‘Hope Is the Last Thing That Dies’: Brazil’s New Poor in an Age of Austerity

‘Hope Is the Last Thing That Dies’: Brazil’s New Poor in an Age of Austerity
Kids peer out from their shack in one of the poorest areas of the City of God favela, Rio de Janeiro, June 10, 2017 (AP photo by Leo Correa).

Every Tuesday night beginning at 10 p.m., Luciana Rosana de Souza joins a growing queue outside a faded, lavender building, a stone’s throw from Rio de Janeiro’s sleek downtown neighborhoods. The squat, two-story concrete houses nearby are a stark contrast to the glassy office tower blocks in the city center and the high-rise apartments perched on Rio’s postcard beachfronts.

Six hours later, just before dawn, Miriam Gomes arrives and begins sorting food donations into plastic bags with the help of a handful of volunteers. Souza’s family is one of 80 or so that Gomes’ NGO, Anjinho Feliz, or Happy Little Angel, serves every week.

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