Poverty and violence are a daily occurrence in Mangueira. The neighborhood is dominated by a powerful drug gang, which fights an ongoing war with the police and other gangs. This means that shootings are commonplace in Mangueira. Sometimes so violent that children cannot come to Estrela da Favela. This violence has left many children in the favela traumatized. Many have lost family members or parents who are in the drug gang, prison or prostitution.
Some children receive little or no food at home, others live in drug houses or have to share a one-room house with seven. In many households, the biological father is missing. As a result, mothers are forced to work long hours outside the home. For this reason, they often barely have time to care for the children. As a result, these children can always be found on the streets, and in this street culture, education is held in particularly low esteem. Consequently, the mostly uneducated parents traditionally do not encourage education. To make some “easy” money, many boys join the drug gangs. Some girls go into prostitution at a young age.
Children who do go to school encounter abominable public education. Unlike expensive, private schools in affluent neighborhoods, the free public schools in the favelas are dramatically poor. For example, 27% of teachers are structurally absent. Telling are the ratings for schools in Rio de Janeiro. These have an average of 3.4 on a scale of 10, leaving students nowhere near the level required to enter the formal job market.
Poverty and violence are a daily occurrence in Mangueira. The neighborhood is dominated by a powerful drug gang, which fights an ongoing war with the police and other gangs. This means that shootings are commonplace in Mangueira. Sometimes so violent that children cannot come to Estrela da Favela. This violence has left many children in the favela traumatized. Many have lost family members or parents who are in the drug gang, prison or prostitution.
Some children receive little or no food at home, others live in drug houses or have to share a one-room house with seven. In many households, the biological father is missing. As a result, mothers are forced to work long hours outside the home. For this reason, they often barely have time to care for the children. As a result, these children can always be found on the streets, and in this street culture, education is held in particularly low esteem. Consequently, the mostly uneducated parents traditionally do not encourage education. To make some “easy” money, many boys join the drug gangs. Some girls go into prostitution at a young age.
Children who do go to school encounter abominable public education. Unlike expensive, private schools in affluent neighborhoods, the free public schools in the favelas are dramatically poor. For example, 27% of teachers are structurally absent. Telling are the ratings for schools in Rio de Janeiro. These have an average of 3.4 on a scale of 10, leaving students nowhere near the level required to enter the formal job market.
