the street. But in an attempt to \u201copen up\u201d the canal, the City government replaced the bridges with meagre wooden substitutes that often break under people’s feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell into the stream not too long ago,\u201d said one resident. \u201cStruck my head and landed in the dirty water.\u201d This was far from an isolated incident, as her neighbor, who’d seen it happen too often, informed us. Politicians come in electioneering<\/a>, she recounted, seeking to gain support, to build a good image through low-commitment, low-impact projects in less privileged communities. The result is ill-informed policy that rarely benefits the community on a genuine level, with little focus on the long-term; in the case of Vila Uni\u00e3o’s bridges, public attention evaporated as soon as the implementation phase came to a close. \u201cWe have to fix their mess ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can fall in s**t,\u201d she joked bitterly. \u201cQuite literally.”<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cAs far as I can tell,\u201d said Tilz\u00e9, \u201cMorar Carioca is just another name for Favela-Bairro.\u201d In fact it is formally recognized as a continuation of \u00a0the 1990s-2000s municipal government\u00a0Favela-Bairro<\/a>\u00a0program. Except Morar Carioca is in theory supposed to build on lessons learned, guaranteeing community participation, maintaining architects in the process through the final stages of execution, generating more creative solutions and incorporating environmental sustainability criteria. <\/em>The idea is to upgrade the favelas, taking resident achievements in the area of construction and community-building and bringing in the necessary public infrastructure to complete their full urbanization and, in the end, achieve \u201csocial integration:\u201d a stitching together of the two traditionally disparate sides of the \u201cCidade Partida\u201d (divided city), as Rio is known.<\/p>\n

An earlier article<\/a> detailed some fundamental flaws in Favela-Bairro that caused an otherwise fruitful program to fall short of its high aims. In short: a focus on physical improvements over a more holistic fostering of equal opportunities, the absence of genuine community participation in deciding the shape of the investments, and the eventual deterioration of public insertions through lack of maintenance.<\/p>\n

Though it’s too early to judge how Morar Carioca fares according to these criteria, the tradition of empty politics and unproductive interventions that Curicica’s settlements have experienced to date has left some more cautious than eager. Ivan, a director in the Residents’ Association of Vila Calmete, expressed reservations that \u201cthe investments might end as soon as the upcoming election is won.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve been waiting.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The dominant sentiment in Curicica, however, has been one of excitement. In Asa Branca, where public works have already begun through the Secretary of Public Works, rather than Morar Carioca, Association president Bezerra has been in close contact with city government officials. \u201cAs far as I see, there’s nothing political behind it,\u201d he said. \u201cThey’re really here to make our communities better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edson Ribeiro, the president of Vila Pitimbu, is similiarly optimistic. \u201cThey’re doing some great work with the Morar Carioca project,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s already been a visit from the Secretary of Housing, and now we’re just waiting for engineers to come, re-register the residents, and organize everything for the upcoming upgrading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having led his community for decades, Ribeiro is proud of the progress and the living necessities that he and his neighbors have accomplished with their own efforts. \u201cBut we did it all as residents, with the little technical knowledge we had. We’ve managed to live well here, but it’s still not technically perfect. And now everything will be technically perfect,\u201d he said with cheer.<\/p>\n

All the communities I interviewed seemed to agree on their main priorities with the upcoming investments. \u201cBasic sanitation is essential,\u201d said Tilz\u00e9, \u201cthe first item.\u201d Though some communities have already received sanitation services, the ones who lack are faced with the sights, smells, and eventual health risks that stray trash and dirty water pose. \u201cI don’t smell it anymore, personally,\u201d Tilz\u00e9 said, gesturing to the river below us, \u201cbut people aren’t happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"And in Vila Uni\u00e3o, S\u00f4nia relayed stories of rats living within walls, cockroaches slipping in for visits, and mosquitoes settling within pockets of stagnant water trapped under trash by the river on Rua Ventura \u2013 exploding out in swarms to greet those who pick the garbage out from over them. All the community’s drainage goes into the stream. Forced to work within the limits of their resources, land, and know-how, there aren’t many alternatives. A recent project to connect Asa Branca’s self-made sewer system to the city’s formal network, solving problems of pollution and overflooding in a nearby river, offers hope to surrounding communities dealing with too much waste and too few options.<\/p>\n

