April 25, 2012
Brazil’s Olympic Paradox
By Max
In 2016, the greatest sporting event in the world will take place for the first time in South America. The city of Rio de Janeiro is proud to be in charge of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games from the 5 to 21 August, 2016.
In order to receive all the guests, Rio is already passing through a transformation. The question on everyone’s mind is whether the country can make those changes without losing the Carioca spirit and the Brazilian energy that uplifts everyone.
The government calls the change development and thinks that it’s a great idea. They look forward to the economy getting stronger. They can show off to the world, but only if the people leave certain areas, such as Vila Autodromo.
The government promises to clean up violence, and build impressive structures. But residents in some neighborhoods have had a challenging relationship with the police officers.
There is going to be a solar city to provide power for all of the needs of the Olympics. It will be 105 meters high and placed on an island! Some people are concerned that while the building is being constructed it could fall down and kill a lot of people if there would be a slight mistake.
The budget to pay all this is going to be 2.82 billion U.S dollars (R$ 5.16 billion Brazilian reais) to build the park in the Olympics.
There is going to be 60,000 spectators at the Olympics. More than 10,500 athletes are going to compete in 28 sports. 33 distinct areas are needed for the Olympic Games. 18 already exist and others need to be built.
The locations where the sport complexes will be built are Deodoro, Maracanã and the famous beach, Copacabana. The sports that are going to be there are table tennis, boxing, weight lifting, badminton, taekwondo, wrestling, hand ball, hockey, basketball, judo, tennis, track, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, shooting, modern pentathlon, fencing, mountain biking, kayak/ canoeing, BMX, soccer, road cycling, foot racing, beach volley ball, marathon swimming, triathlon, and finally rowing.
Vila Autodromo
Vila Autodromo is a squatter settlement. A squatter settlement is a person or in this case a group of people who inhabit an abandoned building that until they get kicked out.
Vila Autodromo is a threatened community because a part of the 2016 Olympics is planned to be located there. This will only be possible if the families move.
Residents think that’s it’s dumb to build train tracks straight to the Olympics, use it for just a few weeks, then not really make use of it for a long time. Sixteen years ago the government of Brazil promised to keep Vila Autodromo around for the next 40 years. Vila Autodromo resident Ana Cristina da Silva says, “We have peace here.” Silva doesn’t want to leave her pretty house and most things she owns.
She lost a cousin a few days ago and da Silva has a son, and doesn’t want to worry that if he’s home alone he could get hit by a stray bullet. Unfortunately, in big cities like Rio, violence and crime are abundant. She thinks the Vila Autodromo community is nice and keeps out violence and drugs.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro doesn’t seem to care about the locals. The government will make a lot of money, but it hasn’t yet been 40 years since the promise was made.
The mayor is telling the people that he’ll get them better homes, but Guimarães (a man who lives in Vila Autodromo) thinks that they’re lying to them because the during the 2008 Olympic Games in China, 1.25 million people were forced to leave their homes. That’s 5 times the population of Madison!
People from Vila Autodromo are saying they are going to stay even if their house is a shack.
City of God
City of God is a neighborhood in Rio, but not any ordinary neighborhood. It is one of the most violent places in Brazil. Police officers are afraid of entering the neighborhood, but they recently did. It has been 30 years since the police force has been present in City Of God.
Officers in Brazil are cleaning up the neighborhood but haven’t realized that when they displace people they are merely pushing violence to other places.
Leo Reondo lives in City of God. His brother died during a confrontation with a police officer. Reondo got furious; he wanted revenge so he took karate, but after a few months he realized that it’s no use to hurt people and he didn’t want revenge any more.
After this incident, police offers went around asking people what they think about them and they got bad ratings. They decided not to let the new generation think that police are bad people. To work against this perception, they have gone to preschools and nurseries, showing their gentle side, and that they are trying to do their jobs by protecting the community. They did this to prove they have good intentions.
Questions to consider
· Did the government of Brazil place the 2016 Olympics in a squatter settlement by purpose?
· Should the government of Brazil make roads and train tracks and other transportation strait to the Olympics parks?
· Is it fair to make people move out of their homes?
· Would you make the same choice as the government and try to make the Olympics happen?
Opinion
My opinion is that the government should find a location for the Olympics somewhere other than next to Vila Autodromo. The government could find a big piece of land and plant it there.
Taking people’s homes away will change their life in a negative way. If some of the government workers’ homes would be washed away by the Olympics they would disagree about it.
People say Vila Autodromo is a good community but maybe some people aren’t the nicest, but that doesn’t mean they hurt anybody. Because of this, they shouldn’t be forced to lose their homes and most of their belongings.
Nobody should have to go through all the pain of losing their home for a sporting event that lasts only a couple weeks.
