Many articles in this blog, especially those dealing with Mestre Pedro, have mentioned the Alagados, the infamous favela of shacks perched on wooden stilts over the All Saints’ Bay. Located less than a mile from the ICBIE, up the end of the bay to the south, this slum is a true no-man’s land. Their houses are built over the water, so the inhabitants enjoy a unique kind of impunity, because they aren’t guilty of occupying anyone’s land, and the labyrinth of foul smelling hovels makes it impenetrable for the police. Many of the residents are fiercely resistant outcasts, descended from ancient castes of runaway slaves, with their African culture full of spirits and voodoo, capoeira and cachaça.
But things are changing. Since 2004, the city of Salvador has been steadily chipping away at this fetid hideaway, destroying the hovels, dumping landfill over the site, and then building modern housing for the former residents. In a few more years, the alagados may be gone, but problems will still remain, because these people don’t want to join modern society. They aren’t interested in getting a job, in order to pay for the electricity, cooking gas and water that they presently can steal outright, living in their stilt houses.
As with so many of Brazil’s problems, the great hope lies in the youngsters, who, with better education, can finally take a proud place in their society, without losing the treasures of their fascinating, secret culture.
One of the last things I did before leaving Salvador was to accompany Pietro and two fishermen in their chuggy little wooden motorboat on a leisurely zigzag cruise along the entire area. My discreet little video camera permitted me to take 130 photos and a dozen videoclips of an area that is rarely photographed. That material gave me an exciting project, as I transitioned back to the Italian dog-eat-dog, and it was fun to be able to finally use my home studio to prepare some proper music. You can see the YouTube video by clicking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXlTr-_0F_c , or find it in the Pages column to the right.
Roy Zimmerman
