0:00:36.608,0:00:39.229 Rio de Janeiro is known as "the divided city" 0:00:39.229,0:00:43.163 It is a term that was coined about the reality of Rio de Janeiro 0:00:44.024,0:00:46.262 The revolution has already begun... I think that we 0:00:46.262,0:00:50.037 can exist in the vision of the city, and no longer 0:00:50.037,0:00:54.182 as a "divided city," as though the favela doesn't exist. 0:00:55.049,0:00:59.160 We have to glue together the informal part 0:00:59.160,0:01:01.699 of the city, to the formal part of the city, 0:01:01.699,0:01:04.665 We have to integrate, unite. 0:01:06.226,0:01:09.064 Because everything that comes out of the favela 0:01:09.064,0:01:12.611 goes into the rest of the world, and that's where that concept of interconnectedness 0:01:12.611,0:01:17.048 cannot be denied, and so I think it's also 0:01:17.048,0:01:21.492 important for people to get connected to the fact that 0:01:21.492,0:01:24.956 there is a lot of poverty in the world, that there's massive urbanization in the world, 0:01:24.956,0:01:29.756 and this where the favelas are coming from. Now we have 80, 90% of our population 0:01:29.756,0:01:38.259 living in dense urban situations, and most of these are slum situations. 0:01:38.259,0:01:40.650 And they're growing, and they're growing... 0:01:40.743,0:01:44.434 "Favela" is a word that's Brazilian Portuguese that represents 0:01:44.434,0:01:48.979 communities, or shantytowns, or informal communities that have over time 0:01:48.979,0:01:52.315 become more and more formal because of their concrete structures here in Brazil, 0:01:52.315,0:01:57.017 but effectively there are similar places all around the world. 0:01:57.017,0:02:02.034 Serious problems of exclusion for young people, issues around confidence and schooling, 0:02:02.034,0:02:04.505 teaching young people that they can't rather than they can. 0:02:04.505,0:02:07.624 Most poor people are in the favelas, most black people are in the favelas, 0:02:07.624,0:02:10.173 most violence among young people is in the favelas, 0:02:10.173,0:02:13.128 most lack of infrastructure is in the favelas. 0:02:13.128,0:02:16.756 It has to be done in the favelas so that that these people, and their kids 0:02:16.756,0:02:20.803 in the future deal with less problems than they are dealing with today. 0:02:20.803,0:02:24.899 So I think it's about making urban centers whole 0:02:24.899,0:02:28.934 and trying to find ways to include those excluded areas into the mainstream. 0:02:28.934,0:02:32.439 If we have a state that's deficient in the provision of its services, 0:02:32.439,0:02:36.944 and you have a problem in your face, what capabilities and resources 0:02:36.944,0:02:40.955 do we have to use to turn this problem that we have into something 0:02:40.955,0:02:44.026 that can be useful and positive for the community? 0:03:21.069,0:03:25.117 The biggest growth of cities in the world is going to be in developing countries and for the first time 0:03:25.117,0:03:29.495 in human history, more people are living in cities than not in cities 0:03:29.495,0:03:32.543 and favelas are the segment of cities that are going to grow the most 0:03:32.543,0:03:37.963 so it's very special to have this kind of innovation here and hopefully the elements and the sequencing 0:03:37.963,0:03:41.101 that came together can be disseminated and adapted somewhere else 0:03:41.101,0:03:44.748 to be developed, in Rio, in Brazil, and around the world. 0:03:44.748,0:03:53.561 Rio de Janeiro has 1.4 million people living in favelas, in informal housing. 0:03:53.561,0:03:57.191 That is 22% of the population of Rio de Janeiro. 0:03:57.191,0:04:04.032 So it's not correct, it's not dignified that this huge number of people 0:04:04.032,0:04:12.873 be stigmatized for living in informal housing. This is part of the history of the city. 0:04:12.873,0:04:17.017 We have over 1020 favelas in the state of Rio de Janeiro, over 780 0:04:17.017,0:04:23.518 within the municipal area of Rio de Janeiro, and favelas are part of the city. 0:04:23.518,0:04:28.269 The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are at least 100 years old, the first was Providencia, 0:04:28.269,0:04:31.142 but they grew in the middle of the last century, 0:04:31.142,0:04:35.768 basically because of a migratory influx from Northeast Brazil, a part of Minas Gerais. 0:04:35.768,0:04:39.651 This process also affected me, I am from the Northeast. 0:04:39.651,0:04:43.238 That was a world that I knew well and so I increasingly 0:04:43.238,0:04:47.473 seek to find different types of solutions. 0:04:47.473,0:04:51.268 It is a chaotic thing, the city grows in a chaotic way 0:04:51.268,0:04:56.666 and the communities started to manage themselves, organize the space 0:04:56.666,0:05:00.419 in the way that they could. 0:05:00.419,0:05:04.392 Only that the community didn't have a way to expand. 0:05:04.392,0:05:09.838 It started to expand vertically, so the roofs of the houses served as foundations. 