A favela is a slum, an illegal settlement built on squatted lands. Brazil has one of the worst distributions of wealth in the world and the poor have got to live somewhere. The favela dwellers build their houses out of wood and garbage, then later when they have the money, they upgrade to a home made concrete home.
...Those who are born and who die in favelas aren’t recorded – for the Brazilian government, it’s a crime to be poor.