Violence in Heliópolis, São Paulo Yesterday

I'll transcribe here the news as I heard on TV yesterday (Globo News).
Police was chasing a stolen car. They fired and hit a 17 year-old girl on her head, who died. A policeman came near the girl and kicked her to verify if she was 'really dead' and went away. Neighbours were outraged by the police action and went to the streets putting fire on and throwing rocks at buses. A message circulated through the neighbourhood promising one basic food package to those who would participate in the manifestation.

São Paulo - VI

This weekend, in my conversations with new friends in São Paulo, one was speaking about the lack of action by the general public with regards to outrageous events of injustice in Brazil. I had asked whether the events are documented by journalists, and he said yes. People know about the great injustices. But - in his view - they take no action. And I agree. I don't know why.

São Paulo - V

This weekend, some of the new people I got to know in São Paulo were narrating to me their stories with violence. A friend of mine was taken by a robber when entering his car. The robber was very polite. My friend told me that he thought the robber was intoxicated with drugs. His relatives were in another car following him all the time. Even his little nephews saw all the incident. The outcome was 'fine': they only drove a few blocks, the robber only took the money and the cell phone.

São Paulo - IV

Saturday I met Alex Fajardo , Tati and the youth from the "Jovens Cristãos" (Christian Youth) group from the Orkut social networking site.
It is interesting to see that most in the group do not like how the church in Brazil operates. Most of them yearn to connect and relate to other people, but are turned off by the legalism and hypocrisy of the leaders or denominations. They come from every kind of Christian denominations.

São Paulo - III

Sunday I met some good people that I only knew on the Internet. Sérgio Pavarini - creator of the famous blog pavablog.blogspot.com, Whaner Endo - owner of the W4 Publishing House, Ana Claudia Braun Endo - married to Whaner, manager of Marketing at the Universidade Metodista de São Paulo.

Acho que Gosto de São Paulo

Da esquerda pra direita: Maurício Domene, Gustavo K-fé, Fabinho Silva, e Obadias de Deus. Eles são amigos meus da lista de discussão Música e Músicos Cristãos (MMC) no Yahoo.




João Alexandre e eu.

São Paulo

It's my third day today in São Paulo. One can't ignore the security concerns. My uncle's wife reminded me yesterday of some security recommendations: not to carry anything expensive, to look around, etc. My uncle was taken as 'hostage' in a 'fast-kidnap' "only once" (in her own words). A 'fast-kidnap' (sequestro-relâmpago in Portuguese) is when robbers get you in your car, and take you for a joy-ride, stopping at ATMs to withdraw money. And they leave you - usually - at the middle of nowhere. And they leave the car also in the middle of nowhere, far away from where they drop you. Variations on the theme include stealing the vehicle or killing you.
All my cousins were robbed.
My uncle's wife was speaking of her neighbour's friend here at the same street we are. She was dating a policeman, who killed her with 6 gun shots. The neighbour was asking for people to help pay the air fare for the children, so that they can go live with their grandmother. The neighbour asked my uncle's wife to ask the church for help. The church apparently receives so many requests like this one that (according to them) they can't help.