Walking into president V\u00e2nia’s office in Vila Uni\u00e3o, the paper clippings that adorn the wall next to her door include a newspaper article about Vila Uni\u00e3o wanting to legalize their water services. Tilz\u00e9 refers to this lack of formal water as a \u201cbasic stain\u201d that marks most informal settlements, and president Renildo of Abadiana is similarly eager to see water as a public service rather than a siphoned good. \u201cWe’ll have to pay,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it’s better like that, I think, to have <\/em>the product at your door, guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Village Campo da Paz and Vila Calmete lamented the lack of recreational spaces for children. \u201cBut there are options not too far away,\u201d said Village president Lindinalva da Silva. \u201cIt’s a lack, but there are more important things: health, education, and housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The growing population in her community has led to building at precariously high levels by some community members. \u201cThe Association only permits a first and a second floor,\u201d she said, \u201cbut we have no way to enforce it, and so people build a third floor, and then a fourth. The structure can’t always bear it.\u201d There is a space here for an entity with legal power to enforce building regulations, and to provide alternatives for residents seeking housing. Though daycares are available in the area, Lindinalva also commented that there remains a need for places \u201cfor children to stay, sleep, and eat securely\u201d in the absence of their working parents.\u00a0Once again, hope can be found a block away in Asa Branca, where the Prefeitura has communicated plans to build a school, a daycare, and a medical post on some empty land next to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve been requesting these improvements from the city government for a while,\u201d said Renildo. \u201cWe’ve been waiting.\u201d Standing in the main plaza where the majority of his community, Abadiana, rests, he told me his plans to organize the community to \u201cmake the square beautiful\u201d in anticipation of the long-awaited projects.<\/p>\n

O dia da minha sorte…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>A few hours before my colleague and I arrived in Vila Uni\u00e3o to meet S\u00f4nia, workers for Morar Carioca had been circling the community, interviewing residents in preparation for November, when the projects in Curicica are scheduled to start. \u201cThey were trying to get a sense of what we wanted to see from the project,\u201d said one resident. \u201cThey seemed like good people.”<\/p>\n

In his living room, Bezerra showed me the letter he had sent in 2009, requesting the presence of public services in his community. He’s grateful for the luck he’s had. Many communities haven’t received a productive response<\/a>\u00a0when reaching out to the city government.<\/p>\n

For Asa Branca, public works have arrived<\/a>. Outside, the streets were being gutted to make way for new infrastructure. \u201cThey’re opening the road up so they can put it back in better shape,\u201d said Wesley, Bezerra’s nephew. A few onlookers complained about the present state of the street, but many others looked on positively, excited for the improvements that the chaos of drills and bulldozers promised. \u201cLook,\u201d said another resident pridefully, pointing at some community members who had been hired to work on the road. \u201cMy neighbors are working to improve the community.”<\/p>\n

Tilz\u00e9, however, was a little more skeptical. \u201cOnce Morar Carioca enters,\u201d he said, \u201cthey’ll have to break everything down again. They just like to spend money, to throw money away.\u201d Although he is unwilling to place too much trust in the city government’s plans before they become action, he is not against the principle of what Morar Carioca promises. \u201cThese things have to be done from outside,\u201d he said, returning to the question with which we began:\u00a0\u201cBut when?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the third of 4 articles about the cluster of favelas in Curicica, Jacarepagu\u00e1, Rio de Janeiro prior to upgrading through the City\u2019s Morar Carioca program. The last article will examine inequality, social perceptions, and the different forces that define the opportunities of those who reside in these communities. \u00a0And in the end, the forces that sustain them: culture, strength. \u00a0Love.<\/em><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a>\u00a0to see more photos of the communities featured in this series, or watch the slideshow below:<\/em><\/p>\n

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Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas This is the third of\u00a0four articles\u00a0about the\u00a0cluster of favelas in Curicica, Jacarepagu\u00e1, that are awaiting urban integration projects through the\u00a0Morar Carioca\u00a0upgrading program. Quando ser\u00e1? (When will it be?) The Residents’ Association […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4800,"comment_status":"open","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":[1736,335,329],"tags":[9,584,27,581,381,569,129,147,152,583,592,585,21],"writer":[524],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-1736","8":"category-policies","9":"category-solutions","10":"tag-9","11":"tag-abadiana","12":"tag-asa-branca","13":"tag-curicica","14":"tag-electioneering","15":"tag-jacarepagua","16":"tag-leadership","17":"tag-morar-carioca","18":"tag-participation","19":"tag-vila-pitimbu","20":"tag-vila-uniao-de-curicica","21":"tag-village-campo-da-paz","22":"tag-west-zone","23":"writer-rexy-dorado"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771","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\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4771"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=4771"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=4771"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=4771"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=4771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}