Using Capoeira to fight poverty and ignorance
A fine Dutch lady, Ella Arps, came up with a great idea to help the poor people of the worst favelas in Salvador de Bahia. She wanted to send the Italian photographer Robert Rizzo into the slums, but soon learned that an unaccompanied foreigner cannot just wander around in such places. Then she discovered Mestre Pedro, and was able to use his community to take the photos. Rizzo trained children to take photos of their daily reality. The best photos were shown at Ella's art gallery in Amsterdam, and the profits were used to directly help the desperately poor people of the "alagados." She bought beautiful sewing machines, and distributed them to young women, who were suddenly able to support their families by sewing. Her work was made possible thanks to the help of the Institute of Culture Brazil Italy Europe (ICBIE) and Mestre Pedro, the legendary capoeira master. http://www.thinkcapoeira.org/
Mestre Pedro - Capoeira Master of the Alagados
The extraordinary capoeira master Pedro Pé de Ferro ("iron-foot") is the founder of the Associação de Capoeira Filhos do Sol Nascente do Salvador, which operates out of a roofless, burned-out building, originally a small movie theater, that he occupied in 1990. Located between the underclass neighborhood of Uruguai and the alagados, his center caters to hundreds of children and young adults. The father of ten children, Mestre Pedro is a true hero in his community. If you are interested in contacting the people who are helping him, visit www.icbie.com Mestre Pedro - Hero of the Alagados
Views of Mestre Pedro's capoeira center in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil
Mestre Pedro Capoeira at ICBIE
This nine-minute clip shows a real capoeira performance by Mestre Pedro's crew.
The ALAGADOS!
A haunting tour of one of the worst slums in South America
The Alagados favela, with its shacks built on stilts over the All Saints' Bay, is inhabited by fiercely independent outcasts who resist modern society. Urban renewal proceeds amidst incomprehension and alienation, but the future lies with the children, who are receiving education and assistance from NGOs such as the Institute of Culture Brazil Italy Europe (ICBIE).
Social Graffiti in the Alagados
by Rzzz
I am a high school music teacher at an American school in Rome, and I have helped to found a school for poor kids in the favelas of Salvador de Bahia,... (more)
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