Favela Marcos can be found on the hillside of a city in Brazil. Migrants who had moved from the Caatinga region of Brazil invaded the land over fifteen years ago. These people were originally forced to move from the Caatinga due to their land being flooded by a hydroelectric company that created three huge reservoirs on the Sao Francisco River. Some 120 000 people were displaced by the Sobradinho Project and 40 000 by the Itaporica Project. Those who owned land were compensated and resettled, but it was the most vulnerable who suffered the most. The landless became destitute (homeless) overnight. They had no choice but to move to the city. It is mostly these people who now live in Favela Marcos.
The people of the Favela have little money and most work a twelve-hour day in hot factories for very little pay, sell craft goods in the market or water to people driving their cars into the city. Although they have very little money these people have managed to build a community within the favela. Some of the people have made improvements to the structure of their shacks and some are now able to get access to clean water. The people are still very upset about being forced off their land in the Caatinga region however they are just about to get some more bad news.
The Favela has to GO
The local council have been told by the city transport authority of plans to extend the coastal road to a two-lane route to link up the city with a new suburb over the mountain. Favela Marcos stands in the way of this development. The council authorities are concerned about the displacement of this large community, as 2,500 people will be made homeless. They have got together with some of the key members of the Favela Community to try to get funding from the World Bank. They have decided to write a letter to the World Bank to ask for money for the development of a new site and they are going to include a plan of what and how this money would be spent. You have been asked as a member of the Favela to do two things
1. Write a letter to the World Bank to ask for funding for new housing
2. If you are successful you will write a proposal to show how you would spend this money.
You must write a letter to the World Bank explaining the situation you are in and how important it is that you get this money so that you can build a new housing development for the people of the Favela
Your teacher will give you a letter frame to help you structure your letter. It is important that you make the following points within your letter
a) The problems you have faced in the past i.e. the fact that you have been forced off your land in the rural area of the Caatinga and had to move to the city (see video 1 on the web site)
b) The problems you have faced since arriving in the favela. Try to mention what it was like when you first arrived. What did you have to do when you first arrived?. What type of house could you build? What did you do for money? (Think about the work you did on building your favela)
c) What are the main problems in the favela? Think about things such as amenities which are water, electricity, sanitation (is there a proper drainage or sewage system, do you have toilets)
Somália da Silva settles into bed with six daughters (Lizandra is completely covered at lower left) while pregnant with a seventh. With only one bed in the back bedroom, the girls must sleep on a pile of blankets on the floor. The Da Silvas keep the whole family in the room furthest from the street during the night for fear of frequent stray bullets and police raids on the slum.
The Bid is successful you must now show the World Bank how
You will spend your money in the form of a Proposal.
Well done your letter was successful and the World Bank has decided to give you some funding. There are problems however as you cannot have all the money you bid for. The World Bank has decided to give you 3000 Units. This money must be spent on a new settlement but as you will soon realise you will not be able to house all the 2,500 inhabitants of the Favela. You have some tough decisions to make. The first of these is what you are going to spend your money on so you can help as many people as possible and yet provide a good quality of life for the new inhabitants.
Developments You Can Buy / Cost of each developmentBasic Plot of Land with a concrete basic house (A maximum of 8 people can live in one small plot) / 10 Units
Sanitation (Plumbing & Toilets) Per Plot / 2 Units
Water (Per Plot) / 2 Units
Electricity (Per Plot) / 4 Units
Telephone (Per Plot) / 16 Units
Dirt Track / 5 Units
Tarmac Road / 200 Units
Primary School (size of 6 basic plots) (This includes one teacher) / 1,000 Units
Health Centre (Size of 6 basic plots) (This includes a doctor) / 1,000 Units
Training Skills Centre (Size of 6 basic plots of land) / 1,000 Units
Small Industrial Unit (Size of 6 basic plots of land) / 1,000 Units
Refuse Collection Scheme (Rubbish Collection) / 60 Units
Street Lights (15 street Lights) / 50 Units
Street Lights (25 Street Lights) / 100 Units
Tree Planning Scheme (50 Trees) / 25 Units
Park / 40 Units
You must now collect a blank table from your teacher to help you work out how much money you can spend and how many people you will house. The aim is to spend all the money you will not get any marks for having lots of money left over so don’t be too mean.
This table must be neat, as it will go into your final report.
Below is an explanation of what you get for your money in terms of developments.
Basic Plot of Land (See video 3 on the web site)
This is a piece of land with a basic house that is made out of breeze blocks (Large concrete bricks). The size of the housing plots are shown on your A3 Planning sheet and you will have to think about where these go later
Remember that you cannot have more than eight people living in one of these small plots which is only 7m long and 7m wide. The house is split into three areas one for cooking, sleeping and general living space.
