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Latest News
  • [ July 31, 2025 ] ‘It Hasn’t Been 35 Days, It’s Been 35 Years’: Mothers of the Acari Favela Massacre Continue to Fight for Justice for Victims of Forced Disappearance by Community Contributors
  • [ July 30, 2025 ] The Play ‘Pacts to Reforest the Earth’ Portrays 2040 in Rio’s Maré Favela, Where ‘All That Remain Are the Pests and the Power of Ancestral Love’ [REVIEW] *Highlight
  • [ July 29, 2025 ] ‘We Only Have Dignity When the Favela Becomes Sustainable’: Collective Action Preserves Agroforest in Morro da Providência *Highlight
  • [ July 25, 2025 ] Gun Violence Against Children: Rio’s City and State Governments Fail to Address Ongoing Childhood Tragedy #UPPWatch
  • [ July 17, 2025 ] Tenth Edition of ‘Black July’ Connects Rio Favelas and Palestinians Against State Terrorism #UPPWatch
HomeWritersMareen Butter

Writer: Mareen Butter

Twitter de Mareen Butter: https://twitter.com/globustrotter

*Highlight

How a Scholarship is Helping Me Study International Relations and Make the World Better [PROFILE]

By Mareen Butter • Translation by Dylan Blau Edelstein • February 22, 2019

Clique aqui para Português João Victor Teodoro, a resident of Pavão-Pavãozinho, has actively worked in his community to make the world a better place. Awarded a scholarship from the federal Student Financial Aid Fund (FIES), […]

*Highlight

The Story of UERJ Affirmative Action Beneficiary Lita Ribeiro and How She Fulfilled Her Dream [PROFILE]

By Mareen Butter • Translation by Leila Lak • February 5, 2019

Clique aqui para Português In this profile, Lita Ribeiro—a resident of the Guararapes favela, mother of two, and affirmative action beneficiary at the School of Social Work at the State University of Rio de Janeiro […]

*Highlight

UniFavela Sows the Seeds of Popular Education in Maré (and How You Can Show Your Support)

By Mareen Butter • Translation by Chris Fradkin • January 29, 2019

Clique aqui para Português “Our DNA is not only our own.  It has been in contact with other bacteria for thousands of years,” explains Luana Silva dos Santos. It was so hot that late spring […]

*Highlight

Andrezza, Affirmative Action Beneficiary and Education Advocate from Rio’s Maré Favelas [PROFILE]

By Mareen Butter • Translation by Rachel Fox • November 17, 2018

Clique aqui para Português A resident of the Maré favela complex and graduate in Advertising from the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), at 23, Andrezza Francisco Paulo has already had a number of intense life experiences. In […]

RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

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Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

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