Favelas
As the favelas are high up, they often come with very good views!
One thing that makes Rio so beautiful are the mountains the city has. This allows for such famous spots as the where the "Christ the Redeemer" statue is located. From spots such as these the views are spectacular. Unless you go flying, it's not really possible to get the same sort of views of Sydney because it simply doesn't have the mountains for you to get that high.
The hills and mountains are also where the favelas (Brazilian Portuguese for slum) are built. This is illegal housing where a lot of the poorer people live. For many years the Brazilian government didn't acknowledge the favelas and many are ruled by druglords. Although things are apparently better now than they used to be.
In my first week in Rio I went on a favela tour. Some people find these a bit controversial as they seem it as exploiting the poor. But having been on the tour I see it as a good way to bring awareness to how people are living and bring some tourism money into the community. While we were allowed to take photos on the tour we were asked to take pictures focusing on buildings and scenery, not people. In part out of respect for the poor and in part because the druglords (who tend to have guns) don't particularly want their pictures being taken. While poor, I think the favelas I've seen here are better off than the equivalent I've seen in the Philippines. The bigger ones are fully blown communities with shops and banks (I'm told the banks have never been robbed) etc.
Since I've had more free time in Rio (no official Portuguese classes), I looked for somewhere where I might be able to do some volunteer work. I found this http://www.projectbrasil.com - a Christian organisation that is partnered with a church here to help in a relatively small favela called Morro Azul.
I will take a moment to share a sad story that shows how serious things can be. This happened a couple of weeks before I arrived. There was a young man in the favela who (despite the advise of friends) got into selling drugs. After a few arrests by the police he changed his mind and decided he didn't want to sell drugs any more. However he was told that he had to pay back the money he owed the druglords by a certain date or he'd be killed. He didn't have the money, but the church got involved and was able to help him personally and with the finances. The debt was paid and the church was helping him get his life back on track. However shortly afterwards he was shot dead anyway. As it turns out, the guy collecting the money told his superior that he didn't pay up and kept the money for himself, so sadly he was killed despite having paid the debt. The debt collector was also killed once his superior found out what really happened. The only good thing about this story is that the man who was trying to get his life back on track gave his life to the Lord Jesus before he was killed.
The above gives an idea of what things can be like. Although generally the druglords don't want any trouble from police, so as long as you respect them apparently things are pretty safe. In the particular favela I've been getting involved with they're cleaning things up and are actually looking to build a police station there.
