Actress Jo Joyner backs calls to stand by poorest communities of Brazil

Jo Joiner

Award-winning actress Jo Joyner is backing CAFOD’s calls for people in Britain to stand by families in the poorest communities of Brazil. Jo, whose work includes No Angels, Dr Who and most notably her role as Tanya in Eastenders, has spent a week visiting community projects supported by CAFOD in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo.

The world’s spotlight will fall on São Paulo over the next year as it prepares to host the opening match of the 2014 World Cup in June. While billions of pounds are being spent to prepare for the tournament, 3.5 million people are still living in poverty in the city, and their needs are all too often being ignored.

Jo attended Mass in the Favela Vila Prudente, which was con-celebrated by CAFOD’s Chair of Trustees, Bishop John Arnold, who is on a three-country visit to Latin America, meeting church partners in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.

Speaking on her return from São Paulo, Jo said: “We’re going to hear a lot about Brazil over the next year as it gets ready to host the World Cup. And a lot of what we’ll see on our TVs will be all the glitz and glamour. I was really intrigued to see the other side of Brazil and find out what life is like for the millions of people who are trapped in a cycle of poverty and living in terrible conditions.

“I’ve met some real characters, strong, passionate, tough people – mostly women and mothers – who are leading the charge: a sisterhood of extended family struggling and striving everyday to make a better life and a better future, not just for their children and families but for their whole community; fighting with every fibre of their being to be recognised, to be heard, to be supported, and most of all to live dignified lives.

“I hope people here at home will support CAFOD’s work, and join me in calling on the Brazilian government and the authorities in São Paulo to start putting the needs of the poorest first.”

CAFOD’s head of the Latin America and Caribbean region, Clare Dixon, said: “People in Brazil are absolutely delighted that they are hosting the World Cup in 2014, but what they are saying is – if we can have world-standard football stadiums, why can’t we have world-standard housing, world-standard healthcare, world-standard education? And on the issue of housing, the support that CAFOD and our partners are giving housing associations in São Paulo is a key that can unlock these resources.”

CAFOD has been working in São Paulo for over 30 years with local partner organisations MDF and APOIO, who work alongside favela communities to help them speak out for their needs, fight evictions and negotiate with the local authorities for improved living conditions. MDF, the Movement for the Defence of People living in Favelas, was set up by Irish-born priest, Pat Clarke, in the 1970s.