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Rio de Janeiro is known as "the divided city"

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It is a term that was coined about the reality of Rio de Janeiro

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The revolution has already begun... I think that we

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can exist in the vision of the city, and no longer

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as a "divided city," as though the favela doesn't exist.

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We have to glue together the informal part

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of the city, to the formal part of the city,

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We have to integrate, unite.

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Because everything that comes out of the favela

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goes into the rest of the world, and that's where that concept of interconnectedness

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cannot be denied, and so I think it's also

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important for people to get connected to the fact that

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there is a lot of poverty in the world, that there's massive urbanization in the world,

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and this where the favelas are coming from. Now we have 80, 90% of our population

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living in dense urban situations, and most of these are slum situations.

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And they're growing, and they're growing...

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"Favela" is a word that's Brazilian Portuguese that represents

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communities, or shantytowns, or informal communities that have over time

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become more and more formal because of their concrete structures here in Brazil,

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but effectively there are similar places all around the world.

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Serious problems of exclusion for young people, issues around confidence and schooling,

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teaching young people that they can't rather than they can.

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Most poor people are in the favelas, most black people are in the favelas,

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most violence among young people is in the favelas,

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most lack of infrastructure is in the favelas.

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It has to be done in the favelas so that that these people, and their kids

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in the future deal with less problems than they are dealing with today.

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So I think it's about making urban centers whole

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and trying to find ways to include those excluded areas into the mainstream.

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If we have a state that's deficient in the provision of its services,

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and you have a problem in your face, what capabilities and resources

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do we have to use to turn this problem that we have into something

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that can be useful and positive for the community?

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The biggest growth of cities in the world is going to be in developing countries and for the first time

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in human history, more people are living in cities than not in cities

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and favelas are the segment of cities that are going to grow the most

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so it's very special to have this kind of innovation here and hopefully the elements and the sequencing

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that came together can be disseminated and adapted somewhere else

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to be developed, in Rio, in Brazil, and around the world.

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Rio de Janeiro has 1.4 million people living in favelas, in informal housing.

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That is 22% of the population of Rio de Janeiro.

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So it's not correct, it's not dignified that this huge number of people

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be stigmatized for living in informal housing. This is part of the history of the city.

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We have over 1020 favelas in the state of Rio de Janeiro, over 780

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within the municipal area of Rio de Janeiro, and favelas are part of the city.

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The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are at least 100 years old, the first was Providencia,

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but they grew in the middle of the last century,

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basically because of a migratory influx from Northeast Brazil, a part of Minas Gerais.

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This process also affected me, I am from the Northeast.

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That was a world that I knew well and so I increasingly

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seek to find different types of solutions.

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It is a chaotic thing, the city grows in a chaotic way

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and the communities started to manage themselves, organize the space

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in the way that they could.

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Only that the community didn't have a way to expand.

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It started to expand vertically, so the roofs of the houses served as foundations.

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Instead of expanding the house, the (roof) became the foundation for another house for another family.

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Now, to translate favela as "slum," I think is a mistake.

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When you enter the communities, you will find

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very well-structured houses, very well constructed,

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with all types of internal comfort.

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There is water, electricity, telephone, internet.

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It wouldn't be a "slum."

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It would be more like neighbourhoods that don't have public services,

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that are not regulated by the government.

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Various realities exist within the same favela, and various realities exist from favela to favela.

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Each community has its own reality.

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This favela is more than 100 years old, and if you ask someone if they want to leave here,

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they would say, "No, I don't want to leave here."

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Some favelas are associated with poverty,

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extreme poverty, as we see in Maré, Manguinhos, etc.

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Now, other favelas have social cycles

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of generations, years and years...

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I am the third generation.

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If the media shows that the resident is simply studying, developing a project,

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this does not bring a lot of attention, but if they show cases of violence, shoot outs,

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comparing a favela to a war between two countries,

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the number of deaths, this does get a lot of attention

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and the result is that it shows other countries, other people

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that it is violent here, but it's not really like this.

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Before I came to live in a favela, I used to watch soap operas when I was in Senegal.

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I saw how people were from the soap opera,

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they put the focus just on how miserable are people, how poor are people.

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So I always had an idea about the favela: favela is a place that is unsafe, that has drug dealers

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that has this criminality and so on.

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So you would never think that if you come to Brazil

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the best place to stay is in a favela.

