Favelas...life in the swamp and other stuff...

Today we went out to the favelas, shantytowns outside of cubatao where those who don't have the money to live in the city squat in the swamp. As you can see, they literally build their houses on stilts in the swamp. At the very end, you can't really see it well there is a fence that the government put up to prevent them from buidling out further into the swamp. We have english schools in these towns where english is taught for free. This is where me, Kerry and Sydney are helping out. We came across and couple ladies who were ranting about how the city had turned off their water so they no longer had clean water. They take old rocks, dirt, and bricks left over from construction sites all around the area and shovel them into the swamp to make solid ground eventually so their houses don't sink. Our church out here works to improve the education of the kids out here that don't have access or money to take english lessons or go to a traditional school. It's a difficult life and you don't venture into a favela after dark--a lot of drug smuggling goes on then and it becomes very dangerous. We also went and saw where I church currently is and will be. You see the sign in the picture to the right? Yes, our church meets upstairs behind that sign, with no ventilation and very little space. 'Vide em Cristo' is the name. It means life in Christ. We have a new space just purchased which needs to be renovated into a church that they will move into ASAP, because it's difficult meeting upstairs of an oil change/car mechanic business. We also help out an english school called Young's English Club (see pictures below and to left) and we went and spoke with the kids today...they were adorable, asking us what we liked to do, what our favorite food was and if Brazil was really hot for us Americans. Brazilians are very friendly and very apt to help you out with your very bad portuguese. Some understand my spanish. The spanish speakers say speaking portuguese is like speaking spanish with hot oatmeal in your mouth. The portuguese say speaking spanish is like speaking portugues with a hot potato in your mouth. We all have our ways of communicating, I like to go with speaking a mix of bad portuguese, mixed with spanish and english with a good deal of arm waving and gesturing so they know for sure I'm crazy. Our group has decided that our favorite portuguese word is "paralelapepedo" (pa-da-lel-la-pee-pee-doo). It's what they call the hexogonal shaped bricks that line their streets and we drive on. It's just a fun word! Tomorrow we continue to work in the favelas and we have church tomorrow night. I have more to tell and show you all but this entry is quite long so another time!

Below is a picture of our entire group that came down from Montana. From right to left: Garrett, Taylor, Tim, and Kerry; Sydney and I are in the front.