Morro dos Macacos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“The only good thing we have up here is the view.”

- Resident of Morro dos Macacos

In 2005, Mobile Metrix surveyed the residents of Morro dos Macacos, or “Monkey Hill,” a sprawling hillside favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Official government estimates of the total population in the favela ranged from 5,000 to 60,000. We recruited a team of MobileAgent™ interviewers from the youth in the favela, and, after extensive training, sent them out with a survey of over 100 questions.

RESULTS

The month-long survey yielded data that had important implications for how the community searched for resources:

Education
18% of children do not attend school
60% of adults have not completed middle school
90% of adults have not completed high school

Health
13% of households have nursing women
57% of households are single parent homes
9% of households care for a disabled person

Employment
37% of residents are unemployed
25% of individuals receive no income for their household
38% of individuals earn below the minimum wage

In addition to the compelling data gathered, the pilot graduated a group of 12 MobileAgents™ from a stint of well-compensated work that provided them with job training, technology skills, and a sense of pride from having served their community.

“It’s easier to share information with someone you know than with a stranger. The same problems they face, I face and continue to face.”

- Alexander Carlos “Leco” da Silva, MobileAgent™ Team Leader 

IMPACT

Dona Anna Marcondes Faria, a leader in the favela community, has used this information to seek foundation grants to cover classes around women’s health, including sex education, as well as recruit public health workers to assist the disabled in the community. For her, the data was a chance to truly understand the community’s needs, and make her case more effectively to those with the resources to make a difference.

Of the 12 MobileAgents™ who partook in the project, half have advanced either to higher education or to full-time jobs.