It seems that while for some, urban life provides more opportunities, many people end up in the slums because they lack the skills or experience necessary to compete. The city does not offer enough jobs for everyone, nor does it have adequate social compensation or training programs that might help people enter the workforce. Poverty becomes a perpetual cycle. Newcomers arrive with hopes and dreams, then find themselves in a family and in a favela at the same time.

Discontent and hunger drive the people to the lowest standards possible. "Only those who have gone hungry know the value of food," says Carolina (page 53). It is not their fault that they live in filth, deprivation, and violence; these things come with extreme poverty. They become trapped in this mindset, and raise their children to survive in the same way. Children who grow up in poverty find it harder...