0:05:09.838,0:05:16.034 Instead of expanding the house, the (roof) became the foundation for another house for another family. 0:05:16.034,0:05:23.568 Now, to translate favela as "slum," I think is a mistake. 0:05:23.568,0:05:27.405 When you enter the communities, you will find 0:05:27.405,0:05:32.036 very well-structured houses, very well constructed, 0:05:32.036,0:05:37.620 with all types of internal comfort. 0:05:37.620,0:05:42.298 There is water, electricity, telephone, internet. 0:05:42.298,0:05:44.370 It wouldn't be a "slum." 0:05:44.370,0:05:48.676 It would be more like neighbourhoods that don't have public services, 0:05:48.676,0:05:54.311 that are not regulated by the government. 0:05:54.311,0:06:00.813 Various realities exist within the same favela, and various realities exist from favela to favela. 0:06:00.813,0:06:03.233 Each community has its own reality. 0:06:03.233,0:06:11.409 This favela is more than 100 years old, and if you ask someone if they want to leave here, 0:06:11.409,0:06:15.183 they would say, "No, I don't want to leave here." 0:06:15.183,0:06:21.585 Some favelas are associated with poverty, 0:06:21.585,0:06:27.507 extreme poverty, as we see in Maré, Manguinhos, etc. 0:06:27.507,0:06:32.348 Now, other favelas have social cycles 0:06:32.348,0:06:35.119 of generations, years and years... 0:06:35.119,0:06:38.670 I am the third generation. 0:06:38.670,0:06:44.147 If the media shows that the resident is simply studying, developing a project, 0:06:44.147,0:06:48.703 this does not bring a lot of attention, but if they show cases of violence, shoot outs, 0:06:48.703,0:06:54.660 comparing a favela to a war between two countries, 0:06:54.660,0:06:58.497 the number of deaths, this does get a lot of attention 0:06:58.497,0:07:03.377 and the result is that it shows other countries, other people 0:07:03.377,0:07:07.627 that it is violent here, but it's not really like this. 0:07:07.627,0:07:12.635 Before I came to live in a favela, I used to watch soap operas when I was in Senegal. 0:07:12.635,0:07:17.268 I saw how people were from the soap opera, 0:07:17.268,0:07:23.369 they put the focus just on how miserable are people, how poor are people. 0:07:23.369,0:07:29.319 So I always had an idea about the favela: favela is a place that is unsafe, that has drug dealers 0:07:29.319,0:07:33.955 that has this criminality and so on. 0:07:33.955,0:07:38.453 So you would never think that if you come to Brazil 0:07:38.453,0:07:41.703 the best place to stay is in a favela. 0:07:41.703,0:07:45.044 But when I came here I really changed my mind, 0:07:45.044,0:07:49.715 and I used to say that whoever wants to know Brazil should come to... 0:07:49.715,0:07:55.971 -of course, visit Ipanema, go to the other Brazilian nice places- 0:07:55.971,0:08:00.642 but if you want to really know Brazil, you should also visit at least one favela. 0:08:00.642,0:08:05.453 When I arrived here 20 years ago, Rio de Janeiro was a city that everyone loved for its beauty 0:08:05.453,0:08:12.455 but it had an aspect that was obviously in decline, and this lasted for a long time. 0:08:12.455,0:08:17.659 We got used to turning on the television to see the new tragedy Rio de Janeiro presented, 0:08:17.659,0:08:20.496 each one more barbaric than the previous. 0:08:20.496,0:08:23.250 And this is very connected to a question of public security 0:08:23.250,0:08:26.167 that is much more complex, it is not only a question of 0:08:26.167,0:08:30.630 police repression or controlling these armed domains 0:08:30.630,0:08:32.967 but involves a series of social questions. 0:08:32.967,0:08:38.220 Some time ago, a new security policy emerged which is the UPPs, 0:08:38.220,0:08:43.477 the police units in the areas that before were areas dominated by gangs 0:08:43.477,0:08:47.229 and clearly outside of the sphere of public authority in Rio. 0:08:47.229,0:08:50.817 It is a very controversial question, the UPPs 0:08:50.817,0:08:53.653 but from my perspective, extremely positive. 0:08:53.653,0:08:57.157 The program has existed for four years, 0:08:57.157,0:09:01.536 it makes it possible for the favelas to have an opening never before seen, 0:09:01.536,0:09:06.123 at least not in the twenty years that I have lived here following this matter. 0:09:06.123,0:09:13.554 I have the impression that before the pacification the work would have been more difficult because of the local violence. 0:09:13.554,0:09:19.554 I think there is a certain romanticism of what drug trafficking was, 0:09:19.554,0:09:23.725 I think that drug trafficking continues to exist. 0:09:23.725,0:09:28.395 The mission of the UPPs- the Police Pacifying Units 0:09:28.395,0:09:32.484 is NOT to eradicate the drug trafficking industry. 0:09:32.484,0:09:35.287 This was never the objective. 0:09:35.287,0:09:41.410 I think that what couldn't keep happening was the ostentatious display of weapons, 0:09:41.410,0:09:49.037 that trivialization of laws, because we need public security here also, 0:09:49.037,0:09:53.421 just as we have public security in the asphalt (formal city). 