City of God became famous when the movie by the same name in 2002 told the saga of a drug-ridden war-torn slum. Nine years later the community is not only pacified and slowly improving – it can now say it played host to world’s most powerful man. I was lucky to be there to see it.
The truth is that I, like most of the people standing around me, saw neither hide nor hare of Obama. His security-constrained, half-hour whirlwind jaunt through the community left him barely setting foot in the street apart from about one minute in which he stopped to wave. It was OK in my case because the White House press pool accompanied him into the gym where we went to play soccer with kids and watch demonstrations of capoiera.
But the feeling on the streets was truly inspiring for me. Hundreds of people gathered, pushing against the security cordon, crowding onto balconies, straining to take pictures from cell phones. And in the end it wasn’t as much the president himself as just the fact that he was there, getting a tour of a place that three years ago only made headlines with gunshots, body bags and drug gangs.
I stood next to one woman who was so happy she trembled and broke into nervous laughter. Not because she was so close to Obama, but just because it represented such a turn around from what everyone in Cidade de Deus had lived for so many years. The President of the United States here to visit US!!!
The experience gave me new respect for Rio’s program to pacify poor communities stricken with gang warfare. I’d grown a bit tired of the triumphalism surrounding it, particularly with the takeover of Complexo do Alemao in December that was so reliant on military might and for me some questions unanswered. Today helped me turn the page on those doubts.
I’m glad I got to almost see the Obama today, but even gladder I got to see the people for whom his visit was so inspiring.
No comments:
Post a Comment