Construction of 21 emergency dwellings + 7 toilets

Until now, 14 houses and 4 bathrooms have been completed. The project’s location includes three communities in Salvador (Community Vila Vitória, Bosque Imperial de Inema and Kingoma). Initially foreseen in Vila Vitória, this place has faced densification of housing, and land space has been scarce. About the new places: Bosque Imperial de Inema is located in the metropolitan region of Salvador. Quilombo Quingoma is located in Lauro de Freitas, also in the same region.

Regarding the families’ participation, the families are involved throughout the project. First, they are invited to participate on TETO’s project and given the opportunity to choose if they want to build their new dwellings with TETO or not. Once they have accepted the NGO’s invitation, TETO gets to know the families better by visiting them every weekend for at least two months. The idea is to promote community activities that foster social capabilities such as identity, community organization, union and self development. Also, during the regular visits the organization shares how the process is going to unfold. The families are also committed and participate in the unloading of the construction materials that arrive at the community in two different days, and are encouraged to invite other community members to help as well. Most importantly, community dwellers and volunteers work side by side during these activities. Regarding the challenges of the project, there are some, like the interest dispute inside of the community, the drug trafficking and recurrent violence, the lack of structure of the community itself. There are also technical challenges like the material transport inside of the community, due to the terrain unevenness, distance or very tight places, the situation of the terrain itself which besides the unevenness also presents pipes and stones and in some cases very tight too. Finally, one huge challenge has been the increase of the price of the materials, which, because of the pandemic, has passed the initial budget.