0:09:53.421,0:09:59.802 I think that many problems could be avoided if the police had a different attitude, 0:09:59.802,0:10:04.869 less warlike, less militarized, and more humanitarian. 0:10:04.869,0:10:10.522 I think that they don't need to be so militarized, you don't need rifles up here! 0:10:10.522,0:10:12.648 We are not in a war! 0:10:12.648,0:10:16.938 So I think we need public security, just as we need public utilities, 0:10:16.938,0:10:28.330 just as we need housing, and everything that any other part of the city has. 0:10:28.330,0:10:31.331 It's every citizen's right. 0:10:31.670,0:10:36.089 The city is passing through a moment of transformation 0:10:36.089,0:10:42.869 and it is interesting that, regardless of the motivations, 0:10:42.869,0:10:49.039 whether it's the Olympics, the World Cup, the oil, 0:10:49.039,0:10:55.567 but somehow the issue of favelas has been brought to the table. 0:10:55.567,0:11:01.322 I act where the state does not invest. 0:11:01.322,0:11:06.328 A person from the community, that was born and raised here, 0:11:06.328,0:11:09.369 has a different power than someone coming from the outside. 0:11:09.369,0:11:13.251 Our greatest enemy is hunger, unstructured families, 0:11:13.251,0:11:19.382 the lack of infrastructure, open sewage systems, the lack of water, the issues of electricity, trash... 0:11:19.382,0:11:26.139 So I think it is a time of learning not only for communities but for NGOs as well. 0:11:26.139,0:11:27.970 We learn a lot from them (the communities). 0:11:27.970,0:11:32.353 I would improve the sewer system because it is leaking, 0:11:32.353,0:11:36.316 the pot holes on the street, 0:11:36.316,0:11:43.953 and I would put another bus stop, people have to climb Rocinha to catch the bus, 0:11:43.953,0:11:48.078 and I would circulate more buses through Rocinha, there are very few. 0:11:48.078,0:11:55.710 Look, something I would change is transportation, the first thing. 0:11:55.710,0:12:01.715 And the second thing is a bank, which we don't have here. 0:12:01.715,0:12:05.596 But transportation is the worst of all. 0:12:05.596,0:12:09.514 Here we improvise a lot. The people improvise in order to survive. 0:12:09.514,0:12:14.479 We have a saying here in Brazil that we sell lunch to buy dinner, 0:12:14.479,0:12:20.025 and it is more or less this. We endure during the day so that when we arrive home, 0:12:20.025,0:12:23.571 our families have a little more comfort. 0:12:23.571,0:12:27.544 But tomorrow is another struggle, a battle, and this battle doesn't end. 0:12:27.544,0:12:31.786 There are still serious human rights violations 0:12:31.786,0:12:37.793 mainly of women and children... children that are exploited for domestic labour, 0:12:37.793,0:12:41.923 kids that are not in school, 0:12:41.923,0:12:45.886 and we cannot close our eyes to these situations. 0:12:45.886,0:12:50.639 From the moment that citizenship arrives, that you pay taxes, 0:12:50.639,0:12:52.642 you can start making demands. 0:12:52.642,0:12:55.296 Before this was a lawless territory. 0:12:55.296,0:12:57.980 The state didn't come, the state didn't participate. 0:12:57.980,0:13:00.561 They knew that there were human beings here but 0:13:00.561,0:13:03.653 they didn't treat them like humans; they treated them like trash. 0:13:03.653,0:13:06.369 Today no, nowadays the state has a different perspective 0:13:06.369,0:13:14.247 which is directly conditioned by NGOs and global entities that have realized 0:13:14.247,0:13:18.209 that human beings exist here, that they are part of Rio de Janeiro. 0:13:18.209,0:13:24.673 I always felt I was part of the city, even when there was drug trafficking, 0:13:24.673,0:13:27.134 I never thought of myself as different from them. 0:13:27.134,0:13:31.263 But I want them to see me as equal, as a resident of the city. 0:13:31.263,0:13:35.204 Here you have professionals of high quality in all areas 0:13:35.204,0:13:40.369 you have good builders, bakers, pharmacists, 0:13:40.369,0:13:43.485 students with post-secondary education, 0:13:43.485,0:13:46.077 there is everything in the community. 0:13:46.077,0:13:56.080 But these people weren't given the right to feel like professionals 0:13:56.080,0:14:01.335 because they live in a poor place. 0:14:01.335,0:14:08.953 As soon as you live in a poor place, you are a terrible baker, a terrible builder, a terrible anything 0:14:08.953,0:14:12.262 because you don't exist when you live in that place. 0:14:12.262,0:14:22.954 So in the Third World, people are valued by their address, by their appearance, by their connections. 0:14:22.954,0:14:29.155 They forget that actually you are measured by the fruits of your labour, if your labour has value or not, 0:14:29.155,0:14:30.906 this is how you will be measured. 0:14:30.906,0:14:36.453 Communication today, mainly through the social networks, 0:14:36.453,0:14:40.458 is able to give us strength, we are able to mobilize 0:14:40.458,0:14:44.680 The social networks today, for me stopped being 0:14:44.680,0:14:48.049 an informal chat between friends or a search for people. 