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But when I came here I really changed my mind,

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and I used to say that whoever wants to know Brazil should come to...

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-of course, visit Ipanema, go to the other Brazilian nice places-

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but if you want to really know Brazil, you should also visit at least one favela.

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When I arrived here 20 years ago, Rio de Janeiro was a city that everyone loved for its beauty

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but it had an aspect that was obviously in decline, and this lasted for a long time.

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We got used to turning on the television to see the new tragedy Rio de Janeiro presented,

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each one more barbaric than the previous.

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And this is very connected to a question of public security

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that is much more complex, it is not only a question of

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police repression or controlling these armed domains

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but involves a series of social questions.

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Some time ago, a new security policy emerged which is the UPPs,

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the police units in the areas that before were areas dominated by gangs

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and clearly outside of the sphere of public authority in Rio.

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It is a very controversial question, the UPPs

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but from my perspective, extremely positive.

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The program has existed for four years,

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it makes it possible for the favelas to have an opening never before seen,

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at least not in the twenty years that I have lived here following this matter.

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I have the impression that before the pacification the work would have been more difficult because of the local violence.

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I think there is a certain romanticism of what drug trafficking was,

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I think that drug trafficking continues to exist.

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The mission of the UPPs- the Police Pacifying Units

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is NOT to eradicate the drug trafficking industry.

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This was never the objective.

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I think that what couldn't keep happening was the ostentatious display of weapons,

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that trivialization of laws, because we need public security here also,

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just as we have public security in the asphalt (formal city).

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I think that many problems could be avoided if the police had a different attitude,

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less warlike, less militarized, and more humanitarian.

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I think that they don't need to be so militarized, you don't need rifles up here!

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We are not in a war!

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So I think we need public security, just as we need public utilities,

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just as we need housing, and everything that any other part of the city has.

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It's every citizen's right.

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The city is passing through a moment of transformation

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and it is interesting that, regardless of the motivations,

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whether it's the Olympics, the World Cup, the oil,

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but somehow the issue of favelas has been brought to the table.

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I act where the state does not invest.

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A person from the community, that was born and raised here,

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has a different power than someone coming from the outside.

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Our greatest enemy is hunger, unstructured families,

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the lack of infrastructure, open sewage systems, the lack of water, the issues of electricity, trash...

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So I think it is a time of learning not only for communities but for NGOs as well.

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We learn a lot from them (the communities).

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I would improve the sewer system because it is leaking,

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the pot holes on the street,

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and I would put another bus stop, people have to climb Rocinha to catch the bus,

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and I would circulate more buses through Rocinha, there are very few.

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Look, something I would change is transportation, the first thing.

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And the second thing is a bank, which we don't have here.

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But transportation is the worst of all.

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Here we improvise a lot. The people improvise in order to survive.

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We have a saying here in Brazil that we sell lunch to buy dinner,

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and it is more or less this. We endure during the day so that when we arrive home,

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our families have a little more comfort.

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But tomorrow is another struggle, a battle, and this battle doesn't end.

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There are still serious human rights violations

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mainly of women and children... children that are exploited for domestic labour,

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kids that are not in school,

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and we cannot close our eyes to these situations.

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From the moment that citizenship arrives, that you pay taxes,

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you can start making demands.

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Before this was a lawless territory.

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The state didn't come, the state didn't participate.

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They knew that there were human beings here but

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they didn't treat them like humans; they treated them like trash.

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Today no, nowadays the state has a different perspective

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which is directly conditioned by NGOs and global entities that have realized

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that human beings exist here, that they are part of Rio de Janeiro.

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I always felt I was part of the city, even when there was drug trafficking,

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I never thought of myself as different from them.

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But I want them to see me as equal, as a resident of the city.

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Here you have professionals of high quality in all areas

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you have good builders, bakers, pharmacists,

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students with post-secondary education,

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there is everything in the community.

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But these people weren't given the right to feel like professionals

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because they live in a poor place.

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As soon as you live in a poor place, you are a terrible baker, a terrible builder, a terrible anything

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because you don't exist when you live in that place.

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So in the Third World, people are valued by their address, by their appearance, by their connections.

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They forget that actually you are measured by the fruits of your labour, if your labour has value or not,

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this is how you will be measured.

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Communication today, mainly through the social networks,

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is able to give us strength, we are able to mobilize

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The social networks today, for me stopped being

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an informal chat between friends or a search for people.

