Favela – this beautiful word means slum in Portuguese. In Brazil they are located in the urban area of the big cities and were organised originally by ex-slaves, who did not have any working place and any place to live. Nowadays over 12 million people in Brazil live in favelas, most of whom in big cities. The life seems to be unbearable there – crowded, dirty, stinky place, with no sanity structure. However a survey conducted in 63 slums, in 35 cities throughout Brazil, shows that 94 percent of favela residents say they are happy, and three thirds would not leave their neighborhood if their income doubled, in spite of being strongly critical of the quality of public services provided in their communities. Here in Maceió for example the government launches some programs building houses for the people from favelas, giving them new homes for free. What do they do? They sell them and move back to favelas. Apparently they really like it.