0:14:48.049,0:14:53.120 I think that we can work professionally, work for a greater cause, 0:14:53.120,0:14:58.953 a social objective, to mobilize, to prompt reflections, to provoke debates, 0:14:58.953,0:15:05.150 shape opinions, and to construct these opportunities. 0:15:05.150,0:15:14.743 The time is right for us to implement, within the communities and within Rio de Janeiro itself, 0:15:14.743,0:15:20.373 a more positive view, less hostile, 0:15:20.373,0:15:23.418 and one of individual liberty, 0:15:23.418,0:15:26.462 so that people can have the right to realize their dreams. 0:15:26.462,0:15:28.965 This is what it means to be a citizen. 0:15:28.965,0:15:35.387 From the moment that you can't dream, that you can't realize your dreams, you aren't anything. 0:15:35.387,0:15:39.643 You are a prisoner, you don't have bars, 0:15:39.643,0:15:49.235 but the bars of poverty, oppression, prejudice, are blocking you. 0:15:49.235,0:15:54.324 Why does living in a favela have to be a marginal life? 0:15:54.324,0:15:59.204 Why can't we transform this place into a dignified space to live? 0:15:59.204,0:16:08.244 The favela has culture, the favela has different ways of life, that can teach us a lot. 0:16:08.244,0:16:11.300 There are many values in the favela, 0:16:11.300,0:16:17.191 and the favela can stop being a problem and start being a solution. 0:16:23.898,0:16:25.703 My life story? 0:16:25.703,0:16:31.108 My life story, well I was born and raised in Complexo do Alemão. 0:16:31.108,0:16:37.826 I lived my whole childhood here, it was a good childhood. 0:16:37.826,0:16:44.915 At 14 or 15 years old, I got involved in drug trafficking 0:16:44.915,0:16:51.547 where I used to buy food for the drug dealers, I was carrying weapons, transporting drugs. 0:16:51.547,0:16:55.801 I spent many years in this. 0:16:55.801,0:17:01.390 I lost my childhood, I lost friends. 0:17:01.390,0:17:08.730 In the drug trade, I discovered literature, I discovered books. 0:17:08.730,0:17:15.403 That's when I dedicated myself to studying again. 0:17:15.403,0:17:24.202 I started to like books, it was a way to free myself from what was happening in the community. 0:17:24.202,0:17:29.419 What took me out of that life was education. 0:17:29.419,0:17:34.953 I think that we need to change the paradigm of education in Brazil. 0:17:34.953,0:17:41.703 We have to see education as an investment in the future. 0:17:41.703,0:17:47.286 Perhaps you or I will not see the results of this, 0:17:47.286,0:17:53.004 but certainly my children, or my grandchildren, will live in a more just world 0:17:53.004,0:17:55.587 if we invest in education today. 0:17:55.587,0:17:59.869 To change this idea is very hard, 0:17:59.869,0:18:01.870 but it is a challenge. 0:18:01.870,0:18:05.369 In education, we need a lot more daycare centres. 0:18:05.369,0:18:10.626 We have 4 or 5 daycare centres constructed for the community, 0:18:10.626,0:18:14.504 but this does not meet the needs of 140,000 inhabitants. 0:18:14.504,0:18:21.888 We only have one high school which cannot support the whole community. 0:18:21.888,0:18:25.869 If the kid can't be a soccer player, what will he be? He needs education. 0:18:25.869,0:18:31.813 This is the foundation of everything. As Monteiro Lobato said, 0:18:31.813,0:18:35.150 "A country is built with men and books." 0:18:35.150,0:18:41.119 Here our country is built with men and guns, and books are left to the side. 0:18:41.119,0:18:45.745 For me, the main thing is education. 0:18:45.745,0:18:48.566 it is what brought me here today. 0:18:48.566,0:18:50.793 I am here today because of education. 0:18:50.793,0:18:53.439 If not, only God knows where I would be today. 0:18:55.685,0:19:00.049 The most exciting thing is to hear the stories of the students 0:19:00.049,0:19:03.304 because of the excitement of the child. 0:19:03.304,0:19:09.811 An example, which is so exciting! The kids have a lot of difficulty with division. 0:19:09.811,0:19:16.610 But when the child understands division- I had a kid that fell off her chair! 0:19:16.610,0:19:23.127 Because she was so excited, she finally understood something that didn't make sense before! 0:19:23.127,0:19:28.786 Folks, no kidding... The child might never return to tutoring, 0:19:28.786,0:19:33.376 but something will stay with her. 0:19:33.376,0:19:37.505 One day I was taking my oldest son to school 0:19:37.505,0:19:43.067 and a little girl of 4 or 5 years asked me two questions. 0:19:43.067,0:19:45.972 The first was, "Are you a ballet teacher?" 0:19:45.972,0:19:49.892 And the second, "And when will you give me classes?" 0:19:49.892,0:19:52.979 And for the first time in my life I entered a favela, 0:19:52.979,0:20:00.820 a favela full of armed people, where drug trafficking dominated the community, 0:20:00.820,0:20:05.880 and I offered to volunteer, and I started giving classes to 12 girls. 0:20:05.880,0:20:10.537 And there were more than 100 children wanting to do ballet classes. 