Cartography of the favelas of Recife

Abril, 2011 Shine a Light

About the proposal Titie Country, city Duration Total Cost Monies requested from BvLF Other resources About the organization Complete name Nombre y puesto de quien firma por parte de la organizacin Nombre y puesto de quien es enlace para esta propuesta Numero(s) telefnica(s) Numero(s) de fax Correo(s) electrnico(s) Sitio Web I. Key Problem

Favela Cartography Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil 12 0 Shine a Light (SAL) Kurt Shaw, Diretor Executivo, SAL Kurt Shaw, Diretor Executivo, SAL 1 505 349 5825. 55 48 3237 2404 kgshaw@shinealight.org www.shinealight.org

A city with a wealth of culture and violence

Three factors characterize Recife, Brazil: an extraordinary wealth of cultural traditions, one of the most extreme indices of inequality in the world, and the highest per capita murder rate in Brazil. While major state investments have reduced violence in some areas, the city-wide homicide rate continues around 70/100,000, and in some favelas (Arruda, Campo Grande, Cho de Estrelas), the situation has actually become worse in recent years. Though hundreds of culture groups work to organize the community especially during carnaval few coordinated projects have attempted to use their insertion in the culture of the favelas in order to reduce violence. The rich civil society of the city is as broken as the map of its favelas, and few organizations have been able to develop effective tools to reduce violence. In order to provide the tools by which the Bernard Van Leer Foundation can develop a strategy to reduce domestic and gang violence, Shine a Light proposes an extensive Cartography of violent and peaceful civil society in the most critical favelas of Recife and Olinda.

II. Anlisis of causes Exclusion of knowledge from the favela

Most observers whether academic, civil society, governmental, or within the favelas agree that three root causes lie at the base of the high levels of violence in Recife. 1. Extreme levels of social and economic inequality: The collapse of the sugar economy forced hundreds of thousands of poor sharecroppers into the city in the 1950s, and the industrial collapse of the 1970s and 80s eliminated the jobs that had sustained a working class. In 2006, the UN declared Recife the second most unequal city in the world, after Luanda. 2. Invisibility and social exclusion: The city has literally built walls around favelas already constructed on mangrove swamps. In this context, guns serve as a way to demand recognition, even if a negative one. 3. A system of values based on ideas of reciprocity and moral debt. As this value system has adapted itself to capitalism, one often hears the phrase If you cant re-pay with money, you pay with your life. These values intersect with a history, emerging first from slavery and then from many rural feuds and rebellions, that shows that violence is a privileged form of solving conflicts and expressing masculinity. Cartography of the Favela April, 2011 Page 2 de 9

These root causes then manifest themselves in four proximate causes for the current gangrelated and domestic violence that plagues the city: 1. Drug trafficking, requiring wars to conquer and secure points of sale and territory, has become an important economic activity in many favelas 2. The state has largely abandoned these favelas without public services, giving inhabitants an extreme distrust of the government and its institutions 3. Inhabitants in the favelas come as economic refugees from many different regions of the Northeastern backlands, leaving them without the local institutions which had provided other modes of conflict resolution 4. Many people have come to see themselves only as victims, and sometimes, perversely, as victims who deserve their suffering. This dynamic creates distrust among people and institutions and impedes community organization.

