Now feeling confident that the whole of Brazil believes we are Brazilian, and considering that we accidently stumbled into a favela in Salvador, we dared to venture into Rocinha, the largest favela in Brazil. For those of you who have seen City Of God, you can forgive us for expecting to be ducking stray bullets, but in actual fact, the favela by day was incredibly quiet, and the people were extremely friendly and the kids were happily playing and flying their kites. We were struck by the poverty within the area, the children were subconsciously running around barefoot amongst the sewage water, that leéks through the favelas narrow streets and staircases. While some of the children begged, many others were selling pieces of art and jewellery that they had made as a means of gathering money.
... read more