Brazil’s Olympic Paradox
By Max
In 2016, the greatest sporting event in the world will take place for the first time in South America. The city of Rio de Janeiro is proud to be in charge of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games from the 5 to 21 August, 2016.
In order to receive all the guests, Rio is already passing through a transformation. The question on everyone’s mind is whether the country can make those changes without losing the Carioca spirit and the Brazilian energy that uplifts everyone.
The government calls the change development and thinks that it’s a great idea. They look forward to the economy getting stronger. They can show off to the world, but only if the people leave certain areas, such as Vila Autodromo.
The government promises to clean up violence, and build impressive structures. But residents in some neighborhoods have had a challenging relationship with the police officers.
There is going to be a solar city to provide power for all of the needs of the Olympics. It will be 105 meters high and placed on an island! Some people are concerned that while the building is being constructed it could fall down and kill a lot of people if there would be a slight mistake.
The budget to pay all this is going to be 2.82 billion U.S dollars (R$ 5.16 billion Brazilian reais) to build the park in the Olympics.
There is going to be 60,000 spectators at the Olympics. More than 10,500 athletes are going to compete in 28 sports. 33 distinct areas are needed for the Olympic Games. 18 already exist and others need to be built.
The locations where the sport complexes will be built are Deodoro, Maracanã and the famous beach, Copacabana. The sports that are going to be there are table tennis, boxing, weight lifting, badminton, taekwondo, wrestling, hand ball, hockey, basketball, judo, tennis, track, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, shooting, modern pentathlon, fencing, mountain biking, kayak/ canoeing, BMX, soccer, road cycling, foot racing, beach volley ball, marathon swimming, triathlon, and finally rowing.
Vila Autodromo
Vila Autodromo is a squatter settlement. A squatter settlement is a person or in this case a group of people who inhabit an abandoned building that until they get kicked out.
Vila Autodromo is a threatened community because a part of the 2016 Olympics is planned to be located there. This will only be possible if the families move.
Residents think that’s it’s dumb to build train tracks straight to the Olympics, use it for just a few weeks, then not really make use of it for a long time. Sixteen years ago the government of Brazil promised to keep Vila Autodromo around for the next 40 years. Vila Autodromo resident Ana Cristina da Silva says, “We have peace here.” Silva doesn’t want to leave her pretty house and most things she owns.
She lost a cousin a few days ago and da Silva has a son, and doesn’t want to worry that if he’s home alone he could get hit by a stray bullet. Unfortunately, in big cities like Rio, violence and crime are abundant. She thinks the Vila Autodromo community is nice and keeps out violence and drugs.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro doesn’t seem to care about the locals. The government will make a lot of money, but it hasn’t yet been 40 years since the promise was made.
The mayor is telling the people that he’ll get them better homes, but Guimarães (a man who lives in Vila Autodromo) thinks that they’re lying to them because the during the 2008 Olympic Games in China, 1.25 million people were forced to leave their homes. That’s 5 times the population of Madison!
People from Vila Autodromo are saying they are going to stay even if their house is a shack.
City of God
City of God is a neighborhood in Rio, but not any ordinary neighborhood. It is one of the most violent places in Brazil. Police officers are afraid of entering the neighborhood, but they recently did. It has been 30 years since the police force has been present in City Of God.
Officers in Brazil are cleaning up the neighborhood but haven’t realized that when they displace people they are merely pushing violence to other places.
Leo Reondo lives in City of God. His brother died during a confrontation with a police officer. Reondo got furious; he wanted revenge so he took karate, but after a few months he realized that it’s no use to hurt people and he didn’t want revenge any more.
After this incident, police offers went around asking people what they think about them and they got bad ratings. They decided not to let the new generation think that police are bad people. To work against this perception, they have gone to preschools and nurseries, showing their gentle side, and that they are trying to do their jobs by protecting the community. They did this to prove they have good intentions.
Questions to consider
· Did the government of Brazil place the 2016 Olympics in a squatter settlement by purpose?
· Should the government of Brazil make roads and train tracks and other transportation strait to the Olympics parks?
· Is it fair to make people move out of their homes?
· Would you make the same choice as the government and try to make the Olympics happen?
Opinion
My opinion is that the government should find a location for the Olympics somewhere other than next to Vila Autodromo. The government could find a big piece of land and plant it there.
Taking people’s homes away will change their life in a negative way. If some of the government workers’ homes would be washed away by the Olympics they would disagree about it.
People say Vila Autodromo is a good community but maybe some people aren’t the nicest, but that doesn’t mean they hurt anybody. Because of this, they shouldn’t be forced to lose their homes and most of their belongings.
Nobody should have to go through all the pain of losing their home for a sporting event that lasts only a couple weeks.