Promover os talentos para reduzir a probreza

Abstract

The dimension of poverty, its regional distribution, the differences of the phenomenon in the rural area and in the city, are widely known elements. The Brazilian city shows, on a daily basis, the wounds caused by the unequal distribution of income and social exclusion: the spatial configuration of the urban territory is the clearest portrait of the phenomenon, representing the main obstacle for the country's sustained development. Despite this evidence, poverty reduction programs present few points of integration with the territorial reality. On the other hand, the unequal distribution of income and social exclusion of considerable part of the population, even if describing poverty in detail, do not help in identifying the points of departure and the positive elements which should be strengthened for the implementation of poverty reduction programs. The history and experiences of the projects for the urbanization of the favelas of the last twenty five years may contribute to define a methodological path starting from the potentialities, even if dormant, of the persons who live the reality of poverty. We call "patrimony" the set of palpable and impalpable resources possessed by these persons and that can be used to face the critical situations in which they live. The path to be taken may be the identification and development of actions to increase these patrimonies, reducing the vulnerability of the families. The development of "intermediary organisms" and of social agents, able of sharing the necessities and potentialities, represent a fundamental stage in this path.