0:20:10.537,0:20:16.668 So I saw that alone, I wouldn't be able to provide all that these children needed. 0:20:16.668,0:20:22.384 These children were victims of domestic violence, exploited in child labour, 0:20:22.384,0:20:25.553 sexual abuse, and many other violations. 0:20:25.553,0:20:33.369 The ballet classes were a fun space for these children, but they needed much more. 0:20:33.369,0:20:36.814 From the moment we founded the institution 0:20:36.814,0:20:45.491 we started to broaden the support, not only for the kids but for their families and for the community. 0:20:45.491,0:20:50.410 Usually, these extra activities are just for people who are really rich. 0:20:50.410,0:20:57.293 So you register your kids in a swimming pool to do some swimming course, 0:20:57.293,0:21:02.964 soccer course, volleyball course, ballet dance course, 0:21:02.964,0:21:06.536 Imagine if poor people want to do the same, and pay. They will not be able to afford it. 0:21:06.536,0:21:13.684 But here we let them live as they are, in the same level as every kid in the world. 0:21:13.684,0:21:21.901 So we understand that only education can transform a person's life, regardless of where they're living, 0:21:21.901,0:21:25.737 where they were born. What matters is where they want to go. 0:21:25.737,0:21:32.912 We want to decrease social exclusion through these opportunities 0:21:32.912,0:21:37.541 and for equality to be achieved through education. 0:21:37.541,0:21:44.298 I've run a project in Morro dos Prazeres, in the Central-South Zone, for 11 years. 0:21:44.298,0:21:46.508 It is called Colectiva Galera.com. 0:21:46.508,0:21:51.055 It is a series of transformations. I was a dancer for many years, 0:21:51.055,0:21:54.725 and so I started with a dance group in Prazeres. 0:21:54.725,0:21:58.770 I didn't want to recruit talents, nothing like that, 0:21:58.770,0:22:04.039 I wanted to use art as a dimension that is capable of making huge transformations 0:22:04.039,0:22:07.321 in the world of these boys and girls. 0:22:07.321,0:22:13.954 After came galera.com, which is a nucleus of audio-visual and graphic design. 0:22:13.954,0:22:19.165 This group had great difficulty with literary expression, 0:22:19.165,0:22:23.463 but they had an incredible visual capacity to express themselves. 0:22:23.463,0:22:26.423 So I wanted to work with this talent that is also art, 0:22:26.423,0:22:31.970 and be able to give them a means of expression based on their realities. 0:22:31.970,0:22:38.562 I think the idea was to use DJing and music as a form of media, of self-expression to get the word out. 0:22:38.562,0:22:41.063 Of course, to showcase the life in the favelas. 0:22:41.063,0:22:45.787 I have always been about showing people the other side. 0:22:45.787,0:22:48.622 I think the biggest thing that really upsets me, 0:22:48.622,0:22:50.657 and why I got involved tourism as well, 0:22:50.657,0:22:55.953 was to show the other side, to show that favelas are not these garbage pit holes 0:22:55.953,0:23:01.375 of just crime and bad people and drug dealers and murder... 0:23:01.375,0:23:05.464 You know after a while we get tired of this idea. 0:23:05.464,0:23:12.800 I had a personal tragedy, I was rescuing a kid 0:23:12.800,0:23:17.975 that died in my arms because of drug trafficking 0:23:17.975,0:23:21.619 so I wanted to do something to change the future of these youth. 0:23:21.619,0:23:33.241 They had too much idle time, they would be a tool for the drug traffickers, or worse things. 0:23:33.241,0:23:42.750 I matured and saw that through Jiu-Jitsu I could attract young people to my martial art. 0:23:42.750,0:23:45.828 These kids have a different mindset today. 0:23:45.828,0:23:54.561 No one talks about guns anymore, no one fantasizes, "I will be the best gangster in the world". 0:23:54.561,0:23:56.192 Before it was like this. 0:23:56.192,0:24:02.754 Now they only talk about Jiu-Jitsu, Jiu-Jitsu, Jiu-Jitsu, 24 hours a day. 0:24:03.062,0:24:08.402 I started Luta Pela Paz (Fight For Peace) primarily to access and engage young people 0:24:08.402,0:24:10.370 that are involved in drug trafficking. 0:24:10.370,0:24:14.573 Rio has a serious issue with young people's involvement in armed groups 0:24:14.573,0:24:18.744 who dominate communities like Maré. 0:24:18.744,0:24:24.916 Unfortunately this is a problem that affects almost all favelas across the city. 0:24:24.916,0:24:29.587 So in the beginning I think it was an instinctive response to a very tragic situation, 0:24:29.587,0:24:31.423 and that was my instinctive response. 0:24:31.423,0:24:37.011 I was walking in a community, I literally turned a corner and walked into a young person 0:24:37.011,0:24:39.931 holding what I later learned was an M16 0:24:39.931,0:24:45.703 and instead of immediately being terrified, my first thought was, what a tragedy, this is terrible 0:24:45.703,0:24:49.286 what a waste of life for a 13-year-old to be in a sitaution like this. 0:24:49.286,0:24:52.286 Fear definitely came later, but that was the initial response. 0:24:52.286,0:24:55.488 So it was an instinctive response to "What can I do about this situation?" 