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I think that we can work professionally, work for a greater cause,

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a social objective, to mobilize, to prompt reflections, to provoke debates,

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shape opinions, and to construct these opportunities.

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The time is right for us to implement, within the communities and within Rio de Janeiro itself,

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a more positive view, less hostile,

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and one of individual liberty,

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so that people can have the right to realize their dreams.

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This is what it means to be a citizen.

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From the moment that you can't dream, that you can't realize your dreams, you aren't anything.

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You are a prisoner, you don't have bars,

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but the bars of poverty, oppression, prejudice, are blocking you.

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Why does living in a favela have to be a marginal life?

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Why can't we transform this place into a dignified space to live?

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The favela has culture, the favela has different ways of life, that can teach us a lot.

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There are many values in the favela,

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and the favela can stop being a problem and start being a solution.

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My life story?

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My life story, well I was born and raised in Complexo do Alemão.

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I lived my whole childhood here, it was a good childhood.

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At 14 or 15 years old, I got involved in drug trafficking

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where I used to buy food for the drug dealers, I was carrying weapons, transporting drugs.

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I spent many years in this.

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I lost my childhood, I lost friends.

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In the drug trade, I discovered literature, I discovered books.

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That's when I dedicated myself to studying again.

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I started to like books, it was a way to free myself from what was happening in the community.

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What took me out of that life was education.

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I think that we need to change the paradigm of education in Brazil.

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We have to see education as an investment in the future.

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Perhaps you or I will not see the results of this,

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but certainly my children, or my grandchildren, will live in a more just world

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if we invest in education today.

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To change this idea is very hard,

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but it is a challenge.

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In education, we need a lot more daycare centres.

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We have 4 or 5 daycare centres constructed for the community,

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but this does not meet the needs of 140,000 inhabitants.

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We only have one high school which cannot support the whole community.

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If the kid can't be a soccer player, what will he be? He needs education.

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This is the foundation of everything. As Monteiro Lobato said,

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"A country is built with men and books."

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Here our country is built with men and guns, and books are left to the side.

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For me, the main thing is education.

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it is what brought me here today.

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I am here today because of education.

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If not, only God knows where I would be today.

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The most exciting thing is to hear the stories of the students

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because of the excitement of the child.

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An example, which is so exciting! The kids have a lot of difficulty with division.

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But when the child understands division- I had a kid that fell off her chair!

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Because she was so excited, she finally understood something that didn't make sense before!

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Folks, no kidding... The child might never return to tutoring,

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but something will stay with her.

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One day I was taking my oldest son to school

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and a little girl of 4 or 5 years asked me two questions.

233
00:19:43,067 --> 00:19:45,972
The first was, "Are you a ballet teacher?"

234
00:19:45,972 --> 00:19:49,892
And the second, "And when will you give me classes?"

235
00:19:49,892 --> 00:19:52,979
And for the first time in my life I entered a favela,

236
00:19:52,979 --> 00:20:00,820
a favela full of armed people, where drug trafficking dominated the community,

237
00:20:00,820 --> 00:20:05,880
and I offered to volunteer, and I started giving classes to 12 girls.

238
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:10,537
And there were more than 100 children wanting to do ballet classes.

239
00:20:10,537 --> 00:20:16,668
So I saw that alone, I wouldn't be able to provide all that these children needed.

240
00:20:16,668 --> 00:20:22,384
These children were victims of domestic violence, exploited in child labour,

241
00:20:22,384 --> 00:20:25,553
sexual abuse, and many other violations.

242
00:20:25,553 --> 00:20:33,369
The ballet classes were a fun space for these children, but they needed much more.

243
00:20:33,369 --> 00:20:36,814
From the moment we founded the institution

244
00:20:36,814 --> 00:20:45,491
we started to broaden the support, not only for the kids but for their families and for the community.

245
00:20:45,491 --> 00:20:50,410
Usually, these extra activities are just for people who are really rich.

246
00:20:50,410 --> 00:20:57,293
So you register your kids in a swimming pool to do some swimming course,

247
00:20:57,293 --> 00:21:02,964
soccer course, volleyball course, ballet dance course,

248
00:21:02,964 --> 00:21:06,536
Imagine if poor people want to do the same, and pay. They will not be able to afford it.

249
00:21:06,536 --> 00:21:13,684
But here we let them live as they are, in the same level as every kid in the world.

