A Streetcar for Peace
Lorenzo Zavala Carvajal, Lauder Portuguese Language and Culture Program Student Essay
Dona Marta’s “bondinho” inaugurated in 2008 as part of the UPP (Pacifying Police Unit) package for the pacification of the Dona Marta neighborhood in Botafogo, the streetcar or “bondinho” as the locals call it affectionately– has changed the life of the community, one of the steepest favelas in Rio. This is an inspiring example of a relatively simple infrastructure project with no technological complications that has a dramatic effect when put into use in the right place and at the right time.
