{"id":82211,"date":"2025-12-04T17:24:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=82211"},"modified":"2025-12-21T19:17:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T22:17:45","slug":"portrait-of-a-centenary-old-favela-of-stilt-houses-belems-vila-da-barca-resists-organizes-and-fights-for-sanitation-and-adequate-housing-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=82211","title":{"rendered":"Portrait of a Centenary-Old Favela of Stilt Houses: Bel\u00e9m’s Vila da Barca Resists, Organizes and Fights for Sanitation and Adequate Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"RioOnWatch<\/a>
RioOnWatch<\/em> visited Vila da Barca in Bel\u00e9m during COP30 and the People\u2019s Summit on November 13, 2025. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

\"\"This article is part of a\u00a0<\/i><\/i>series<\/a>\u00a0created in partnership with the\u00a0Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies<\/a>\u00a0at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the\u00a0Digital Brazil Project<\/a>\u00a0on environmental justice in the favelas through RioOnWatch.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/a>
Aerial map of Vila da Barca, located in the Tel\u00e9grafo neighborhood, which is part of Bel\u00e9m’s central region. Source<\/a>: Luiz Henrique Gusm\u00e3o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

RioOnWatch was in Bel\u00e9m<\/a>, capital of the Amazonian state of Par\u00e1<\/a>, in November 2025, during the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30<\/a>) to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and the parallel People\u2019s Summit<\/a>. The conference\u2019s official areas (known as the Green Zone<\/a> and Blue Zone<\/a>) saw a massive presence of representatives from Indigenous villages and nations, fishing communities, quilombos and Amazonian favelas, communities impacted by large-scale projects, and national and international social movements already affected by extreme climate events that contribute adaptive ancestral knowledge and technologies, offering the world<\/a> valuable lessons on climate resilience<\/a> in the midst of struggles for water justice<\/a>, sanitation<\/a> and the right to dignified housing<\/a>. For this reason, RioOnWatch visited\u2014among other <\/em>\u2018baixadas<\/em>,\u2019 the term used<\/a> in Bel\u00e9m to refer to its favelas\u2014Vila da Barca in the Tel\u00e9grafo neighborhood in the city’s Central Zone.<\/em><\/p>\n

Documents and residents\u2019 accounts indicate that Vila da Barca, one of the largest stilt house communities<\/a> in Latin America, has been around for at least 100 years along the banks of Guajar\u00e1 Bay<\/a> in Bel\u00e9m, in the state of Par\u00e1.<\/p>\n

Based on historiographical research, the Vila da Barca Memorial Museum<\/a> states that the area where the community now sits was first occupied in the 1910s during Bel\u00e9m\u2019s economic expansion in the rubber boom<\/a>. Other sources, however, argue that Vila da Barca is even older.<\/p>\n

Although the community is now known for its 543 stilt houses, home to 1,400 families, residents say that the founders of Vila da Barca originally built their homes on solid ground. At some point, a newly arrived family began living in an abandoned boat on the riverbank. Others, seeing this possibility, then started building their own homes over the water, as in other stilt house communities across Brazil and the world, such as the historical case of Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a>\u2014a cluster of 16 favelas in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s North Zone.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The port area of Vila da Barca\u2019s stilt house community. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gerson Bruno<\/a>, general coordinator of the Vila da Barca Residents\u2019 Association (AMVB<\/a>), describes the community\u2019s history and struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stilt houses in Vila da Barca were originally built by the traditional riverside population and people from the countryside who came looking to make a living in the big city\u2026 In our community, we have a memorial museum, which we created through a grant from the Aldir Blanc Law<\/a> [created to support the cultural sector during the coronavirus pandemic], to record the history of Vila for future generations: how it emerged, the struggles for water\u2026 We used to have to carry water on our heads.\u201d \u2014 Gerson Bruno<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 2007, the Palafita Zero Program<\/a> was launched to build units within the federal housing program My House My Life (MCMV<\/a> by its Portuguese acronym) and resettle residents living in stilt houses. Prejudice against favelas<\/a> and low-lying areas means that families who live in stilt houses are heavily stigmatized. [Although it is important to highlight that stilt houses are urbanized and used around the world<\/a> to provide housing in flood-prone areas<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

