Saturday, April 11, 2020

Coronavirus: Brazil's favela residents organise to stop the spread

Coronavirus: Brazil's favela residents organise to stop the spread.



Life may have slowed down in recent weeks, but it certainly hasn't stopped yet in Paraisópolis, one of Sao Paulo's biggest favelas.
Residents are still running errands, and motorbikes are still weaving through traffic on the narrow, busy streets. Some shops have closed - but many are very much open, despite a state-wide quarantine. When people here live hand-to-mouth, how do you tell them to shut up shop?
Covid-19 is seen by many in favelas as a rich person's disease brought in from abroad, but as the virus spreads, they worry that the poor will suffer the most.
Gilson Rodrigues is standing on a football pitch in the middle of the favela, loudspeaker in hand. The president of Paraisópolis residents' association, he's training people to become so-called "street presidents" - volunteers who'll ensure households understand hygiene measures and the need to stay indoors.
While the middle-class are now working from home and worrying about where to source alcohol gel, residents in Paraisópolis can't afford such luxuries at all. One woman told me it cost 30 reais (£4.60; $5.70) for a small 50ml bottle. Impossible when you're out of a job.

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