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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| December 5, 2004 |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Afro Reggae – Music is People Power |
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| Crowded urban living in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro |
Brazil is a country flourishing with diversity. Contrasting images of Samba carnivals, jungle trekking in the Amazon, cocktails on Copacabana beach and the protective wings of “Christ the Redeemer” presiding over the shores of Rio de Janeiro make up the global image of this famous Latin American country. However Brazil’s underground economic conflict represents one of the widest socio-economic disparities between the rich and poor of any country in the world. In large urban areas, such as Sao Paolo or Rio de Janeiro, the unequal distribution of wealth is strikingly visible. Mansions and swimming pools neighbour slums, known locally as favelas, which often have no access to running water or electricity and suffer from overcrowding and unemployment. Widespread impoverishment and the government’s inability to provide adequate social support to people in the favelas create fertile ground for violence, crime and drug addiction. |
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| Francis Silva, guest musician and ‘Father of Brazilian music in Japan,” explains the role of a community music space to participants |
Situated within walking distance of Ipanema, one of the most prosperous areas of Rio de Janeiro, the favelas, Cantagalo-Pavao-Pavaozinho are home to approximately 20,000 people. Although an extremely dangerous place for outsiders, due to gang warfare, drug trafficking and violent crime, Peace Boat took a delegation of 40 there to meet with a local NGO, Grupo Cultural Afro Reggae (GCAR or Afro Reggae). Afro Reggae is an organization which seeks to provide the youth of the favelas with alternative hope. By engaging children in productive, interesting activities and educating them about health and social issues they are able to lure them out of the violence and drug orientated world of the favelas. |
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| A lesson in the roots of Brazilian music |
The birth of Afro Reggae as an NGO was the result of the low self-esteem among the inhabitants of the favela Vigario Geral. A corrupt police force stormed into Vigario Geral on August 29, 1993 and killed 21 innocent citizens, including women and children, to avenge the death of four police officers in the area. This incident made Vigario Geral a notorious place for street crime and dangerous activity and gave the locals an even more incriminating reputation. Vigario Geral became a place to be feared. This gave way to a spiral of depression and increase in criminal activity. |
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| Glad that Capoeira is a non-contact mix of dance and defence |
That same year Afro Reggae, a band with a funky music style, began to use music as a tool for sending social messages. Like Rage Against the Machine in the United States, Afro Reggae became an unconventional, confrontational music group with a social agenda. They began to work with the youth of Vigario Geral, giving workshops on dance, percussion, garbage recycling, football, graffiti art and capoeira. Their organization now has over 100 employees, with around 520 youngsters of different favelas in Rio de Janeiro taking part in their projects. And while the NGO has changed a lot in the eleven years it has been in operation, the mission is still the same: to offer cultural and artistic training to the youth of the favelas, helping them to escape drug trafficking and unemployment, and to build a secure future. These youth set an example to the rest of the favela population. |
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| A taste of Samba |
Jaqueline is a social worker for Afro Reggae and explains the diversity of their projects, “We want boys to act as boys. Not become men with guns and drugs at the age of eight. By providing them with the space to act as children, doing something that is fun and cool and at the same time educational, we are giving them a choice. Once they join us, less than ten percent return to their old ways. Our success rate is very high, our instructors are former kids from the favelas and we have a very good relationship with the local people. I go into the homes of the street kids and talk to their families, offering them counselling based on issues of domestic violence and personal hygiene. We offer so many different projects, but music has been the best instrument to attract the youngsters to us. We now have six bands, which give public performances all over Brazil”. |
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| Learning how music, dance, circus and other groups are able to rise up from the favelas |
“The drumming helps kids to focus. They have to concentrate and work as a team to make rhythm. They form respect and listening skills as a result. It is also a form of physical exercise.” As well as a touring teenage theater group which deals with health issues such as HIV-AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), drugs and pregnancy, Afro Reggae has set up a circus troupe. “Here young people have to overcome their fears and traumas (through trapeze, rope, and acrobatics) and learn how to be a good communicator (through clowning and mime)” concludes Jaqueline.
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| Introducing the intricacies of Japanese calligraphy |
After learning about what Afro Reggae does for favela communities, Peace Boat participants joined workshops in capoeira, drumming and Samba dancing at the cultural center in Cantagalo. In recognition of their work, Peace Boat offered a traditional tea ceremony, an origami workshop as well as donating soccer balls and stationery supplies. “By doing what they are doing, Afro Reggae are giving the kids a voice, they are taking them out of their depressed upbringing, but what is amazing is the quality of their performances and the real artistic and musical talents that they have. They give a dazzling show and I am really impressed by it”, expressed one of Peace Boat’s participants as she left the favela. |
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| Finishing the night with rap, rock, reggae and a strong message of people power from local to global |
In the evening, more than four Afro Reggae bands performed in downtown Rio de Janeiro exclusively for a Peace Boat audience of over 250 people. Act after act of energetic drumming and rapping made the evening’s entertainment an outstanding success. The hyped-up crowd were infused with uncontrollable energy from Afro Reggae’s captivating performance, which served to power up their performance even more. Peace Boat left the night time lights and glamour of Brazil with Samba fever, as they watched the beautiful image of Corcovado fade into the distance along with a place they will never forget. |
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