0:24:55.488,0:24:58.954 I had been boxing as a young person, I knew the power of boxing 0:24:58.954,0:25:03.536 in terms of engaging and accessing young people that don't traditionally go to other sorts of projects. 0:25:03.536,0:25:07.751 So as a first step that's what Luta Pela Paz was, it was a boxing club that had 0:25:07.751,0:25:10.044 what was called a citizenship class at the time 0:25:10.044,0:25:13.591 where young people would have a chance to discuss and form opinions 0:25:13.591,0:25:16.927 and learn about cognitive thinking processes. 0:25:21.097,0:25:27.313 We are developed as beings living in green spaces, and we feel instinctively the need 0:25:27.313,0:25:30.036 to have more of that in cities around the world. 0:25:30.036,0:25:36.071 I think it is very special here because it has been done by the citizens of a favela in a developing country. 0:25:36.071,0:25:40.286 Favelas have high density, low presence of autos, 0:25:40.286,0:25:43.244 low carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. 0:25:43.244,0:25:46.915 If you make infrastructure better, education, health, security, 0:25:46.915,0:25:51.796 it could be a model of sustainability for developing cities around the world. 0:25:51.796,0:25:56.257 So I think this is the most crucial time to start working on environmental issues 0:25:56.257,0:25:59.220 because after that they will start to become more like the formal city 0:25:59.220,0:26:02.286 where it's really hard to change the way we live, 0:26:02.286,0:26:07.786 so I think this is a really good opportunity to start imagining new ways to live in a city 0:26:07.786,0:26:11.731 and live in harmony with the environment. 0:26:11.731,0:26:14.400 So the idea here is to remove the trash. 0:26:14.400,0:26:17.862 The focus and philosophy of Sitiê is to "liposuction" the land, 0:26:17.862,0:26:22.700 to remove the surface trash and dig out the trash from underneath. 0:26:22.700,0:26:25.577 It's not like the guy who only to removes some trash and leaves. 0:26:25.577,0:26:29.626 Our philosophy is to clean the land, to "liposuction" the land so we can plant. 0:26:29.626,0:26:34.880 From there emerged recycling, landscaping, vegetable garden, fruits, 0:26:34.880,0:26:41.136 and later there will be environmental education, to educate the children with gardens. 0:26:41.136,0:26:47.935 But first thing is to clean the land. We want to transform what is ugly into something beautiful. 0:26:47.935,0:26:51.729 To transform a dump into a paradise like this one. 0:26:51.729,0:26:56.402 Our project aims to diminish trash in the community. 0:26:56.402,0:27:02.073 Reciclart works with dry trash, but in the beginning, 0:27:02.073,0:27:06.286 it wasn't successful because people don't value trash, right? 0:27:06.286,0:27:13.043 So the idea of Reciclart in 2013 is to make handbags of milk cartons 0:27:13.043,0:27:18.799 which will be produced for the gay community, the LGBT community 0:27:18.799,0:27:25.555 and the bags will have written phrases against prejudice, against homophobia, against violence 0:27:25.555,0:27:29.143 and the idea is that we work with our community. 0:27:29.143,0:27:35.816 I saw on TV that this was the dirtiest community in Rio de Janeiro. 0:27:35.816,0:27:39.568 My friend Nivaldo and I were outraged by this. 0:27:39.568,0:27:43.036 Caramba! We live in the dirtiest place in Rio de Janeiro 0:27:43.036,0:27:47.995 and we aren't doing anything to change this, man? 0:27:47.995,0:27:55.294 And so far we have changed the awareness of the people, which was our primary intention, 0:27:55.294,0:28:02.343 to throw trash in the proper places, to start to clean the community. 0:28:02.343,0:28:07.453 Today, we see that trash, in fact, does bring problems, 0:28:07.453,0:28:16.649 but the whole problem is not just the trash, it's the logistics; it is what to do with the trash. 0:28:16.649,0:28:23.120 The absence of public authority is very notable here in the community. 0:28:23.120,0:28:27.619 We thought about it, because I am a musician and like to compose, 0:28:27.619,0:28:33.792 I made music to raise environmental awareness, and played it on the community radios. 0:28:33.792,0:28:41.421 People passed by, "Oh the music is playing, don't throw trash on the ground, let's throw it is in the correct place." 0:28:41.421,0:28:45.386 People picked up the trash and threw it in the correct place. 0:28:45.386,0:28:51.224 When there were places where people didn't hear it, we had this... 0:28:51.224,0:28:58.454 This little sign that we tore down after the political campaign 0:28:58.454,0:29:03.208 and we started to put these signs in the alleys of the community, saying, 0:29:03.208,0:29:06.286 "Folks? Throw trash on the ground? NO! NO! NO!" 0:29:06.286,0:29:11.495 It was an awesome idea, and also used recycled material. 0:29:11.495,0:29:15.290 So if the government supported these initiatives, 0:29:15.290,0:29:22.798 we could create healthier communities, a healthier Rio de Janeiro. 