"A favela is a Brazilian shantytown or slum. Favelas are often considered a disgrace within Brazil. ...[They] are often characterized by an almost total absence of numbered streets, sanitation networks, electricity, telephone service, or plumbing. Most favelas are inaccessible by vehicles, the houses being randomly built, circulation provided by stairways, passageways or simply tracks....Drug dealers dominate and delegate everything that goes on within the favelas.

São Paulo's favelas tend to be ...very violent...the general life standard is somewhat even worse than in Rio. People that live in favelas, known as favelados, are often very poor. Many live below the poverty line on less than 100 US$ per month."                            source: Wikipedia.......http://wikipedia.org/wiki/favelas