Favela documentary update

Mayra has been awarded an extraordinary prize. On December 4th Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu handed over the fourth International Children’s Peace Prize to Mayra at a ceremony held in the Ridderzaal in The Hague, The Netherlands.

This is what the jury said: “Mayra Avellar is awarded the prize for her courageous and successful battle against extreme violence in the favela’s of Rio de Janeiro, which each year costs thousands of children their lives. Mayra grew up in one of the most violent favela’s in Rio, in the midst of a civil war between the drugs cartels and between the cartels and the police. The violence rose to such extreme levels that, when Mayra was eleven years old, the neighbourhood was cut off and became virtually inaccessible to medical and teaching staff. As a result, schools and clinics were closed. At 15 years old, Mayra mobilised hundreds of children and youths to take part in a protest march, demanding that the police cease their patrols during school hours. That march was certainly not without its risks. The police agreed to her demands and since then many children have been able to return to school. However, Mayra’s fight goes on, as life in the favela’s remains extremely dangerous and the local facilities are poor. Last year she organised another march, this time appealing to everybody in the favela and elsewhere to stand up for the fundamental rights of slum dwellers. Or, in her own words: “Everybody has a part to play in improving human rights, in particular the rights of children as the future generation. We can and must stand up for these children, whose rights are being violated and whose lives are at risk.”

The International Children’s Peace Prize is handed out annually to a child who demonstrates exceptional dedication to children’s rights. It was awarded for the first time in 2005, during a world summit of Nobel Peace Prize winners chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev, and was unanimously lauded by the Nobel Prize winners as a new instrument in the worldwide struggle to improve children’s rights. Last year’s winner was Thandiwe Chama from Zambia.

The Children’s Peace Prize includes prize money of EUR 100,000. The Dutch foundation KidsRights, the founder of the prize, will invest the prize money in specific projects that are closely related to Mayra’s struggle for peace in Vila Cruzeiro.

Who could imagine that a girl from Vila Cruzeiro would ever win such a prestigious prize. Well, believe it!

As you can imagine we’re very very proud of Mayra. This is not just her prize, this price is for all young girls and boys from the favelas of Rio trying to get ahead and demanding a dignified life. It’s for the struggle against violence and against injustice. It’s in favour of education for all children and foremost, for the fight for peace. This is the message that Mayra had for all of us who were present during the ceremony in The Hague.

Believe this as well: everything is possible if you believe in it. This is what Mayra does. And it’s also what her friends Diogo, Dudu and Luis from our documentary Cruzeiro do. This is what the entire cast and crew from Favela Força does.  All these young people fight in the hope that one day they’ll no longer have to see someone die from a stray bullet. And no matter what others might say: people from the favela have the same rights as any other person. This fight is what keeps Mayra and her friends from Vila Cruzeiro going. I’m proud that I’m allowed to fight on their side.