Fire!
Yesterday a fire broke out in the Buraco Quente favela (shanty town) not more than a hundred metres from the Consulate. Prior to the fire, the neighbourhood looked like this. The tall shiny building in the background with Microsoft written across the top is where I work. This picture, which is one that I have wanted to take for quite some time now but haven’t organized myself accordingly, really captures the inequities of the city and the country.
A “during” photo published in O Estado de Sao Paulo, shows the raging fire which destroyed 150 dwellings and displaced 600 to 700 people. I pass Buraco Quente, which spills out onto the street, everyday on my way to work. This morning we altered the route. I was just not sure that I wanted to see the damage. [Photo Credit: Sebastião Moreira/AE]
posted by Karen @ 10:28 p.m.
2 Comments:
Thats crazy, I used to work in the same building as you. I also know exactly what favela that is, I used to drive by it occasionally when giving a friend a ride home from work. I agree that its a very good representation of the differences in means between the poorest and the richest. That whole neighborhood didnt exist as a commercial center 20-30 years ago, its kind of sprung up in recent years and theres a definite clash between the new skyscrapers and the small houses huddled at their feet.
its so funny to me that youre the second person ive randomly found on the internet who works in the same building i used to work at.
Too funny that you worked in this building as well! The neighbourhood is definitely a strange mixture. I drove past the favela this week for the first time since the fire, and the devastation is incredible. There is one whole chunk right in the middle which was been razed to the ground. I have no idea how the other parts were spared since the whole thing is made of wood and cardboard and a few concrete walls to hold it up.
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