\"Vila<\/a>
Vila da Barca is the largest stilt house favela in Bel\u00e9m, capital of the state of Par\u00e1. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eight years ago, residents denounced the neglect of several local governments<\/a> in implementing the Palafita Zero Program, which still hadn\u2019t been carried out. To this day\u201418 years later\u2014the works are only moving forward a little at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Palafita Zero Program] housing project has shown such disregard for us that the last municipal administration simply reduced goals, cut the project in half and said: \u2018look, from today on, only these families are entitled. These other ones aren\u2019t\u2019\u2026 [This here is currently] some of the most expensive square footage in Bel\u00e9m. We\u2019re under a lot of pressure to leave. [But] our sense of belonging<\/a> is very strong\u2026 We won\u2019t accept the removal of any resident from Vila to a housing project [somewhere else], only to the same area.\u201d \u2014 Gerson Bruno<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Interior<\/a>
Interior of a home on stilts in Vila da Barca. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the Amazon itself, there are riverside communities and even luxury hotels<\/a> built on stilts. The issue is not the stilt structures themselves. For some residents, they are a community asset, an ancestral technology, a way to live close to nature and their source of livelihood (in the case of fishermen), which allows them to access their right to the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Stilt<\/a>
Stilt houses in Vila da Barca are built from a variety of materials. Photo: CatComm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For these residents, the problem is pollution\u2014of the river on which the stilt houses stand\u2014whether from untreated sewage or contamination from other sources, such as industry or trash that the tide carries in and deposits beneath the homes.<\/p>\n

\"Solid<\/a>
Solid waste accumulates beneath some of the stilt houses, regularly brought in by the high tides, which reach the community twice a day. According to \u00c1guas do Par\u00e1, an eco-barrier will be installed after the sanitation works. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to community leaders, nine homes are currently being removed from the stilt house area, all in the part most vulnerable to the tide. Their residents will be resettled in the MCMV apartment complexes next door, within Vila da Barca itself. According to the government\u2019s plan, the area where these houses currently stand will be filled in to make way for the construction of a square.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The stilt houses most vulnerable to the tides will be removed. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, most of the stilt houses will remain and are currently receiving, along with the whole of the Vila da Barca community, public investments in sanitation: both water supply and sewage systems, provided by the private utility \u00c1guas do Par\u00e1<\/a>. As shown on the sign below, 1,400 homes are included, benefiting 5,000 residents.<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/a>
Sign for the \u00c1guas do Par\u00e1 program shows that 5,000 residents will benefit from water and sewerage. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Old<\/a>
Old water supply pipes, already deactivated. Photo: CatComm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Manaus, Beco Nonato<\/a>, located in the Cachoeirinha neighborhood in the South Zone of the state of Amazonas, was the first stilt house favela<\/a> in Brazil to receive treated water and sewage collection services<\/a> from the utility company. In Santos, a coastal city in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, in addition to water and sewage infrastructure works, the Parque Palafitas<\/a> community received improvements to the buildings and preservation efforts, both material and cultural. These efforts even included the construction of housing units in the stilt house style, using materials culturally appropriate for that purpose.<\/p>\n

During RioOnWatch<\/em>\u2019s visit to Vila da Barca, we observed residents\u2019 relief at the installation of a proper water supply system. The old pipes used by residents, which ran along the sand’s surface\u2014submerged most of the day in river water and thus providing contaminated water\u2014are now deactivated. With the new system, the utility removes the blue-painted planks characteristic of the community\u2019s walkways, installs new pipes just below the walkway, connects them to the newly installed water meters, and then reinstalls the walkway with the planks painted blue once again.<\/p>\n

