Brazil Favelas: Innovative way to deliver mail in Brazilian slums

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A group of entrepreneurs is trying to make it easier for people in Brazilian slums to get their mail. The government never mapped the informal neighborhoods, so some creative minds stepped in. CGTN's Lucrecia Franco has more from Rio de Janeiro.

Located in Rio de Janeiro's south zone, Rocinha is considered Brazil's biggest favela, with a population around 70 thousand people but it could be much higher, depending on who did the counting.

There are no exact numbers. A closer look at this hillside community reveals why- a complex of improvised dwellings and a maze of alleys with no names or numbers that constantly change.

But not for this employee of "The Friendly Mailman"- a private mail delivery service that has been operating in Rocinha for almost twenty years.

Former Rocinha resident, Pedro da Silva and two friends, created the service after a national census.

PEDRO DA SILVA, FOUNDER "FRIENDLY MAILMAN" DELIVERY SERVICE "It was the year 2000 and I and my friends discovered that ninety percent of the residents in Rocinha couldn't receive mail, I couldn't, and we thought something should be done to solve the problem."

That's when they decided to map the favela using algorithms. They create codes, identifying all of Rocinha's streets including landmarks like pharmacies, houses, bakeries and even rocks.

LUCRECIA FRANCO RIO DE JANEIRO "Though mapping the favela has been complicated, the system is simple: residents sign up, pay a monthly fee of around six dollars per family, and use the Friendly Mailman's address as their own."

To collect packages and bigger deliveries like furniture and appliances, clients need to go to the company's headquarters in person.

LUCIA FREITAS ROCINHA RESIDENT "After they invented this system, I have received all kinds of things, refrigerators, TV sets, air conditioner everything, you name it!"

The "Friendly Mailman" delivers regular mail to a client's door- something government post offices aren't required to do because most favela addresses have never been registered.

As Rocinha grows, "The Friendly Mailman" grows with it. It now has around 14-thousand clients in this favela alone, and franchises in eight other communities.

Lucrecia Franco, CGTN, Rio de Janeiro.