Community Development

  • Infrastructural Development Promised For Laboriaux; Residents Anxiously Await

    Much has been written about the forced evictions and housing discrimination going on in Rio de Janeiro, but there could be some good news for residents of Laboriaux, as talk of infrastructural development has spread throughout the community. Some projects have been undertaken, but a number of these proposed projects could come to fruition within…

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  • Community Denounces Attacks Against NUTH/Public Defender’s Office

    During the morning of 29 April, 2011, the doors to the reception hall at the headquarters of the Public Defender’s Center for Land and Housing (NUTH) were closed and locked to city residents. This local government office is responsible for defending the civil and human rights of Rio de Janeiro’s resident. Reports indicate that a…

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  • Mundo Real Attends Visit By Amnesty International

    The buzz around the international community this week was Amnesty International’s official visit to Rio de Janeiro, and Mundo Real was there. After a year of researching the issue Amnesty saw it of pressing concern to come to the city to lend its support to the residents of displaced communities. Amnesty’s presence in Rio de…

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  • Community Reactions To Police Disturbance

    Rocinha Drug Raid By: William de Oliveira, Resident of Rocinha and Member of the Community Security Council ISP 23 After today’s drug raid in Rocinha, which began at 6am and ended at 3pm, I took a walk through the community, where I received complaints by community members, and business owners, regarding irregularities in the raids,…

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  • Rio’s Favelas Take A Hit

    File March 29, 2011 Background Information: The Pastoral Das Favelas, one of the leading organizations in defending the rights of Rio’s favela residents, hosts bi-monthly meetings to keep city residents abreast on developments in government efforts to evict community residents. Participants take this opportunity to share bits of information, and get a handle on what’s…

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  • A Letter to the Vice Governor

    The following is a letter from the residents of Laboriaux to city officials, cordially demanding they fulfill their obligations to the citizenry, and undertake in necessary infrastructural works in, and around, Laboriaux, and similar neighborhoods. Many of the neighborhood’s installations are in a precarious state, and continued disregard to maintenance is putting the lives of…

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  • Macega Burning

    Each person has to be filled with strength, love and courage when leaving home to help others. Residents from all around came in the middle of the flames to save the lives of others. Amid the flames, women, children, adults in Macega were crying in despair, seeing their homes turning into ashes. Everyone was waiting for…

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  • Four Years In The Real World (Mundo Real)

    Mundo Real emerged from the idea of combining our considerable experience living in Rocinha with our significant knowledge of other marginalized urban communities. Most of Mundo Real’s team was either born in these urban environments or has lived significant time in them. This organic knowledge together with years of studying urbanization, inequality, human rights, sustainable…

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  • Macega: A Community Pleading for Help

    Mundo Real has been increasingly working in the area known as Macega, which is the poorest section of Rocinha. Virtually all of Macega’s residents want to be re-settled, particularly in upper Macega where approximately 200 family reside in subhuman living conditions. Residents know they are living in an area at extreme risk of natural disaster…

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