Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful place and one of the most visited
cities in the Southern Hemisphere. It is known for its beaches, Carnival, the
Maracanã, Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain among other things. It has
just recently had the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games making it the first
South American host of these events. I recently returned to Brazil to spend
three weeks in Cidade Maravilhosa to take in the Olympic Games, but continue
some of the social action work I was involved with back in 2014. I had the
opportunity to link up with Street Child United www.streetchildunited.org (SCU) during my trip and
witness the work they have going on in the North of Rio, but also expand the
education network project that started back in Curitiba.
In March 2015 the idea of this trip first came to fruition,
following a year living in the south of Brazil, and how great it would be to
provide young people from the UK with an experience of a lifetime. I realised
the benefit of taking a step out of my comfort zone had and wanted to find a
way to create a similar opportunity for others. The execution of this idea
differed to how it was initially planned through a variety of factors prior to
Rio 2016. This was mainly driven by the media with stories such as the Zika
virus, threats of violence and terrorism creating a nervous environment.
I’ve been extremely fortunate enough to visit Rio four
times over the last couple of years, but on this occasion I spent most of my
time in the North Zone. During 2014 we would travel in to the city for a
weekend and pitch up on one of the beaches in the South Zone. Our aim was to
try and improve our futvolei ability, normally watching in awe of the Brazilian
players and to return to Curitiba with as much tan as possible.
The tourist idea of Rio de Janeiro is the neighbourhoods of
Ipanema, Copacabana and Leblon in the South Zone which is a reflection of the
usual visit to the second most populous municipality in Brazil. It is extremely
rare that Complexo do Penha, Lins de Vasconcelos or Engenhão de Dentro would
make the Lonely Planet tour guide. Just before my latest trip I read an article
from the Daily Mail that described favelas (otherwise known as shanty towns) as
a grim slum where poverty, drug gangs and young men with assault rifles dominate
life for the residents that live there. While this is not totally inaccurate,
it does not paint a fair portrayal for the entire population in these
communities in my opinion.
Rio 2016 was incredible to witness live, but also before arriving
in Brazil just watching the events, seeing the landmarks and Brazil
successfully hosting the event despite the issues added to the emotion. I saw
the highs and the lows for Team GB including Mo Farah as he made history taking
gold in the 10,000m, but also the heartbreak for Lutalo Muhammad as he lost out
on a gold medal with only one second to go in the taekwondo. During the
Olympics it felt as it you could see action happening at any given time, at one
point we turned onto Copacabana and the female triathlon was entering into the
final stages. It was surreal to see everything so close and personal, after
having watched the opening events on TV back in the UK. It feels special to
have been part of it.
My first encounter with SCU came at the Santuario da Penha
as we met up with staff members prior to a Moto Taxi across the community to
the foot of Morro do Caracol. The Moto Taxi is not my usual method of
transport, however it does give an extreme adrenaline rush as you veer through
the streets, over speed bumps and uphill. The church can be seen from the Linha
Vermelho as you depart the International airport or from the bohemian
neighbourhood of Santa Teresa. I’ve seen it many times on my visits to Rio, but
it was just the ‘church in the mist’ before I had the opportunity to visit it. At
the foot of the Morro or ‘downstairs’ as local residents referred to it you are
met by children flying kites and the Moto Taxi stop where the drivers wait for
jobs, kitted out with colourful vests reminiscent to a Football League away kit
from the 1990’s. We were met by a group of young men sitting outside on an old
sofa as we started our ascent into Chatuba. These young men were usually armed
and communicating to other members of their group via walkie talkie. As you
navigate the narrow inclines, past the stray animals and children playing among
the unfinished building work you eventually arrive at the Safe Space football
pitch developed by SCU.
There are training sessions at this facility six evenings a
week, usually thirty to forty young people from the community attend, and they
are led by Drika, Jessica and Biel. During my first session I was one of the
last players to be selected for a team, normally perceived to be a poorer
player, but maybe previous British visitors had left a lasting reputation of
our footballing ability? The opening match was noticeable as the standard was extremely
high, not just for the boys, but the girls were of equal ability if not better
than their counterparts. I had entered the field of the Street Child World Cup
2014 female champions after all… My performance for a first session exceeded my
own expectations as I dispelled the myth that Gringos couldn’t play football. I
also received the nickname of ‘Bolt’ for my athletics display, but be assured
this was only over 5m. The pitch is etched into the side of the Morro and can
be seen from the Moto Taxi spot at the foot of the community. It is a welcoming
environment and offers a stunning view of Complexo da Penha, especially as the
sun sets and the sky plays host to the latest kite fights.
