maria francisca

60-year-old former in-house maid who has been working as a cart vendor for the past 30 years.

Her daily routine involves baking cakes and brewing coffee every morning and afternoon, with the help of her grandkid, to be sold in her cart in front of a nearby mall.

In between her work shifts, she spends her spare time taking care of her plants and chatting with her neighbors.

the context

The settlement where Maria lives is called Riacho Doce. It is located in the Lagoa Sapiranga neighborhood, a region known as the south part of the city.

According to Maria, this triangled shaped area belonged to the city, and it was supposed to be a public square/plaza. However, people, including Maria, started to occupy illegally this piece of land around 30 years ago.

Back then, this part of the city was not too developed, and it was not attractive for the real estate market. So, the Riacho Doce occupation happened pacifically and uninterruptedly.

In 2008, a big mall was built right beside this settlement. The developers threatened to evict the whole settlement with the city's help. However, the city's mayor at the time refused to do so, and stated that if the mall developers wanted them gone, they would have to indemnify each householder by themselves, which it did not happened.

To this day, the settlement is enduring.