Favelas in the rain

It has been raining non-stop pretty much since Friday here. Although a common occurance in Michigan, in our lovely coastal city here it is not so common. Grey and rainy weather doesn't make for good picture taking (I know, I took about 20 shots today and only two came out and the quality is not really top notch either), it can make for good story telling about Bahia. In a city built like most "developing" country cities, there is a great hail-all to cement and not so much room left for open ground and vegetation. When there is more than a light sprinkel, water pools in various low laying places, runs like rivers down the street, and in favelas creates huge, resident-killing mud slides. Many favelas are built on hillsides, those areas being less desireable by people with monitary means because they are difficult to build on. One dwelling is built and sells the rights to build on their roof top, or perhaps half on the roof and half up the hillside, and POOF, here we are in a disaster waiting to happen. Last year I think I heard a number around 160 people killed by mud slides in favelas. I am sure it is actually higher than that and those are just the ones who make the news.

A room with a View

Although be it not such a sought after one. But what a view it is, of 3 lanes of traffic in each direction, full and loud at all hours of the day, complete with graffitti and guys selling bottle of water in the cement median. This hillside actually is quite clean, compared to most dwellings of this type I have seen. Usually it serves as a place to throw trash and refuse of all kinds because favela neighborhoods usually lack good sanitation service. What you can't see in this picture is the narrow staircase that goes up this steep incline to reach the houses at the top. In another 15 years or so, this hillside, or should I say steep cliff, will probably be filled with other house like structures, waiting for the next big rain to dump them all into the street in a big mudslide.

The other 70% or more

Favelas are everywhere. Over 70% of the Brasilian population lives in poverty, so I am told. Many of them probably live in places like this, small, brick, open holes for windows, built into hillsides, on top of one another, with thin little dirty alleys for streets and paths between then. This one happens to be located just a jump from a 3 lanes in each direction road promising lots of noise and pollution most of the time. Still, that would be better than living on the street, so these people are at least that lucky.