I’m grateful that I have picked up the ability to
communicate in Portuguese as I feel this creates a rapport straight away,
especially given the lack of English among the group. The Geordie accent is
something that is hard to shake off, but with a Curitibano twang I was able to
get my point across and discuss the intricacies of ‘last man back’. One of the
young lads I met has been studying English for 6 months in school and was keen
to use some of what he has learnt to make small conversations. For Jhone and
the others I hope the great work that SCU do continues because these
opportunities are the inspiration for young people to excel. As Kevin Garside
put it in his piece following a visit to the project, although the Olympic
Games have ended, Street Child United will be here tomorrow. The coaches that
lead the sessions are the pinnacle of this community and I had the honour of
visiting one of their homes in Duque de Caxias for a family meal. Her story is
incredible and testimony to the opportunity SCU provide for a society left to
fend for itself. Her mother was a delight as she provided a lunch fit for
seven, although with only five turning up our guide Joe had to make up the
numbers…sweating out feijoada juice during a second helping. The hospitality of
Brazilian people is amazing and something that despite a lack of belongings,
they make up for it with heart and love.
The community is unpacified, but within it there are
schools, businesses and families living their typical daily life. As we walked
around the community we picked up a child that would join us for the remainder
of the walk and passed a number of retro arcade machines. This was not a
‘unique chance’ to see a favela with a local tour guide from the comfort of a
safari jeep. This was a routine day in the community with the exception of some
foreign guests who came looking for retro arcade games and some scrumptious
home cooked food. We were given a tour of the neighbourhood by the family and it
is almost surreal to have come from the idea of Rio de Janeiro to the reality
of everyday life. We encountered young men selling drugs, armed and with one of
them juggling a grenade. On the next street corner we passed through a crack
den that housed people dependent on the drug and came to a stop as a monkey
made an appearance much to the delight of school children trying to catch a
glimpse. The previous week there was a forty minute shootout between the drug
traffickers and police, but on this afternoon the atmosphere was without
hostility.
During my stay I had the opportunity to visit three public
schools in Lins de Vasconcelos, Penha (Vila Cruzeiro) and Engenhão de Dentro.
We hosted question and answer sessions with students which gave them the opportunity
to use their English, but also take a selfie and an autograph from a British
visitor. British tea parties, a ‘Royal’ visit and football also made up part of
the visit as well as an exchange of flags from the UK to Brazil. It was a
thought provoking trip not just for the students, but we had a number of
questions that went beyond the realms of pop culture. Students asked us how we
felt living in Europe with a higher risk of terrorist behaviour, what we
thought about the Ryan Lochte incident, whether Brexit would have a big impact
on us and although we created the game of football…how we felt visiting the
country of football.
The school run in Lins is markedly different to how it
happens in the UK as we passed the drug traffickers to enter the school area.
From the outside it looked like a youth detention centre as the school entrance
was behind a row of steel bars with televisions locked behind metal cages. This
was following a shot into the air to signal that the traffickers were open for
business. The next day we learned that there was a shootout between police and
the young men we had saw previously following our visit which was a reality
check for us about the type of life the young people we had spent the day with
lived in.
One of the driving forces in Rio de Janeiro for the
expansion of the education project has been Luciana Matos who works as an
English teacher for the local Prefeitura. I recently visited her partner school
here in North Shields to hand over the school uniform they had sent back with
me. She explained that when the children in EM Londres saw a child in the UK
wearing their uniform they felt proud to be associated and involved with this
project. At times the uniform can be a visual representation of a poor
education, but they looked at this photo with joy at seeing a child 6,000 miles
away sporting their daily attire. Following the visits the students felt very
special to have been chosen to work within this project and have the
opportunity to meet a foreign person. It was not just the students, but staff
at one of the schools would like to learn English and plans are being made to
create a group to help staff learn more spoken English so they can have a
better understanding of the project and impact on their students.
I left Rio de Janeiro with a lump in my throat, it wasn’t a
symptom of contracting the Zika virus, but with the sadness that I was about to
leave another community that was hospitable, warm and welcoming. On my last visit to
the Safe Space project we had young children following us down the spiraling staircases
to say the last goodbye. I celebrated my 27th birthday with a guard
of honour from the kids at the foot of the Morro. The entire trip is a toss up
between my legs and heart as to which muscle got the biggest work out as these type
of moments stay with you as life continues.
In November 2015, following a trip to Brazil with a group
of teachers from the UK, I realised the impact of this type of social work.
Many of the British teachers expressed their sadness at leaving Brazil because
it had a positive impact on their life as they developed relationships with
staff members in their partner school and the children that reminded them of
their own, but also partly why they were in this profession. This feeling of
‘saudade’ develops a social value and with that value it leads to productive
outcomes. One example of this is the introduction of Children’s Day in North
Tyneside which the three UK schools will link up on after being amazed in
Curitiba by the way in which they celebrated the event.
I don’t know what the next step will be, but if you had
told me in 2013 that Brazil would feature prominently in my life I wouldn’t
have believed it…but here I am.
“Like
many young people I believe I have potential to make a positive impact on the
world.” Cameron Russell
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