Favela (in other countries, “comuna,” “población,” “barrio de miseria,” “toma de tierra,” “slum,” “invasão,” “pueblo joven.”)

In Brasil, slums and shantytowns go by the name of “favela.” Formally, the word refers to a neighborhood whose inhabitants do not own the land and do not have formal permission to live there. Often, the favelas lack sewage, water, electricity, schools, and police. The name comes from the Morro de Favela, a hill where poor soldiers lived during the war against the Canudos in the 19th century. When these soldiers returned to Rio de Janeiro, they named their informal neighborhood “Favela.”

In order to understand youth homelessness, one must first understand the misery and exclusion that children (and their parents) feel in the favelas. Not only is poverty extreme, but children are invisible in these shantytowns. Violence is quite common because of poverty, gangs, and drug abuse.