Saturday, December 02, 2006

Eye on Rocinha


An article on Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, by a researcher who's been there, published in The Sun, of Midwest City, Oklahoma.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi robert, i'm a student journalist (in new york city) and i'm wondering if i could interview you for an article i'm writing on nyc squatters. (i wasn't sure how else to contact you) let me know.
thanks,
liza

rn said...

Let's talk, Liza. I hesitate to give away my email but here goes:

squattercity at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Robert:

Another squatter story from Egypt

http://voanews.com/english/mobile/displaystory.cfm?id=304521&metadataid=1270

rn said...

Thanks, anon. I particularly like this:

"Egyptian authorities have agreed to preserve some of the villagers' mud-brick homes, which are brightly-colored and have become a tourist attraction in their own right."

Save the huts, damn the people.

By the way, the VOA underplays the story. This squatter settlement, in existence for 50 years, was quite massive. Agence France Press reports that 10,000 residents are being evicted. AFP also reports this: "The murals on the houses, hotels and cafes of the [squatter] village have turned Qurna into a heritage sight in its own right, where modern craft weaves through ancient mysteries below the ground" and cites authorities as saying that between 15 and 30 of Qurna's prettier buildings will be conserved under an agreement with UNESCO.

Anonymous said...

that was a great article you linked about Rocinha. i'm going to be living there for about a year to work with two brothers foundation and teach. if you'd like to set up correspondence of any kind, please contact me

stephen dot silva at yale dot edu

Anonymous said...

I made a few interviews with people including in the process of Rocinha.

There is Dante Quinterno who founded the TV Roc, a TV station for Rocinha.

Another interview I made with the architect Toledo who is designing master plans together with the community.

Drop by - if interested - at http://www.ar2com.de/radiofavela-blog/tag/rocinha/