We spoke with Nelson Lima Rosa, 43, a resident and Vila da Barca community leader.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Newly<\/a>
Newly installed water meter in the stilt houses of Vila da Barca is used by the utility to monitor water usage. Residents are charged the social tariff. Photo: CatComm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAt a public hearing with the governor, leaders from Vila da Barca told him: \u2018Go on, drink this water!\u2019 They challenged the governor to drink the community\u2019s water. He didn\u2019t\u2026 After the works, the number of sick people dropped significantly\u2026 The pipes were very thin, tidal and sewage water would always get in\u2026 the pipes for the homes were buried under sand, sludge and trash or, at times, ran over the ground\u2026 Any crack in a pipe meant residents drank and bathed with contaminated water.\u201d \u2014 Nelson Lima Rosa<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The work being carried out by \u00c1guas do Par\u00e1 decommissions the precarious system that ran along the riverbed, raising the water and sewage pipes and attaching them to the undersides of the wooden walkways. Previously, thin PVC pipes that cracked from continuous exposure to sun and rain, and from direct contact with pollutants, sewage and animals, were replaced by thicker pipes that are less prone to cracking.<\/p>\n

\"Works<\/a>
Works aim to provide clean water and sewerage for the stilt house residents. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By raising the pipes and attaching them to the walkways, the chances of damage to the plumbing are reduced. Another advantage is that if they do get damaged, the problems will be more visible and easier to fix.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the sewage network in the stilt house area is under construction, running below and parallel to the blue walkways.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The stilt house sewage system is under construction, running below and parallel to the walkways. Photo: CatComm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the sewage network, \u00c1guas do Par\u00e1 employees are carrying out targeted macro-drainage projects under pedestrian walkways to prevent flooding. According to reports from the employees themselves and local leaders, most of the workers are residents of the community.<\/p>\n

\"Most<\/a>
Most of the employees working on the projects are residents of Vila da Barca itself. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Residents see the works as a step forward. Some people have started taking showers and having running water for the first time. Luiz Claudio da Silva Vera Cruz, 52, has lived in the Vila da Barca stilt house area since birth and says his family has been there since his grandmother was born. This means Cruz\u2019s family has been in Vila da Barca for five generations.<\/p>\n

Now, his grandchildren live in the Vila apartment complexes and go to the stilt houses to visit their grandfather and play.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother lived 92 years. She was born here. This community is over a hundred years old. Back then, the houses were big, with plenty of space between them. Now, there\u2019s almost no space, they\u2019re right next to each other\u2026 hardly any room for new constructions, except upwards or near the port, on the beachfront [as residents sometimes call the river].\u201d \u2014 Luiz Claudio da Silva Vera Cruz<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Cruz\u2019s<\/a>
Cruz\u2019s family has been in Vila da Barca for five generations, four of them living in the stilt houses. His grandchildren live in the Vila apartment complexes and go to the stilt houses to visit their grandfather and play. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the visit to his home, Cruz drew attention to a recurring problem. According to him, places from where people were removed and ressettled into the apartment complexes, once left empty, were reoccupied by other families in need of housing. Without a consistent housing policy, public authorities are left to chase their own tails with these sporadic and isolated actions.<\/p>\n

