Near the city center, on a site where garbage used to be dumped into the sea and along the sewers, the favela Alagados, has formed. Although unstable shacks on poles, are currently being replaced by modest houses, the unstable social situation in the district has remained.

Under the leadership of the priest of Alagados parish, two initiatives were launched. The first is an educational support center for children from 6 to 11 years, called “To be a child in Alagados.” The goal of this project is to improve the formation of children and to keep them off the street. The Brazilian system provides children with education for only half of the day, either the morning or the afternoon. In the favela’s this means that children learn the “law of the street” for the other half. Parents are often ignorant about the dangers or lack time to guide their children. The center also provides food for the 80 children it welcomes every day.

The second initiative is a training center for women. It aims to help women to find alternatives to prostitution and to support their children. Many of the young mothers (to 16 or 18 years) find themselves raising their children alone. Without formation, they do not have acces to a normal profession. The center offers training in cooking, sewing and aesthetics, competencies that are in demand.