Favelas in Brazil.

The article focuses on the two shanty towns or spontaneous settlements in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil which are Rocinha and Villa Canoas. These shanty towns are built after slavery was abolished in the late nineteenth century and all houses are made of brick and corrugated iron. Inhabitants of these towns are generally poor and earned a living by working in the city's central business district either as maids, shopkeepers and motorbike taxi drivers.