In Brazil’s Favelas, Organizing Is the Difference Between Life and Death
In Brazil’s Favelas, Organizing Is the Difference Between Life and Death
The grass-roots effort to battle hunger, fake news and COVID-19 itself.
“The word ‘favela’ has not been heard from any government official,” Gilson Rodrigues, a community leader in Paraisópolis, São Paulo, said during a Facebook Live in March “We need to organize and protect ourselves” Today, it’s clear Paraisópolis rose to the challenge: The community has 420 volunteers checking on neighbors, a nearby school was retrofitted as a shelter for people to isolate with a degree of space, and even a dedicated medical team and ambulances were hired to look after the sick In favelas across Brazil, community activists and resident associations...
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