Cruz, however, is hopeful about the works taking place in his baixada<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, people used to have to turn on the pump and draw water themselves, using buckets or pots\u2026 Very few households here had water tanks\u2026 Now, after the works, the water comes straight in, with a good flow, all the time.\u201d \u2014 Luiz Claudio da Silva Vera Cruz<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although happy, he does not hide his concern about the cost this access will represent for his family income.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paper showing the price of water hasn\u2019t arrived yet. We don\u2019t pay for electricity<\/a>, but I\u2019m worried the water will be too expensive<\/a>. It\u2019s good to have water, but what if I don\u2019t have money to pay? For now, they aren\u2019t charging us [beyond the social tariff]. They installed that thing outside [the water meters], but they didn\u2019t charge us\u2026 we already have a [high] cost for materials to build stilt houses\u2026 That wood is angelim [tropical hardwood]\u2026 for the floor, you need planks of another type\u2026 everything is expensive!\u201d \u2014 Luiz Claudio da Silva Vera Cruz<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stilt houses in Vila da Barca have different levels of structural vulnerability and are built from a variety of materials. Due to costs and his low income, Cruz says he learned from his father how to maintain a stilt house. In a way, this gives him autonomy to adapt his home to the climatic realities he faces at any given moment, such as during floods, when he said he raised the floor of his home. However, like other residents we interviewed, he echoes the sense of belonging felt by his neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like living here, I like this area, I like living this way. I raised my children here.\u201d \u2014 Luiz Claudio da Silva Vera Cruz<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"New<\/a>
New angelim planks incorporated into Cruz’s home, whose grandmother was born and lived to 92 in the stilt houses of Vila da Barca. Photo: CatComm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While he enjoys his life in the stilt houses, Cruz also shares his optimism about the government-promised apartments, saying, \u201cI\u2019d rather move into the apartments\u2026 but they\u2019re taking way too long to deliver them!\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan is still to resettle several of the stilt houses. The new apartments are duplex units. On the first floor: a living room, bathroom, kitchen and a small open-air service area. In the living room, a staircase leads to the second floor, where there are two bedrooms and a terrace.<\/p>\n

\"Newly<\/a>
Newly built homes in the Vila da Barca housing complex. Photo: CatComm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dona Eunice Nunes dos Santos, 75, and her son, Denielson, are very pleased to have moved into the Vila da Barca apartment complex, which happened five months ago after more than a decade of waiting.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The apartment complex to which part of the stilt house residents were relocated] took 16 years to be built. It was stop, start, stop, start, all due to corruption. [Because of that] I didn\u2019t even expect to live in this apartment one day\u2026 There are other buildings in the complex here for the people removed from Vila da Barca whose residents received the keys to fully finished units, with ceilings, tiled floors in every room, painted walls and all the outlets working. [Mine didn\u2019t come finished.]\u201d \u2014 Eunice Nunes dos Santos<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Eunice<\/a>
Eunice Nunes dos Santos, 75, was resettled from the stilt house where she lived paying rent to a duplex apartment in the resettled-residents complex within Vila da Barca itself, a demand made by the community. She says she is happy, despite having criticisms about the unfinished state of the apartment she received. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eunice was born in Muan\u00e1<\/a>, on Maraj\u00f3 Island<\/a>, in the interior of Par\u00e1. As a child, she moved to Bel\u00e9m to live with a family who raised her. Years later, after having children of her own, she moved to Cotijuba<\/a>, an island in Bel\u00e9m\u2019s metropolitan island region, already on the shores of Maraj\u00f3 Bay<\/a>. However, after being abandoned by her husband, she moved with her children to Vila da Barca, where she lived in the stilt house area, paying rent.<\/p>\n

Today, living in the apartment complexes, Eunice is happy she no longer has to pay rent and now has a less precarious home. However, she worries about the cost of this, since she now pays for water and electricity. Even with the social tariff, which she says is available to her, the utilities have been charging hundreds of reais<\/a> per month for consumption that does not match reality. When RioOnWatch<\/em> visited her family, for example, there was nothing that could justify the amount on her electric bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have three fans, a fridge, a TV, an electric shower, cell phones\u2026 We don\u2019t have air conditioning [a freezer, microwave, washing machine, computer] or any other equipment that requires a lot of electricity.\u201d \u2014 Eunice Nunes dos Santos<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Homes<\/a>
Homes already established in the housing complex, where residents have adapted their units according to their needs. Photo: CatComm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Walking through the complexes, in the units that were built first, residents reported that although the buildings were designed with a sewage system, it wasn\u2019t planned to meet the community\u2019s actual needs.<\/p>\n

As a result, \u00c1guas do Par\u00e1 regularly has to clean internal walkways in the complexes to prevent sewage from overflowing into the streets between the buildings.<\/p>\n