250
00:21:13,684 --> 00:21:21,901
So we understand that only education can transform a person's life, regardless of where they're living,

251
00:21:21,901 --> 00:21:25,737
where they were born. What matters is where they want to go.

252
00:21:25,737 --> 00:21:32,912
We want to decrease social exclusion through these opportunities

253
00:21:32,912 --> 00:21:37,541
and for equality to be achieved through education.

254
00:21:37,541 --> 00:21:44,298
I've run a project in Morro dos Prazeres, in the Central-South Zone, for 11 years.

255
00:21:44,298 --> 00:21:46,508
It is called Colectiva Galera.com.

256
00:21:46,508 --> 00:21:51,055
It is a series of transformations. I was a dancer for many years,

257
00:21:51,055 --> 00:21:54,725
and so I started with a dance group in Prazeres.

258
00:21:54,725 --> 00:21:58,770
I didn't want to recruit talents, nothing like that,

259
00:21:58,770 --> 00:22:04,039
I wanted to use art as a dimension that is capable of making huge transformations

260
00:22:04,039 --> 00:22:07,321
in the world of these boys and girls.

261
00:22:07,321 --> 00:22:13,954
After came galera.com, which is a nucleus of audio-visual and graphic design.

262
00:22:13,954 --> 00:22:19,165
This group had great difficulty with literary expression,

263
00:22:19,165 --> 00:22:23,463
but they had an incredible visual capacity to express themselves.

264
00:22:23,463 --> 00:22:26,423
So I wanted to work with this talent that is also art,

265
00:22:26,423 --> 00:22:31,970
and be able to give them a means of expression based on their realities.

266
00:22:31,970 --> 00:22:38,562
I think the idea was to use DJing and music as a form of media, of self-expression to get the word out.

267
00:22:38,562 --> 00:22:41,063
Of course, to showcase the life in the favelas.

268
00:22:41,063 --> 00:22:45,787
I have always been about showing people the other side.

269
00:22:45,787 --> 00:22:48,622
I think the biggest thing that really upsets me,

270
00:22:48,622 --> 00:22:50,657
and why I got involved tourism as well,

271
00:22:50,657 --> 00:22:55,953
was to show the other side, to show that favelas are not these garbage pit holes

272
00:22:55,953 --> 00:23:01,375
of just crime and bad people and drug dealers and murder...

273
00:23:01,375 --> 00:23:05,464
You know after a while we get tired of this idea.

274
00:23:05,464 --> 00:23:12,800
I had a personal tragedy, I was rescuing a kid

275
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:17,975
that died in my arms because of drug trafficking

276
00:23:17,975 --> 00:23:21,619
so I wanted to do something to change the future of these youth.

277
00:23:21,619 --> 00:23:33,241
They had too much idle time, they would be a tool for the drug traffickers, or worse things.

278
00:23:33,241 --> 00:23:42,750
I matured and saw that through Jiu-Jitsu I could attract young people to my martial art.

279
00:23:42,750 --> 00:23:45,828
These kids have a different mindset today.

280
00:23:45,828 --> 00:23:54,561
No one talks about guns anymore, no one fantasizes, "I will be the best gangster in the world".

281
00:23:54,561 --> 00:23:56,192
Before it was like this.

282
00:23:56,192 --> 00:24:02,754
Now they only talk about Jiu-Jitsu, Jiu-Jitsu, Jiu-Jitsu, 24 hours a day.

283
00:24:03,062 --> 00:24:08,402
I started Luta Pela Paz (Fight For Peace) primarily to access and engage young people

284
00:24:08,402 --> 00:24:10,370
that are involved in drug trafficking.

285
00:24:10,370 --> 00:24:14,573
Rio has a serious issue with young people's involvement in armed groups

286
00:24:14,573 --> 00:24:18,744
who dominate communities like Maré.

287
00:24:18,744 --> 00:24:24,916
Unfortunately this is a problem that affects almost all favelas across the city.

288
00:24:24,916 --> 00:24:29,587
So in the beginning I think it was an instinctive response to a very tragic situation,

289
00:24:29,587 --> 00:24:31,423
and that was my instinctive response.

