The building there was unoccupied for a long time, there was nothing there, just forest. The rent nearby was very expensive, most people couldn`t afford it. We went to speak to the people there, so we could go there, but there were a lot of rats and mosquitoes. It started to grow, until there were
I left Vila Amoedo and we were sent to Campo Grande, to a Minha Casa, Minha Vida government building. I remember when there was a lot of traffic on the Avenida das Americas we would rush to sell water, beer and sweets. It was in the middle of nature. Early in the morning, we always
We left Avenida das Americas, which was known as Recreio II, and we went to Campo Grande. I lived there with my husband and two children. Jaime my husband is 30, and Gabrielle is seven, Miguel is two months old. It’s like, this house isn’t mine, it’s my mother-in-law’s, my husband is her lawyer and
My house was enormous. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen… it was an area of 100 square metres. [How long did you live there for?] 23 years. Me, my daughter, my son in law and my grandchildren. People from City Hall came there to talk to us, do the registration. I didn’t want to leave,
I got here in the 1980s, I was the first one to arrive here. There was no one here. Just me. I used to go fishing here, then it gradually filled up, one arrived and then another. I am from Pernambuco state, and I lived at first in Cidade de Deus. I payed rent there,
My house was… my kitchen was big, there was a bathroom, living room, bedroom, and a small balcony at the front. I left it on 18 November, 2010. It wasn’t something where they told you what was going on and made people aware. They only came twice to my house, and measured it. They didn’t
Translation to English will be available soon.
My name is Sandra Maria da Souza Teixeira. I’m 48 years old and I work as a producer. I have four children and one grandchild, and they were all born here. It was when I became a mother that I built this house. I was pregnant, though before I used to come here and stay
Sandra Rodrigues da Silva, 47, housewife. Ah, what happened? They were saying it for a while, but not that it was for the BRT [bus rapid transit] but for the blue line subway that was going to go through there. So since then, they didn’t build it… When it started, that they were going to
Montanheiras was a building owned by Docas, on Francisco Bicalho road. We got together and occupied it. About 50 families installed themselves there. We divided it up, more or less proportionately, and went to fight against all kinds of things. We stayed for nine years, as this was an abandoned building before and was used