\"Drainage<\/a>
Drainage and cleaning of internal walkways in the complexes are carried out regularly to prevent sewage from overflowing. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, residents of some of the more fragile homes in Vila da Barca face life-threatening risks<\/a>, with structures that could give way\u2014partially or entirely\u2014at any moment, collapsing into the polluted waters of the Guam\u00e1 River. This was a warning shared by a resident during RioOnWatch<\/em>‘s visit. Visibly shaken, he spoke loudly as he pointed toward the door, where he said we would be safer.<\/p>\n

Although he said he likes living there and likes the stilt houses, he also said he would prefer the possibility of living in a brick house, on solid ground, in the complexes the government is building.<\/p>\n

\"Vila<\/a>
Vila da Barca Residential Complex. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Luiz Claudio Vera Cruz’s grandchildren were also present on the day RioOnWatch<\/em> visited him. Playing on their grandfather\u2019s bed, they said they enjoy visiting him in the stilt house area because they get to play and kick a ball around on the wooden walkways between the homes with other children from the neighborhood. The two grandchildren live in the Vila da Barca apartment complex\u2014the first generation in 100 years not to live in stilt houses.<\/p>\n

The risk of collapse is imminent in some cases, however. A few hours after RioOnWatch<\/em>\u2019s visit, in another part of Vila da Barca, a stilt house collapsed<\/a>, leaving four people homeless.<\/p>\n

At the end of our visit, we caught the graduation ceremony of the Barca Saneada<\/a> project, promoted by \u00c1guas do Par\u00e1. Focused on environmental education, the project fosters composting, community gardens, the collection of recyclable materials and their transformation into income-generating items, artistic objects and more. During the ceremony, participants were encouraged to speak about the knowledge they had gained and to strengthen their cultural sense of belonging to the community, including through carimb\u00f3<\/em><\/a> and traditional foods.<\/p>\n

One of the students, Kaillany Sashielly Silva de Moura, 17, described what she learned.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we know it\u2019s not trash, it\u2019s waste [laughs]\u2026 The project taught us to be mindful about separating organic matter, waste and recyclables. I learned that you can make bricks with plastic and with glass. And with organic matter, you can make fertilizer for plants, biofertilizer. The part that interested me the most was the composters. Since my grandmother has plants at home, and I\u2019m also obsessed with plants, I was especially into the composters. We made about 20 composter kits and distributed them around the community. So, I kept one at home, which also helps teach people there, because many residents don\u2019t know that you can separate organics from recyclable waste.\u201d \u2014 Kaillany Sashielly Silva de Moura<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She now hopes to become a community organizer in her area, raising awareness among her family and neighbors about the importance of preserving the natural environment surrounding Vila da Barca. This was also echoed by the general coordinator of the Vila da Barca Residents\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to transform waste\u2014plastic that can no longer be recycled\u2014into bricks and, with these bricks, we\u2019re going to build green garden beds and make our contribution. There\u2019s a cooperative in Bel\u00e9m making these bricks. There are also the composters that the youth learned to make. There are some really cool hooks [to hang trash bags and prevent vectors], made from recycled materials, which [the community\u2019s youth] decorated and added messages to\u2026 We\u2019ve learned that [Bel\u00e9m] City Hall is coordinating with companies to make public equipment\u2014benches, tables, trashcans\u2014using the waste that\u2019s in the stilt house area. They\u2019re thinking of giving back to the community what was once pollution, turning it into equipment and shared spaces\u2026 and these young people are going to be multipliers. We\u2019re now trying to form another group for more youth. And before we know it, this wheel is turning, and they\u2019re transforming the world.” \u2014 Gerson Bruno<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The general coordinator emphasizes the importance of the struggle to achieve improvements for his baixada<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustainability cannot exist only at the discourse level, it needs to be part of everyday life\u2026 And we really need to get our hands dirty. While they are there, discussing in the Blue Zone, we are here, getting our hands dirty!\u201d \u2014 Gerson Bruno<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Check out the Photo Album of the Visit to Vila da Barca\u00a0on Flickr<\/a>:<\/h3>\n

\"Visita<\/a>