Two Worlds - One City

Two of us had dinner the other night at a corner restaurant across the street from the beach. As we sat enjoying our steak au poivre and a glass of wine, a young girl appeared and began speaking to us in Portuguese. We had no idea what she was saying to us, but she began pointing at our soda cans. My dinner companion gave this beautiful young Afro-Brazilian girl an affirmative nod. The girl picked up one of the cans and ran off. I looked around and saw a large man who seemed to be watching the girl as if they were acquainted. He stood by and watched and then walked a ways down the street once she had collected the can of Sprite.

Having spent time in numerous with more poverty than Brazil, my friend explained to me that this young girl just wanted our drink. There was something about this scene, the backdrop of the palm trees swaying in the breeze on this beautiful beach that made the appearance of this girl seem almost surreal.

My friend knew I was confused – having seen much more of the world than I – explained that these kids were subject to such poverty that a little bit of soda, or a small amount of left over dessert meant the world to them.

I turned to find her. Suddenly guilty that I had left a quarter of my steak untouched on the plate. As quickly as she had appeared, she was gone. We looked around to see where she had gone; as if she had been a figment of our imaginations, she had disappeared. The large man who appeared to have been with her still lingered in the background. Who was he? Her father? Her protector? Was he watching over her and forcing her to do his bidding?

In Brazil the strikingly different communities of rich and poor seem to exist side-by-side, one on top of the other – and yet are worlds apart. The public school we visited yesterday was located in the heart of one of the very rich neighborhoods, yet the kids go home to their favela every night. The private school students ride the same public buses as their public school counterparts and head home to watch the city behind the steel bars protecting their homes from intruders. When asked whether they had any friends who lived in favelas, one student out of the ten who participated said she was friends with her doorman’s kids.