0:29:22.798,0:29:25.717 If I had money, I would invest in this project 0:29:25.717,0:29:30.180 because it is a project that is working, we are replicating and it is succeeding. 0:29:30.180,0:29:34.977 And there are a lot of young people that came for the sport and are now in the Brazilian Team Selection, 0:29:34.977,0:29:38.480 just like I am, because of the project. 0:29:38.480,0:29:42.161 If this project didn't believe in me, where would I be, since age 14? 0:29:42.161,0:29:45.179 I could be in jail, I could be dead. 0:29:45.179,0:29:48.619 And today my goal is the Olympics. 0:29:48.619,0:29:52.494 Today, what is lacking, not only in Brazil or Rio de Janeiro, 0:29:52.494,0:29:58.667 is the bridge between international investors and local projects. 0:29:58.667,0:30:05.923 I think that the financial return, which is a thing that donors are worried about, 0:30:05.923,0:30:08.426 the social impact of their investment, 0:30:08.426,0:30:16.392 I think that for the investor, to have this guarantee of the local social project, 0:30:16.392,0:30:19.771 this bridge, it serves as a seal of approval. 0:30:19.771,0:30:22.148 I think the return for the investor would be greater 0:30:22.148,0:30:25.318 by investing in a local project that bears fruits. 0:30:25.318,0:30:33.078 You get a chance to experience these local social projects. 0:30:33.078,0:30:42.210 Because otherwise, how would Canada, Indonesia, Thailand know about a project in Brazil? And vice versa. 0:30:42.210,0:30:48.643 The beauty of having this local-global thing going on, is these networks. You know, 0:30:48.643,0:30:56.119 we're all living in this kind of cyber world where we can access people and resources like that from anywhere. 0:30:56.119,0:30:59.728 A big characteristic of this work is to form partnerships. 0:30:59.728,0:31:05.786 We never had any support, we've worked for 11 years without... Well, support, no, we've had a lot of support. 0:31:05.786,0:31:09.571 Many people have got involved in this, but we never had sponsors. 0:31:09.571,0:31:14.203 So what we've accomplished is because of what we call NGIs... 0:31:14.203,0:31:18.703 ...Non-Governmental Individuals- which was a play on the term NGOs. 0:31:18.703,0:31:24.461 It was one step above volunteering, but below the complexity of an NGO, 0:31:24.461,0:31:29.633 and these were the NGIs, and any person that could collaborate in this way did. 0:31:29.633,0:31:32.869 We put it all together and from there created a large mosiac 0:31:32.869,0:31:38.140 that impacted the lives of tens and hundreds of kids throughout the years. 0:31:38.140,0:31:43.436 There is a direct channel to talk with us here in the institution, 0:31:43.436,0:31:48.318 you can contact us via the website and we can exchange ideas and see what is the best way to help. 0:31:48.318,0:31:54.950 Sometimes people think that they can't help, "Oh, I don't have financial resources." 0:31:54.950,0:32:01.289 But it goes beyond financial resources. Sometimes a letter for a child, 0:32:01.289,0:32:06.545 volunteer work can make all the difference. 0:32:06.545,0:32:10.755 Understand the following: people, let's not try to reinvent the wheel, 0:32:10.755,0:32:16.517 let's see what is already happening locally and try to help these local initiatives. 0:32:16.517,0:32:24.145 Another important thing is that the NGOs often work with the potential of the local resident. 0:32:24.145,0:32:28.566 It is interesting, the NGOs are closer, talk more with the resident. 0:32:28.566,0:32:32.447 The state is a little further away in this sense. 0:32:32.447,0:32:36.699 When they develop projects, often it comes from the top down. 0:32:36.699,0:32:40.580 The NGOs already communicate more with the local resident, 0:32:40.580,0:32:47.294 and start to discover the ability of the resident to develop the project. 0:32:47.294,0:32:50.213 I am not going to be able to change the world. 0:32:50.213,0:32:58.804 But if I can do a small part for my people, that already will be doing a lot. 0:32:58.804,0:33:06.061 Even without financial support, sponsorship, I think that the work has to proceed like this. 0:33:06.061,0:33:11.266 And it's also around saying, "What can I do as an individual, what's that instinctive response that I can do?", 0:33:11.266,0:33:14.819 which was my first step into Maré, "What do I understand?" 0:33:14.819,0:33:19.574 Well, I know boxing, and I know that having boxed in a number of places it's a great way to talk to young people. 0:33:19.574,0:33:23.351 So what should I do? Let's set up a boxing club here with a social focus. 0:33:23.351,0:33:26.625 I'm not saying that everyone has to do a similar thing, 0:33:26.625,0:33:32.297 but potentially they could find out another organization in communities near to them 0:33:32.297,0:33:34.718 that need their support and need their time. It could be an hour a week. 0:33:34.718,0:33:36.851 That makes a big difference. 