III. Current actors Though the basic proposal of this Cartography is to map civil society actors in key favelas of Recife, from NGOs to cultural groups, businesses to gangs, and state interventions, certain peace-building initiatives will serve as referentes for our work. 1. The Alto Z do Pinho and the Morro da Conceio, where musical and artistic groupings from maracatus and capoeira groups to hip-hop bands and artsand-crafts cooperatives organize the social life of the community, provide safe spaces for internal conflict resolution, and mediate community interests with the state, obviating the need for gangs as a social institution. 2. The Ilha de Deus, where musical groups from the Ilha and other favelas, as well as invited artists, play a free concert, while adult and childrens dance groups also perform. Local people sell food, art, and crafts, bringing an important income stream into the community. 3. The Ato Perifrico Cooperative, where a dozen groups now record at the studio, record sales and performances bring in a good income for the artists, and more than 100 kids take singing and dancing lessons, reducing homicide rates to almost zero in Agua Fra. 4. P no Chos tireless work to get local and international recognition for young artists from the favelas has developed a new group of community leaders and reduced the leadership capacity in the gangs. Boys drawn to gangs are often the most driven, committed, and intelligent, but they see gangs as the only alternative to get what they want for themselves and their families. Addressing the needs of these boys (and a smaller number of girls) has an inordinate impact on violence and crime. 5. Break-battles: In Brazils northeast, violence and culture have long mixed, whether in the capoeira gangs of the early 20th century, the wars between rural maracatus that ended only a few decades ago, or the current funk-gang wars, where insulting song lyrics set off wars for territory. The break battle (and similar phenomena in the cultures of capoeira and repente) uses the language and structure of battle without blood or death, transforming violence into something productive and beautiful. IV. Outcomes Written, oral, and visual documentation of research on civil society resistance to violence (domestic and gang), so that the Van Leer Foundation can create a strategy to leverage the cultural wealth and the strength of grass-roots civil society toward the goal of reducing violence against children in Recife.

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V. Strategy and Activities Shine a Light will create an eight-member team of researchers (two professionals, six young men and women from the studied communities) to map social actors in the favelas of Santo Amaro, Salgadinho, Xi, Campo Grande, Joo de Barros, Arruda, Cho de Estrelas, and Peixinhos, a crescent moon of the most critical favelas in Recife. 1. Descriptive cartography (What, where, and who) A. Locations and descriptions of civil society organizations; i. NGOs, their models, range of action, strengths, and weaknesses ii. Cultural groups (maracatus, caboclinhos, capoeira groups, hip hop, etc) iii. Community leaders acting independently iv. Sports organizations, fields, etc v. Community creches, day care centers, tutors, etc vi. Schools vii. Government programs (health centers, cultural centers, etc) viii. Businesses within the favela B. Key points of violence, conflict, and trafficking, Gang territoriality, expansion, etc. Homicide rates by region (and if possible, by cause) C. Mapping resource flows i. Analysis of income to families in the favelas (monetary and intangible resources) ii. Analysis of income into the drug trade (monetary and intangible resources) iii. Analysis of information flows in and out of the community iv. Perceptions of children and adults who inhabitants in the favelas on the virtues problems and consequences of each of these resource flows (from drugs, legal economy, NGOs, government, etc) D. Video and photos of the community in question, showing the geography and feel of the community 2. Evaluative cartography (How and why) A. Interviews with key actors around children and violence State and city government 1. Police officers and leaders, community police liaisons 2. Members of Conselhos Tutelares and Conselhos de Direitos 3. Policy-makers on issues of children and violence 4. Policy-makers on issues of culture 5. Civil servants and favela inhabitants involved in Community Budgeting program 6. perceptions of children and parents about government interventions Civil society leaders 1. NGO directors and educators 2. Cultural groups (maracatus, capoeira groups, cabolcinhos, break-dance) 3. Religious leaders (terreiros de camdombl, pastors, priests) 4. Independent community leaders B. Documentation of local successes i. Documentary films on several communities, organizations, and individuals who have succeeded in reducing violence ii. Written reflection on why and how these changes came about,
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with reference for other organizations C. Understanding the social and monetary economics of the drug trade i. Interview gang members to discover the motivations for joining the gang, the income and benefits at different levels of power and authority, and their hopes for the community. ii. Interviews with other actors in the trade: girlfriends, mothers and fathers, buyers, etc. iii. analysis of motivations of buyers, economic class, why he became a user and how this decision changed life. iv. Ask the same question of civil society leaders who grew up in the favela. Why did they choose the path they did? v. Suggest strategies to transform material and immaterial resource flows in poor communities as a response to these answers.

VI. OUTPUTS 1. Interactive map of the favelas of Santo Amaro, Salgadinho, Xi, Campo Grande, Joo de Barros, Arruda, Cho de Estrelas, and Peixinhos, showing elements described in part V.1. a. Map developed in Flash, so that one can zoom in on a region with a click, get a description of a place with another click, and move quickly from details of one favela to those of another. b. ideas from part V.1.D. integrated into the map for easy reference 2. Monograph describing the dynamics of violence in Recife, examining causes, and studying successes as a way to develop new strategies for change. a. Proposals for peace-making intiatives from local leaders, government actors, inhabitants of the favelas, gang leaders, and other interested groups. b. Interactive links to videos from VI.1 and VI.3 c. Results of evaluative cartography (part V.2) 3. Digital workshop with films made during the research and researh results in visual, interactive format 4. Confidential report to the Van Leer Foundation on the success and effectiveness of different NGOs, strategies, etc. VII. Montoring and Evaluation
As a short-term research project, the Cartography of the Favela does not lend itself to many tradicional evaluation strategies. It should be evaluated on the quality of the research and the outputs.