290
00:24:31,423 --> 00:24:37,011
I was walking in a community, I literally turned a corner and walked into a young person

291
00:24:37,011 --> 00:24:39,931
holding what I later learned was an M16

292
00:24:39,931 --> 00:24:45,703
and instead of immediately being terrified, my first thought was, what a tragedy, this is terrible

293
00:24:45,703 --> 00:24:49,286
what a waste of life for a 13-year-old to be in a sitaution like this.

294
00:24:49,286 --> 00:24:52,286
Fear definitely came later, but that was the initial response.

295
00:24:52,286 --> 00:24:55,488
So it was an instinctive response to "What can I do about this situation?"

296
00:24:55,488 --> 00:24:58,954
I had been boxing as a young person, I knew the power of boxing

297
00:24:58,954 --> 00:25:03,536
in terms of engaging and accessing young people that don't traditionally go to other sorts of projects.

298
00:25:03,536 --> 00:25:07,751
So as a first step that's what Luta Pela Paz was, it was a boxing club that had

299
00:25:07,751 --> 00:25:10,044
what was called a citizenship class at the time

300
00:25:10,044 --> 00:25:13,591
where young people would have a chance to discuss and form opinions

301
00:25:13,591 --> 00:25:16,927
and learn about cognitive thinking processes.

302
00:25:21,097 --> 00:25:27,313
We are developed as beings living in green spaces, and we feel instinctively the need

303
00:25:27,313 --> 00:25:30,036
to have more of that in cities around the world.

304
00:25:30,036 --> 00:25:36,071
I think it is very special here because it has been done by the citizens of a favela in a developing country.

305
00:25:36,071 --> 00:25:40,286
Favelas have high density, low presence of autos,

306
00:25:40,286 --> 00:25:43,244
low carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.

307
00:25:43,244 --> 00:25:46,915
If you make infrastructure better, education, health, security,

308
00:25:46,915 --> 00:25:51,796
it could be a model of sustainability for developing cities around the world.

309
00:25:51,796 --> 00:25:56,257
So I think this is the most crucial time to start working on environmental issues

310
00:25:56,257 --> 00:25:59,220
because after that they will start to become more like the formal city

311
00:25:59,220 --> 00:26:02,286
where it's really hard to change the way we live,

312
00:26:02,286 --> 00:26:07,786
so I think this is a really good opportunity to start imagining new ways to live in a city

313
00:26:07,786 --> 00:26:11,731
and live in harmony with the environment.

314
00:26:11,731 --> 00:26:14,400
So the idea here is to remove the trash.

315
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,862
The focus and philosophy of Sitiê is to "liposuction" the land,

316
00:26:17,862 --> 00:26:22,700
to remove the surface trash and dig out the trash from underneath.

317
00:26:22,700 --> 00:26:25,577
It's not like the guy who only to removes some trash and leaves.

318
00:26:25,577 --> 00:26:29,626
Our philosophy is to clean the land, to "liposuction" the land so we can plant.

319
00:26:29,626 --> 00:26:34,880
From there emerged recycling, landscaping, vegetable garden, fruits,

320
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:41,136
and later there will be environmental education, to educate the children with gardens.

321
00:26:41,136 --> 00:26:47,935
But first thing is to clean the land. We want to transform what is ugly into something beautiful.

322
00:26:47,935 --> 00:26:51,729
To transform a dump into a paradise like this one.

323
00:26:51,729 --> 00:26:56,402
Our project aims to diminish trash in the community.

324
00:26:56,402 --> 00:27:02,073
Reciclart works with dry trash, but in the beginning,

325
00:27:02,073 --> 00:27:06,286
it wasn't successful because people don't value trash, right?

326
00:27:06,286 --> 00:27:13,043
So the idea of Reciclart in 2013 is to make handbags of milk cartons

327
00:27:13,043 --> 00:27:18,799
which will be produced for the gay community, the LGBT community

328
00:27:18,799 --> 00:27:25,555
and the bags will have written phrases against prejudice, against homophobia, against violence

329
00:27:25,555 --> 00:27:29,143
and the idea is that we work with our community.

330
00:27:29,143 --> 00:27:35,816
I saw on TV that this was the dirtiest community in Rio de Janeiro.

331
00:27:35,816 --> 00:27:39,568
My friend Nivaldo and I were outraged by this.

332
00:27:39,568 --> 00:27:43,036
Caramba! We live in the dirtiest place in Rio de Janeiro

333
00:27:43,036 --> 00:27:47,995
and we aren't doing anything to change this, man?

