Brazil, country of contrasts

Brazil is at this very moment one of the top 10 of the world economies. Unfortunately until now only a small group of people benefitted from this fact. Most Brazilians only have a small income which they earn with hardship. In the richer industry states there seems to arise a middle group comparable with those in Western Europe and North America. Especially in the North Eastern states however bitter poverty is the reality for most of the people.

Illiterate

Education is obliged for children from seven to fourteen years old. The observation of this obligation however is impossible which is the reason a lot of children don't attend school. According to the official number from the government 15 percent of the population above 15 years old is illiterate. The real number is probably higher especially in the countryside and the slums of the big cities (favellas) considering half of the inhabitants of Rio the Janeiro lives in around 1,400 slums.

In these areas the criminals and the drug mafia are in command. The authorities strike back hard and as a result on both sides more than 60,000 deaths occur each year.

The first favella came into existence in 1897. After the war against sect leader Antônio Conselheiro in the state of Bahia, a number of 20,000 soldiers ended up in Rio. While the promised housing failed to appear, they decided they would build on the hills in the centre of the city, the Morro da Providência. The military themselves called the hill Morro da Favela, and this is where the name ‘favella’ comes from. This first slum still exists, now under the name of Morro da Providência.

Street children

Brazil also is familiar with another problem: hundred of thousands of homeless children. The country has the highest percentage of homeless children in the whole world. In general nobody cares for them and they are either addicts or work as prostitutes. To keep the children out of the street scene they are often chased by dead squadrons.

The best way to get the youngsters going in this country is education. To stimulate this 1We started the project 1We-IBISS Football Playgrounds in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilians celebrate Olympics bid

Brazil is chosen as the 2016 Olympics host. Rio de Janeiro beat out Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid to become the first South American city to host the Games. "It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country”, President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva made clear during his pitch to the International Olympic Committee.

Rio also won points with an ambitious budget and new venues like the Joao Havelange Stadium, which opened for the 2007 Pan American Games. Rio's jaw-dropping natural beauty helped the city pull ahead of the competition.

The selection also had its critics in Brazil. "I don't think it's appropriate considering what our country is going through", said Orlando Pinto, a social worker. "We don't have good health services, education; we have transportation problems, housing problems, crime problems."

(Source: CNN)

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