0:33:36.851,0:33:45.101 I want to take advantage of this interview, for people to hear this, and come to talk with us. 0:33:45.101,0:33:51.608 Come to visit the projects here in the community, the goal of each project, 0:33:51.608,0:33:58.699 sit down with us, see our proposals and what we have done without help from anyone, 0:33:58.699,0:34:06.163 our own initiative, our outrage wanting to change our community. 0:34:06.163,0:34:13.713 The idea of the NGIs- the Non-Governmental Individuals- is a two-way street. 0:34:13.713,0:34:18.466 It is an affirmation of this connection, our shared values, 0:34:18.466,0:34:21.637 greater than one-time donations which only exist for a limited time. 0:34:21.637,0:34:24.850 We need one-time donations for sure, we always need resources 0:34:24.850,0:34:28.812 for the ideas that are never-ending in this creative group. 0:34:28.812,0:34:33.358 But the most interesting kind of support that can be offered 0:34:33.358,0:34:36.570 is the visibility of their work outside of the country, outside of Rio 0:34:36.570,0:34:40.866 outside of their own favela, and also learning about experiences from abroad. 0:34:40.866,0:34:45.162 This exchange is the greatest benefit we can have. 0:34:45.162,0:34:50.542 We see that there are people with the same objectives 0:34:50.542,0:34:53.504 that need the opportunity to meet 0:34:53.504,0:34:56.588 in order join forces and really strengthen 0:34:56.588,0:35:01.885 what is happening in my, your, our area, and in our world. 0:35:01.885,0:35:08.351 Something that the community, all of us are learning is the following: 0:35:08.351,0:35:14.358 If we don't come together, there is no possibility (of success). 0:35:14.358,0:35:18.528 Being informed and being educated, inform yourself, find out what is really going on. 0:35:18.528,0:35:22.184 The information that you are being told on television may be real, it may not be. 0:35:22.184,0:35:30.100 And the idea is this: it is to unite the city, to weave people together and strengthen this social network. 0:35:30.100,0:35:35.544 I think that we can share the tools that we have, 0:35:35.544,0:35:45.555 the expertise that we have gained here, we can replicate it in other places, in other countries, in other states. 0:35:45.555,0:35:52.101 We've learned two fundamental points. 0:35:52.101,0:35:57.692 First, always give a chance to the improbable. 0:35:57.692,0:36:00.935 The improbable is not the impossible. 0:36:00.935,0:36:08.538 Sometimes, there is possibility when we think there is none. 0:36:08.538,0:36:12.124 Another lesson that we can pass on, 0:36:12.124,0:36:17.545 not only for Brazil but for other communities around the world, 0:36:17.545,0:36:21.007 is the power of outrage. 0:36:21.007,0:36:24.719 When the human beings lose the power to become outraged, 0:36:24.719,0:36:39.526 because of human rights violations, wars, and oppression, they lose the essence of their own being. 0:36:39.526,0:36:48.035 A person who has the power to become outraged, is moved by an energy, a force, 0:36:48.035,0:36:57.585 to allocate resources, to mobilize people, to unite forces in order to change the situation. 0:36:57.585,0:37:05.468 When we lose the power of outrage, things stop. The world doesn't evolve. 0:37:05.468,0:37:10.933 This was a collective learning here in the institution. 0:37:10.933,0:37:18.147 So the multiplication of this outrage promotes the unity of people, 0:37:18.147,0:37:25.948 and when you can unite people for the common good, you have a huge transformative force. 0:37:25.948,0:37:31.328 I think we are in a moment of new paradigms, the 21st century. 0:37:31.328,0:37:35.707 What worked in the 20th century won't work anymore in the 21st century. 0:37:35.707,0:37:41.933 What we are seeking is no longer money, it is no longer financial gain. 0:37:41.933,0:37:46.567 I think that we are starting to find another truth. 0:38:18.445,0:38:23.351 The right to come and go, 0:38:23.351,0:38:26.966 the right to choose, 0:38:26.966,0:38:32.673 freedom for children to play, to run in the streets. 0:38:32.673,0:38:37.308 The majority of houses don't have space, don't have a yard, 0:38:37.308,0:38:46.416 so the kids play, run, enjoy the school holidays. 0:38:46.416,0:38:52.333 Before, at least in my time, the community did not have this freedom, 0:38:52.333,0:39:00.233 to fly kites, to play soccer in the streets. 0:39:00.233,0:39:05.255 These are rights. 0:39:05.255,0:39:08.425 There are many good people here. 0:39:08.425,0:39:16.166 The best thing inside this community is its people, our community itself. 0:39:16.166,0:39:20.270 The sense of solidarity is very strong. 0:39:20.270,0:39:23.814 One helps the other, a neighbour is always concerned 0:39:23.814,0:39:28.402 about whether their neighbours have food or not. 0:39:28.402,0:39:33.117 If there is smoke in a house, everyone worries if there is a fire, 0:39:33.117,0:39:37.083 if someone fell asleep with a pot on the stove, if there's an iron plugged in. 0:39:37.083,0:39:40.975 It's a sense of unity and solidarity that sometimes is missing 0:39:40.975,0:39:43.733 in many places of the country, even in the world. 0:39:43.733,0:39:44.014 .