Brazil’s favelas: How do you deliver to somewhere with no address? | BBC News

Brazil’s favelas: How do you deliver to somewhere with no address? | BBC News

FAS can be like giant labyrinths built deep into peripheries across Brazil visible but often overlooked and there are millions of Brazilians living in unofficial towns like this one generating billions of dollars in economic activity every year still many delivery companies refuse to work here living residents

With out a way to get passes right at home to address the issue Brazilian startup naarta set out to do exact what it says in its name getting packages delivered right to the doorsteps of people living in the favas when it comes to favas the access is a little bit trickier because they

Are considered restrict areas this is K compounder nap which in Brazilian Portuguese means at the doorstep one of our Founders were born and raised inside a plla so he had troubl trying to receive their products at home so whenever he order something he buys something online he had to go to an

Agency or sometimes switch the ZIP code the presence of gangs in the favela’s narrow unpaved streets have made deliveries complicated here but a lack of official street addresses may be the biggest hurdle we say that they are excluded from the map of e-commerce they are excluded from the digital world but

This is where Napa believes they have developed a solution thaning part to a tool from Google called Plus codes Plus codes are digital addresses created by dividing the world over and over into ever smaller boxes with each division a number or letter is added to a sequence

Creating a unique location code so we we work with them to map these regions create routs create Street create uh addresses to these people in order them to receive not only their package but vital service such as calling an ambulance or asking for the police those plus codes have been printed on

Blackards and hung throughout some favas across Brazil this helped put people on the map but still traditional companies refuse to come getting lost in this area that can be very risky this is David neologist and professor at the University of Virginia where he studies technology in Brazil’s faelas obviously

Cartel folks do not want people roaming around you know watching their business this is why services and deliveries are often cancelled or not completed once they have to reach territories like this so an the has turned to local residents like Paulo who know the ins and outs of the

Neighborhood though he may know his way around that doesn’t necessarily guarantee safety well what’s more these workers are contractors professor nma says that can be a precarious relationship against the backdrop of what he calls a broken gig economy like deliberate app workers are overworked they’re not paid enough they don’t have

Access to any benefits so napor claims to be aware of these issues and they aim to establish a Humane and fair work relationship napora also pledges increased Security on roots and access to life insurance and other the be benefits so this certainly sounds like a much better approach than the other

Delivery apps so let’s just hope that they can fulfill these promises napot says that c has earn around $1,000 us per month that’s in a country where the minimum wage is only about 200 krini says that’s because of the time napot has spent developing company policies with the flla residents so we started

Looking from the bigger picture understanding how the contexts are so understanding how people in that lives in fav live their daily lives and by doing that we understand that it’s not only about digital inclusion but is is a structured inclusion Professor Nea believes that model could be a potential

Key to success where others have failed communities always have to be part of the solution since they will be the ones using the technology if none of that is taken into account it’s just going to be another tech developed by Outsiders that never really fulfilled or tackle the problems just because they don’t

Understand it it is safe to say their delivery app is not going to solve all the Deep rooted issues seen in the faas but Napa’s Community Based solution may just be a start

For many of us, ordering online and waiting for a delivery to be dropped on our doorstep is a convenience we have gotten used to.

But, for those in Brazil’s favelas, that convenience is not an option.

Favelas are densely populated, low-income communities that lie on the outskirts of cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Now, a new tech initiative is aiming to make those communities more connected.

This video is from BBC Click, the BBC’s flagship technology programme.

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