Brazil’s Shanty Towns
There are Shanty towns in many countries. Basically a shanty town is made up of rudimentary, non-legal dwellings and are usually inhabited primarily by one group of people with a similar ethnic background. In Brazil, there are favelas, which are similar but there are some subtle differences.
Shanty towns in many places are the result of people who come from the outlying areas of a country and move into the larger cities. They often do so for work, and with dreams of finding a better life. They then often find themselves in a slum or a shanty town and may question that decsion.
In Brazil, the favelas came to be in a slightly different manner. They are generally from the misplaced masses of people that required a home. It is generally accepted that the first favela was started in 1897 when about 20,000 soldiers returned to Rio de Janeiro, and with no place to go they were forced to fend for themselves and start building these rough homes for a place to live. Since then the shanty towns have increased immensely, with a large number of former African slaves finding refuge in the areas. Later on there was also a contingent of European settlers to the area that were in a similar predicament and they added to the population of the favelas. In this way the favelas are quite different from shanty towns in other countries as they represent a mix of different ethnicities and backgrounds. The people in the favelas have come together more for economic reasons and by circumstance that what you would see in other places.
The shanty towns are made up of homes that are constructed with whatever is available and they are not generally sturdy buildings. Over time walkways and and tracks are formed or left open so that the inhabitants can get in and out of their homes. The shanty towns are usually located in areas that are not desirable to other people so they often are on hillsides or on poor land. For this reason they are often subject to landslides during the rainy season and can be filled with stagnant water and can have a greater likelihood of fostering disease. This is not helped by the fact that there are usually a great number of people crammed into a small area.
The favelas are notorious for crimes like prostitution and drugs. Often in an effort to somehow get ahead, the inhabitants will form into gangs and the allure of the gangs and the possibility of a better life through crime is too hard for many people to resist. Favelas are a little more developed than shanty towns in other countries as the people often respect the rules as far as carrying out crime in their own areas.
The Brazilian government has tried in vain to eliminate the favelas but they do not have the funds or the conviction to make their plans succeed. Perhaps in time they will find methods of setting up public housing and finally see the end of the shanty town in Brazil.