The majority of the population lives in unsafe and unhealthy. Many of these houses have no floor - it is all sand and rocks. It turns to mud when the rain season comes.
Inside them, people try to build a life but this is often not easy. Some of these families have no fridge or range. Actually, for some of them it would make no difference if they had a fridge or a range because they they wouldn’t be able to pay the utilities’ bills.

As it uses to happen in under-developed countries, family planning is a message that doesn’t go far enough: it is not unusual to find families with 5 or more children.
Nonetheless, there is love and joy in the village, too. Families embrace the challenges together and parents work around the clock to bring a ray of hope to their children. Their endurance is something that cannot be pictured with words only.

They keep working, smiling, living and loving - hoping that someone or something may somehow easy up a little bit their tremendous challenges

Getting there

Vila Isabel (MG, Brazil) and Victoria (BC, Canada) are approximately 11000 kms apart one to the other. We would love to get your visit over there but we realize that not everyone can afford it.

Luckily, you can always go there digitally. To see Vila Isabel in Google Maps just click here. If you have Google Earth installed you can also click here.

Also, this map bellow shows where Vila Santa Isabel is (look for the green “Colonia Santa Isabel” name) and how close this is to the Paraopeba River.