VIII. Institucional Capacity a. Profile Shine a Light 1997 Shine a Light brings organizations the tools they need to share their
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Founded Mission
Cartography of the Favela

Vision Institucional principles Staff % women Responsable to whom? Strategic plan? Themes Professional capacity Awards

Material poduced

experiences, opens the space where marginalized children can use their creativity and knowledge to change the world, and helps connect people from all over the world with children and activists from Latin America. Shine a Light: Bringing popular education and social movements into the digital age. Respect for the diversity of knowledge, solidarity with marginalized communities, just production and distribution of intellectual capital. 2 full time, 5 part time 50% Board of directors, donors (indivdual and institutional), members of the SAL network yes Digital Arts (cinema, photography, comix, websites), training, evaluation, knowledge-sharing, public policy Digital Arts (cinema, photography, comix, websites), training, evaluation, knowledge-sharing, public policy Anthrpology, popular education, philosophy, translation, networking. Freedom to Create Prize, 2008. Wenner Gren Fellowship, 2006. Harvard University First Decade Award, 2007. Numerous films recognized at Festivals. CineCufa Featured film producer, 2009. Irmgard Coninx Stifftung Reframing Human Rights, 2005 Digital Workshops: 1. The School out of Place 2. Stalel Stuk 3. Murgancia 4. Diverse Families (2 DVDs) 5. Africa on the Street 6. City of Rhyme 7. Ato do Cu 8. Trenches of Peace 9. Working with Words 10. Lifes Roulette 11. Young Researchers 12. Sliba Project Books: 1. Toward a General Theory of the Street 2. Agony Street 3. KidVid and Education 4. The Trenches of Peace 5. Overcoming Performance 6. The Flooded Plain Latin American Network for Childrens Rights. Network for Childrens Rights in Mexico. Territorios Solidarios. Irmgard Coninx Roundtables. Anthropology of Children. And SAL coorindates a network of 300 NGOs working with
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Networks

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marginalized children. b. Internal structure The Board of Directors makes all strategic decisions (budget, project planning), and these policies are then implemented by two directors. NGO members of the network propose projects, digital workshops, and policy interventions. c. Leadership Shine a Light aims to help all social actors become autonomous, collaborative protagonists, from child street artists to members of our Board. Our leadership and pedagogical styles are both based on the epistemological privelege of the social subject, and then bringing this knowledge into contact with educators and professional intellectuals. d. Childrens Rights We believe that every person is a social protagonist and an agent of change from the moment of his or her birth. As with all people, childrens ideas and desires must be respected, even as like other people they must negotiate their rights and duties within the broaders society and other social actors with whom they interact. We believe that childrens rights mean just relationships with children, offering care and love, as well as collective public goods like health care, food, education, etc, while also recognizing childrens tremendous capacity as social agents. e. Most relevant projects Project Digital Aymara Description After the privatization of the Bolivian mining industry in 1985, poverty and oppression forced a flood of indigenous peasants into shantytowns on the margins of Bolivia's cities. Children in these communities face high risks of homelessness, drug abuse, gang involvement, prostitution, and starvation. Though the new government has tried to democratize public services, their schools are weak; electricity, water, and sewer seldom come to the shantytowns; and they face discrimination when they apply for work or confront the police. During our long work in the favelas of Recife, Shine a Light worked with a dozen young rappers to create a hip-hop album against violence. The group also filmed a feature length documentary about the process, so that others could learn from their proposals for social change through art. Though more than two million Results Shine a Light developed a telenovela with children and adolescents from the shantytowns of El Alto, above La Paz. The group created a 25 episode series that was of Duch quality that it is now being show non Bolivian nacional television. The project was also recognized as a finalist in the Freedom to Creat Prize, given to the best child artists in the world working for human rights.

