Just four days before the 2016 Summer Olympics are to kick off in Rio, injustice and corruption in Brazil seems to have gone from bad to worse to horrendous.
Government kickbacks. The systematic eviction of families from the city’s favelas, or slums, which are home to 1 in 7 people. And billions of dollars in infrastructure development that have padded the pockets of Rio’s rich and powerful but have left Rio’s poorest people destitute.
But amid the obvious chaos in Rio, we’re inspired by the undeniable resiliency of its people. Here are four stories from the grassroots that give us hope for Brazil’s future—no matter how these Olympic Games pan out.
Favela tourism spawns optimism
This short video by our partner fund in Brazil, Socio-Environmental Fund-CASA, shows how a local group in Rio’s largest favela is creating economic alternatives for local people that will last far beyond the Rio Olympics.
Amalia Souza, CASA’s Executive Director, says:
“This project is one solution to end on a good note and let people know they can stay at the biggest favela in Rio in great style. [It’s important to] opt to do a guided tour by the locals, leaving your support [in the community], and not take one of these safari-type tours that take jeeps up and down the favelas without letting people spend a penny locally, but rather treating local people like animals in a zoo.”
Indigenous people win against a mega-dam
Our Munduruku allies in the Amazon celebrated a victory in May when Brazil suspended construction of the country’s second largest mega dam, protecting an area the size of New York City, which is home to incredible animal and plant biodiversity, as well as 820,000 people.
Empowered citizens expose FIFA wrongs
In a Q&A during the 2014 World Cup, Amalia talked about projects CASA funded that brought some of Brazil’s best filmmakers, writers, and journalists to 16 communities to help train local people to tell their stories. The project generated publicity and protected the communities from being displaced by FIFA infrastructure projects.
Grassroots activist nominated for international prize
We learned in July that Amalia Souza, of CASA, and Artemisa Castro, of our partner fund in Mexico, the Fund for Solidarity in Action (FASOL), have been recognized for their outstanding work to advance social change in emerging market countries. Both have been nominated for the 2016 Olga Alexeeva Memorial Prize…congratulations and good luck Amalia and Artemisa!
Photo: Ninja Midia / CC NC-SA 2.0