334
00:27:47,995 --> 00:27:55,294
And so far we have changed the awareness of the people, which was our primary intention,

335
00:27:55,294 --> 00:28:02,343
to throw trash in the proper places, to start to clean the community.

336
00:28:02,343 --> 00:28:07,453
Today, we see that trash, in fact, does bring problems,

337
00:28:07,453 --> 00:28:16,649
but the whole problem is not just the trash, it's the logistics; it is what to do with the trash.

338
00:28:16,649 --> 00:28:23,120
The absence of public authority is very notable here in the community.

339
00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:27,619
We thought about it, because I am a musician and like to compose,

340
00:28:27,619 --> 00:28:33,792
I made music to raise environmental awareness, and played it on the community radios.

341
00:28:33,792 --> 00:28:41,421
People passed by, "Oh the music is playing, don't throw trash on the ground, let's throw it is in the correct place."

342
00:28:41,421 --> 00:28:45,386
People picked up the trash and threw it in the correct place.

343
00:28:45,386 --> 00:28:51,224
When there were places where people didn't hear it, we had this...

344
00:28:51,224 --> 00:28:58,454
This little sign that we tore down after the political campaign

345
00:28:58,454 --> 00:29:03,208
and we started to put these signs in the alleys of the community, saying,

346
00:29:03,208 --> 00:29:06,286
"Folks? Throw trash on the ground? NO! NO! NO!"

347
00:29:06,286 --> 00:29:11,495
It was an awesome idea, and also used recycled material.

348
00:29:11,495 --> 00:29:15,290
So if the government supported these initiatives,

349
00:29:15,290 --> 00:29:22,798
we could create healthier communities, a healthier Rio de Janeiro.

350
00:29:22,798 --> 00:29:25,717
If I had money, I would invest in this project

351
00:29:25,717 --> 00:29:30,180
because it is a project that is working, we are replicating and it is succeeding.

352
00:29:30,180 --> 00:29:34,977
And there are a lot of young people that came for the sport and are now in the Brazilian Team Selection,

353
00:29:34,977 --> 00:29:38,480
just like I am, because of the project.

354
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,161
If this project didn't believe in me, where would I be, since age 14?

355
00:29:42,161 --> 00:29:45,179
I could be in jail, I could be dead.

356
00:29:45,179 --> 00:29:48,619
And today my goal is the Olympics.

357
00:29:48,619 --> 00:29:52,494
Today, what is lacking, not only in Brazil or Rio de Janeiro,

358
00:29:52,494 --> 00:29:58,667
is the bridge between international investors and local projects.

359
00:29:58,667 --> 00:30:05,923
I think that the financial return, which is a thing that donors are worried about,

360
00:30:05,923 --> 00:30:08,426
the social impact of their investment,

361
00:30:08,426 --> 00:30:16,392
I think that for the investor, to have this guarantee of the local social project,

362
00:30:16,392 --> 00:30:19,771
this bridge, it serves as a seal of approval.

363
00:30:19,771 --> 00:30:22,148
I think the return for the investor would be greater

364
00:30:22,148 --> 00:30:25,318
by investing in a local project that bears fruits.

365
00:30:25,318 --> 00:30:33,078
You get a chance to experience these local social projects.

366
00:30:33,078 --> 00:30:42,210
Because otherwise, how would Canada, Indonesia, Thailand know about a project in Brazil? And vice versa.

367
00:30:42,210 --> 00:30:48,643
The beauty of having this local-global thing going on, is these networks. You know,

368
00:30:48,643 --> 00:30:56,119
we're all living in this kind of cyber world where we can access people and resources like that from anywhere.

369
00:30:56,119 --> 00:30:59,728
A big characteristic of this work is to form partnerships.

370
00:30:59,728 --> 00:31:05,786
We never had any support, we've worked for 11 years without... Well, support, no, we've had a lot of support.

371
00:31:05,786 --> 00:31:09,571
Many people have got involved in this, but we never had sponsors.

372
00:31:09,571 --> 00:31:14,203
So what we've accomplished is because of what we call NGIs...

373
00:31:14,203 --> 00:31:18,703
...Non-Governmental Individuals- which was a play on the term NGOs.

374
00:31:18,703 --> 00:31:24,461
It was one step above volunteering, but below the complexity of an NGO,

375
00:31:24,461 --> 00:31:29,633
and these were the NGIs, and any person that could collaborate in this way did.

