Working-class neighborhoods feeldivision of the Olympics

Delmo de Oliveira was the last holdout of a favela that once was home to 3,000 families called Vila Autodromo in Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Jonathan Newton, The Washington Post

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - As crowds cheer, Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps

glides through another race. In another competition, gymnast Simone Biles does a

breathtaking handspring. However, yards away, there are no cheering crowds. A single

favela practically leans against the Olympic Park. The broken down shack is one of just a

few left of a fishing village that was bulldozed to make room for the Rio Games.

The International Broadcast Center casts a shadow on the tilting sheet metal roof of Delmo

de Oliveira's family favela, directly across the parking lot. International Olympic Committee

(IOC) members enjoy prime seating and dine on a salary of $450 a day, while the Brazilian

minimum wage is just $228 a month.

By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.10.16

Word Count 789

Affordable Places To Live

The first favelas were built in the late 1800s by soldiers who needed a place to live. Over

the years, former enslaved people of African descent moved into them. In the 1970s, more

were built by Brazilians who left the countryside in Brazil and moved to cities in search of

work. Shacks like those on the outer edges of Rio were the only places low-income people

could afford to live.

The Vila Autodromo favela was once a working-class neighborhood of 3,000 residents.

Now all that is left is the Olympic parking lot and 20 tiny white cottages. The cottages were

built grudgingly by the city for families who refused to leave even when their homes were

demolished.

Most of the other 800 families who used to live here moved to public housing. Maria Da

Penha Macena did not move. She and her family once had a three-story home with a fruit

tree garden. De Oliveira also stayed. He won a hard-fought legal order prohibiting his

favela from being pulled down, though he does not live in it anymore. He says he has left it

up as a "symbol."

Years Of Effort And Saving

Most favelas have been in their owners' families for a few generations. De Oliveira built his

home on top of his mother's. People worked and saved for years for the money to buy

ochre bricks, small sacks of cement and wavy sheet metal to gradually build their own

homes by hand.

About one-fourth of Rio de Janeiro's population lives in favelas. In spite of their shanty-like

appearance, these homes have tile floors, plumbing and electricity. The owners sometimes

take electricity from the city with a tangle of cables.

The residents of Vila Autodromo were among an estimated 60,000 people who lost homes

because of the Rio Games. Tearing them down was part of a larger effort, though. Local

land developers are trying to turn the Barra di Tijuca area into a wealthy area full of

condos. Carlos Carvalho, who is organizing a lot of the construction, has declared bluntly

there is no place for the poor here. Residents say they were pressured, even threatened to

leave.

Unity "Is Just A Word"

Da Penha was offered about $600,000 for the three-story house where she lived with her

husband, mother and children for more than 20 years. She turned it down. Instead, she

became a leading activist. She took her fight to the International Olympic Committee and

the United Nations. Her home was finally knocked down in March. She and her family now

live in one of the plain white cottages. Boxes of their belongings are stacked in a small

front room.

Da Penha knows the interlocking rings, the symbol of the Olympics, are supposed to

represent unity.

"But that's just a word," Da Penha said, sitting in the local church. "They destroyed

my community and distanced people. So where is this unity?"

De Oliveira's metal shop was demolished. He was given about $225,000 for it. However,

he says he was offered nothing for his home, though his mother received a cottage. He got

a last-minute ruling from a judge preserving the house. Soon his electricity was cut off.

"I started receiving unwanted visits," he said. De Oliviera says people made him feel like he

would be unsafe if he did not leave.

Instead, he decided to build on to the house. While other homes were going down, his

went up.

It was satisfying, but not a solution. "My life has been totally undone," he said. "I couldn't

save my community."

Activists Hope To Save Other Communities

Even so, the tiny favela neighborhood of 20 homes is still in Rio. Tourists with cameras,

media from around the world and IOC officials must pass it every day to get through the

gates.

The activists here could not save their own community, but if they can get the world to shift

its gaze just a bit over these two weeks, maybe they can save the next one.

Quiz

1 Which detail BEST supports the article's central idea?

(A) The International Broadcast Center casts a shadow on the tilting sheet metal

roof of Delmo de Oliveira's family favela, directly across the parking lot.

(B) In the 1970s, more were built by Brazilians who left the countryside in Brazil

and moved to cities in search of work.

(C) People worked and saved for years for the money to buy ochre bricks, small

sacks of cement and wavy sheet metal to gradually build their own homes

by hand.

(D) The residents of Vila Autodromo were among an estimated 60,000 people

who lost homes because of the Rio Games.

2 What is the MOST likely reason why the author included the story about De Oliviera building

onto his house?

(A) to show that some people are fighting back against the Olympic Committee

(B) to describe the type of people who live in favelas

(C) to explain where people move if they are forced to leave a favela

(D) to emphasize how many businesses and homes are being destroyed

3 What is the summary of the section "Unity Is Just A Word?"

(A) Some people who live in the affected favelas are fighting back instead of

moving.

(B) People in the favelas are offered money in exchange for moving.

(C) The people of the favelas do not value unity and say it is not important.

(D) A local judge is working to help favela residents keep their homes and

businesses.

4 According to the section "Years Of Effort And Saving," which answer choice BEST

characterizes Carlos Carvalho's treatment of the residents of Vila Autodromo?

(A) uncaring

(B) ambitious

(C) cooperative

(D) vicious