There are approximately 600 favelas in Rio alone. About 19 percent, or 1-in-5 people, live in favelas. Rio is also home to the world's biggest favela: Rocinha, which is truly something to behold. I first saw Rocinha at night when my sister and I went downtown.
What struck me the most was the stark contrast between a high-end shopping mall boasting Versace and Chanel in the foreground, and the mountain of destitution rising up in the background. Rocinha is reported to have close to 1 million inhabitants, and it is awe inspiring. To me, there is something extremely fascinating and beautiful about favelas. They are constantly moving and changing, growing and evolving, as if they are alive.
Brazil is a country overflowing with natural resources and a huge tourist potential. What holds it back are the cycles of corruption, discrimination, and lack of education that cripples the country and continues to oppress the poor. What it affects most are the children. It is heartbreaking because you want to help them; however, there are just too many.
One incident stands out in my mind. My sister and I were running on the beach. At roughly ten in the morning the intense sun was already beating down on the beach. We passed a young boy of about nine years old, asleep on the hot sand. It was obvious that he was up all night drinking cachaça—a potent alcohol derived from distilled sugar cane--and all he wore on his thin frame were some threadbare shorts.
An hour later we passed him again, and it just broke our hearts that he was lying there baking in the sun. Nobody helped him. He was an abandoned urchin without anyone looking out for his welfare. My sister roused him awake and instructed him in Portuguese to move into the shade, while I got him some coconut water. He was listless, and at such a young age, it was obvious he had given up on life, and even though it wasn't much, we wanted to offer him a moment of care and comfort.
What I realized from my time in Brazil is that there is a stark contrast in a third-world country between people who have money and the epidemic of poverty that plagues the streets.
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