376
00:31:29,633 --> 00:31:32,869
We put it all together and from there created a large mosiac

377
00:31:32,869 --> 00:31:38,140
that impacted the lives of tens and hundreds of kids throughout the years.

378
00:31:38,140 --> 00:31:43,436
There is a direct channel to talk with us here in the institution,

379
00:31:43,436 --> 00:31:48,318
you can contact us via the website and we can exchange ideas and see what is the best way to help.

380
00:31:48,318 --> 00:31:54,950
Sometimes people think that they can't help, "Oh, I don't have financial resources."

381
00:31:54,950 --> 00:32:01,289
But it goes beyond financial resources. Sometimes a letter for a child,

382
00:32:01,289 --> 00:32:06,545
volunteer work can make all the difference.

383
00:32:06,545 --> 00:32:10,755
Understand the following: people, let's not try to reinvent the wheel,

384
00:32:10,755 --> 00:32:16,517
let's see what is already happening locally and try to help these local initiatives.

385
00:32:16,517 --> 00:32:24,145
Another important thing is that the NGOs often work with the potential of the local resident.

386
00:32:24,145 --> 00:32:28,566
It is interesting, the NGOs are closer, talk more with the resident.

387
00:32:28,566 --> 00:32:32,447
The state is a little further away in this sense.

388
00:32:32,447 --> 00:32:36,699
When they develop projects, often it comes from the top down.

389
00:32:36,699 --> 00:32:40,580
The NGOs already communicate more with the local resident,

390
00:32:40,580 --> 00:32:47,294
and start to discover the ability of the resident to develop the project.

391
00:32:47,294 --> 00:32:50,213
I am not going to be able to change the world.

392
00:32:50,213 --> 00:32:58,804
But if I can do a small part for my people, that already will be doing a lot.

393
00:32:58,804 --> 00:33:06,061
Even without financial support, sponsorship, I think that the work has to proceed like this.

394
00:33:06,061 --> 00:33:11,266
And it's also around saying, "What can I do as an individual, what's that instinctive response that I can do?",

395
00:33:11,266 --> 00:33:14,819
which was my first step into Maré, "What do I understand?"

396
00:33:14,819 --> 00:33:19,574
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.

397
00:33:19,574 --> 00:33:23,351
So what should I do? Let's set up a boxing club here with a social focus.

398
00:33:23,351 --> 00:33:26,625
I'm not saying that everyone has to do a similar thing,

399
00:33:26,625 --> 00:33:32,297
but potentially they could find out another organization in communities near to them

400
00:33:32,297 --> 00:33:34,718
that need their support and need their time. It could be an hour a week.

401
00:33:34,718 --> 00:33:36,851
That makes a big difference.

402
00:33:36,851 --> 00:33:45,101
I want to take advantage of this interview, for people to hear this, and come to talk with us.

403
00:33:45,101 --> 00:33:51,608
Come to visit the projects here in the community, the goal of each project,

404
00:33:51,608 --> 00:33:58,699
sit down with us, see our proposals and what we have done without help from anyone,

405
00:33:58,699 --> 00:34:06,163
our own initiative, our outrage wanting to change our community.

406
00:34:06,163 --> 00:34:13,713
The idea of the NGIs- the Non-Governmental Individuals- is a two-way street.

407
00:34:13,713 --> 00:34:18,466
It is an affirmation of this connection, our shared values,

408
00:34:18,466 --> 00:34:21,637
greater than one-time donations which only exist for a limited time.

409
00:34:21,637 --> 00:34:24,850
We need one-time donations for sure, we always need resources

410
00:34:24,850 --> 00:34:28,812
for the ideas that are never-ending in this creative group.

411
00:34:28,812 --> 00:34:33,358
But the most interesting kind of support that can be offered

412
00:34:33,358 --> 00:34:36,570
is the visibility of their work outside of the country, outside of Rio

413
00:34:36,570 --> 00:34:40,866
outside of their own favela, and also learning about experiences from abroad.

414
00:34:40,866 --> 00:34:45,162
This exchange is the greatest benefit we can have.

415
00:34:45,162 --> 00:34:50,542
We see that there are people with the same objectives

416
00:34:50,542 --> 00:34:53,504
that need the opportunity to meet

417
00:34:53,504 --> 00:34:56,588
in order join forces and really strengthen

418
00:34:56,588 --> 00:35:01,885
what is happening in my, your, our area, and in our world.

