Rio de Janeiro is set to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.  In order to get Rio ready for these global events the government has taken over many of Rio’s slums, known as favelas.  That’s meant demolishing buildings and in many instances evicting people from their homes.  But the city has also established a new program of community policing in many of the favelas, areas which have never had that kind of security.

Theresa Williamson is the executive director of Catalytic Communities. They work with community leaders in the favelas. They also run a website called RioOnWatch, which does favela community reporting in the run up to the 2016 Olympics.   Theresa tells Worldview how the preparations for the Olympics has affected the residents of Rio’s favelas.