Amenities (Water, Sanitation & Electricity) (See video 3 on the web site)
The basic amenities are Water, Electricity and plumbing for a toilet (Sanitation). The cost is for each plot of land so if you buy 8 plots of land and wanted to provide 8 houses with water it would cost you 16 units e.g. 8 (no of plots) x 2 (Cost of water per plot) = 16 Units. The toilets must go inside the houses and it is not realistic to expect 2 houses to share one toilet in one of the houses, how would you like it if a family from next door would enter your house to use the toilet all the time?
Communications (infrastructure)
You can buy two types of road systems. A tarmac road is one road that goes straight through the Favela it is not allowed to curve as this would cost more to build. The dirt tracks can go any way you want them to go. (A dirt track is like the one the drive that is outside St Ursulas)
Telephones can be bought but are in the form of pay phones
Education Centre (Size = 6 plots of land) (See video 4 on the web site)
The education centre is basic and consists of two large rooms with tables where the children will be able to work. Resources for the school will be lacking. Books will be scarce but there will be a full time teacher at the school who is working for a charity organisation called VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) this is a two year post. (Electricity, Water and Sanitation is connected to this building)
Training Skills Centre (Size = 6 plots of land) (See video 4 on the web site)
The skills centre will focus on training people to become plumbers, builders, electricians, and mechanics. The equipment is very basic, there are no computers. This will be run by a charity worker from Oxfam. The focus of the training will be using local knowledge already gained from work already done in favela Marcos. The training will be of use to the new development as trainees will work on the housing development.
Health Centre (Size = 6 plots of land) (see video 4 on the web site)
Many people can not afford hospital care or health care insurance. The centre will give very basic medical care to the community. A trained doctor will visit the centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. There will be a chance for children to be inoculated from childhood diseases that have killed many children in the past.
Specialist clinics will be set up for groups such as mothers and babies, people with HIV and Aids, General Health Advice e.g. diet and how to stay healthy.
Small Industrial Units (Size = 6 plots of land) (See video 4 on the web site)
In the old favela many people had their own workshops working from the refuse found in and around the favela. People would sell old radios and TV’s they had found abandoned and then using their skills repair them. This was one of the main sources of income for the old favela and allowed people to become more self sufficient and as a result improve their homes and standard of living. These small scale businesses were very economic and also environmentally friendly in terms of recycling refuse from the favela.
Refuse collection scheme. (Size of two plots)
One of the problems the old favela encountered was that it wasn’t planned from the start and as a consequence there were no major roads for refuse collection to take place. The new housing development will allow for a refuse collection point. Residents will have to take their own refuse to a location chosen by you the developer and then it will be collected once a week.
Street Lights
Two schemes exist
- 15 street lights for the favela at a cost of 50 Units
2. 25 street lights at a cost of 100 units (reason for it being more expensive for more is due to the type of cables that a larger network would require) It is not possible to buy two lots of 15 street lights so don’t even try it.
Tree Planting Scheme
50 trees can be purchased at a cost of 25 units. These trees can be planted any where you want them to go on the site.
Park
A landscaped park can be developed on the site this will consist of an area of grass with a football pitch and will take up the space of 12 plots of land.
The World Bank Headquarters1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433 U.S.A.
tel: (202) 477-1234
fax: (202) 477-6391 / Date:
Re:Application for Funding
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to ask for funding for a new housing development. I currently live in a
shack in Favela Marcos in Brazil and the government plans to build a road through my Favela. This will
mean that
This is the second time in my life that I have had to move. The first was ten years ago when I was
forced to move due to
When I first arrived at the Favela life was very hard I had to
Today the Favela still has many problems, firstly,
Secondly,
Furthermore,
I feel we should be granted funding from the world bank because
Yours sincerely
(Units) / No Bought / Total Cost / No housed
Basic Plot of Land / 10 / 100 / 1000 / 800
Sanitation (per Plot) / 2
Total Cost of New Settlement (Must not exceed 3000)
Presentation: Your report can be word processed or hand written. You must include your A3 plan, table of costs and your letter to the World Bank for funding must be attached.
Structure:
1. A brief introduction to your scheme
2. Your A3 Plan
3. The table of schemes bought
4. What you bought and why (Justification)
5. What are the major problems with your scheme (Evaluation)
6. How you think the community will benefit through your scheme and how do you see the future for the new development. What would you have done differently if you did this again? (Evaluation of schemes)
Please note that this development is not a new Favela it is a new development. Favela’s are created due to land invasion and then people arriving later on. The site is never planned and is not owned by the residents. Your new housing development is owned by the residents and as a result there can be no enforced land clearances or selling off of land. IT IS NOT ANOTHER SHANTY TOWN/FAVELA.