419
00:35:01,885 --> 00:35:08,351
Something that the community, all of us are learning is the following:

420
00:35:08,351 --> 00:35:14,358
If we don't come together, there is no possibility (of success).

421
00:35:14,358 --> 00:35:18,528
Being informed and being educated, inform yourself, find out what is really going on.

422
00:35:18,528 --> 00:35:22,184
The information that you are being told on television may be real, it may not be.

423
00:35:22,184 --> 00:35:30,100
And the idea is this: it is to unite the city, to weave people together and strengthen this social network.

424
00:35:30,100 --> 00:35:35,544
I think that we can share the tools that we have,

425
00:35:35,544 --> 00:35:45,555
the expertise that we have gained here, we can replicate it in other places, in other countries, in other states.

426
00:35:45,555 --> 00:35:52,101
We've learned two fundamental points.

427
00:35:52,101 --> 00:35:57,692
First, always give a chance to the improbable.

428
00:35:57,692 --> 00:36:00,935
The improbable is not the impossible.

429
00:36:00,935 --> 00:36:08,538
Sometimes, there is possibility when we think there is none.

430
00:36:08,538 --> 00:36:12,124
Another lesson that we can pass on,

431
00:36:12,124 --> 00:36:17,545
not only for Brazil but for other communities around the world,

432
00:36:17,545 --> 00:36:21,007
is the power of outrage.

433
00:36:21,007 --> 00:36:24,719
When the human beings lose the power to become outraged,

434
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:39,526
because of human rights violations, wars, and oppression, they lose the essence of their own being.

435
00:36:39,526 --> 00:36:48,035
A person who has the power to become outraged, is moved by an energy, a force,

436
00:36:48,035 --> 00:36:57,585
to allocate resources, to mobilize people, to unite forces in order to change the situation.

437
00:36:57,585 --> 00:37:05,468
When we lose the power of outrage, things stop. The world doesn't evolve.

438
00:37:05,468 --> 00:37:10,933
This was a collective learning here in the institution.

439
00:37:10,933 --> 00:37:18,147
So the multiplication of this outrage promotes the unity of people,

440
00:37:18,147 --> 00:37:25,948
and when you can unite people for the common good, you have a huge transformative force.

441
00:37:25,948 --> 00:37:31,328
I think we are in a moment of new paradigms, the 21st century.

442
00:37:31,328 --> 00:37:35,707
What worked in the 20th century won't work anymore in the 21st century.

443
00:37:35,707 --> 00:37:41,933
What we are seeking is no longer money, it is no longer financial gain.

444
00:37:41,933 --> 00:37:46,567
I think that we are starting to find another truth.

445
00:38:18,445 --> 00:38:23,351
The right to come and go,

446
00:38:23,351 --> 00:38:26,966
the right to choose,

447
00:38:26,966 --> 00:38:32,673
freedom for children to play, to run in the streets.

448
00:38:32,673 --> 00:38:37,308
The majority of houses don't have space, don't have a yard,

449
00:38:37,308 --> 00:38:46,416
so the kids play, run, enjoy the school holidays.

450
00:38:46,416 --> 00:38:52,333
Before, at least in my time, the community did not have this freedom,

451
00:38:52,333 --> 00:39:00,233
to fly kites, to play soccer in the streets.

452
00:39:00,233 --> 00:39:05,255
These are rights.

453
00:39:05,255 --> 00:39:08,425
There are many good people here.

454
00:39:08,425 --> 00:39:16,166
The best thing inside this community is its people, our community itself.

455
00:39:16,166 --> 00:39:20,270
The sense of solidarity is very strong.

456
00:39:20,270 --> 00:39:23,814
One helps the other, a neighbour is always concerned

457
00:39:23,814 --> 00:39:28,402
about whether their neighbours have food or not.

458
00:39:28,402 --> 00:39:33,117
If there is smoke in a house, everyone worries if there is a fire,

459
00:39:33,117 --> 00:39:37,083
if someone fell asleep with a pot on the stove, if there's an iron plugged in.

460
00:39:37,083 --> 00:39:40,975
It's a sense of unity and solidarity that sometimes is missing

461
00:39:40,975 --> 00:39:43,733
in many places of the country, even in the world.

462
00:39:43,733 --> 00:39:44,014
.