Brazil

Video Activity : Survival in the City

Part B : DURING THE LESSON

Video : Introduction -the video will look at the migration of people from certain areas in Brazil to the major cities.

Sao Paulo area is the most industrial state in the south-east of Brazil. It is about as big as the United Kingdom and there are 31 million inhabitants.

Q.1 At the beginning of the video what contrasts can be seen in Sao Paulo?

Now, let's look at the north-east of Brazil. Remember that this area is bigger than France, Germany, the UK and Spain put together!!

Below in Table Two the north-east is compared with the rest of Brazil and to Argentina.. See if you can identify why over 60% of Brazilian migrants come from this region i.e. why do so many people leave the north-east ?

Q.2 What reason are given in the video as to why people are leaving the region? Name four things which are missing in the countryside.

Jose is a cane cutter. For the last 200 years the north-east region has been an important area for the production of sugar. However, most of the land is made up of large plantations. It is very difficult for small landowners to make a living. Many can barely make enough to survive.

Q.3 Listen to Jose describing his life. What difficulties does he face? How many days a week does he work? How long does he work each day What would he like to do? Why can't he?

Belo Horizonte is an important industrial area. Its iron ore deposits have been used in many industries.

Q.4 What industries are shown on the video? Why have many industries decided to locate in this area and not in other parts of Brazil?

Q.5 On the video we see examples of multinational companies. What does this mean? What does a multinational company look for when it decides to build a factory in a developing country?

Inequality in Brazil

One of the major problems in Brazil is that of inequality. This means that the wealth of the country is not spread out (divided) evenly between the people. There are some very rich people in Brazil but there are also some very poor people. In the major towns, as you will see on the video, many people live in favelas or squatter settlements. There are also between 7-8 million children living on Brazil's city streets.

Listen to the description of life in a favela.

Q.6 Describe the difficulties faced by Pedro?

Q.7 Why did Mr and Mrs da Silva come to the city? How long have they lived there?

Q.8 Describe Vera's typical day? Why can't she fulfil her dream to be a nurse?

Q.9 How much do Vera and her Dad earn?

Now that you have heard about some of the difficulties faced by people living in Brazil, what do you think could be done to change things. Write a paragraph explaining your ideas.

• Top of Page