City of Rhyme

Winner of the Freedom to Create Prize, 2008. Film shown in festivals on three continents. Shows by the group in England, Austria, France, Italy, and the US. 5 members of the group are now professional artists. In 2005, thee Department of
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The

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School out of Place

victims of the Colombian Civil war many of them children have sought refuge in Bogot, the school system was never reformed to receive these students. Collabrating with the Colombian NGO Taller de Vida, Shine Light created the Digital Workshop The School out of Place as a model for school reform for deplaced students. The Workshop includes a documentary made by three displaced teenagers where they reflect on their school experiences, four hours of interview with educational experts, pedagogical activities for educators and students, and lessons on best practices.

Education in Bogot adopted the Digital Workshop as the model for school reform, impacting the lives of almost a million students. After being translated into English, the Workshop was used in schools in Entebbe and Kampala, Uganda, as well as on the Rwandan Border, to transform education for refugees. A 2006 evaluation by a team from Princeton University found that the NGOs that receieved the Woskshop used it to modify their pedagogical practices and believed it was very important for their work.

f. Monitoring and Evaluation In 2006, a Princeton University evaluation showed that SALs Digital Workshops were a powerful tool for exchanging information and best practices while also offereding ideas since implemented for improving them. Evaluation available on request. Other external evaluations for Pibe Quijote Project (2007) and Digital Aymara (2009). Shine a Light is currently engaged in a long term evaulation of our work over the last ten years, looking at both the impact on participating children and on collaborating institutions. SALs annual reports are available at http://www.shinealight.org/AnnualReports.html. g. Achievements in knowledge development Knowledge building and distribution is Shine a Lights greatest strength. Our website is one of the worlds largest resources on child protagonism, popular education, and overcoming social exclusion, and our books and Digital Workshops have become references for academics, NGOs, and policy makers in as many as ten languages. SALs academic director, Dr. Rita da Silva, is a respected as one of the major innovators in the anthropology of childhood in Latin America, while the SALs Executive Director is regularly invited to speak academic and activist conferences, universities, and policy fora. h. Public policy interventions Besides the school reform in Bogot, SAL models have been adopted as the basis for the Uruguayan governments reform of its child and family policy (2005), and the policies of many cities on street children (Recife, Pereira, Crdoba, Mendoza, among others). Shine a Light is currently collaborating with the Paraguayan government to develop policies for a new, protagonistic relationship between children and the state. Preliminary results of our long term evaluation show that 63% of NGOs with which we have collaborated have leveraged our Digital Workshops into public policy reform. i. Budget History Yea Budg Sources % dedicated to
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r 201 0 200 9 200 8 200 7 200 6 200 5 200 4

et 106, 251 61,2 72 54,9 00 47,7 00 32,3 00 23,8 00 26,1 00 ArtVenture, Lupin Foundation, Prize Money, Individual Donors, eBay, Van Leer Foundation, First Fruits ArtVenture, Lupin Foundation, Prize Money, Individual Donors, eBay ArtVenture, Lupin Foundation, Prize Money, Individual Donors ArtVenture, Lupin Foundation, Individual Donors Lupin Foundation, Lurcy Trust, Individual Donors Lupin Foundation, Lurcy Trust, Individual Donors Lupin Foundation, Lurcy Trust, Individual Donors

0-8 years old 40% 35% 30% 30% 30% 30% 30%

j. Administration Shine a Light maintains strict controls over incomes and expenses. The Executive Director confirms that all expenses fall within the detailed annual budget approved by the Board of Directors, and if any costs fall outside of guidelines, the Board must address them. Next, expenses are monotored by the Treasurer of the Board of Directors, a lawyer and the Assistant Attorney General for the State of Massachussets for Consumer Affairs. The accountants Schwartz and Schwartz of Woburn, Mass. oversee all finances and compile financial documents for the American government. Finally, the Board of Directors monitors every expense. Shine a Light has never had a problem with adminstration nor with finances. IX. PRESUPUESTO Aqu pedimos que llenen el formato de presupuesto. Tambin pedimos que expliquen el presupuesto en forma narrativa desglosando de una forma transparente. a. Narrativo de presupuesto

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