A Child's Joy

Photo by Ezra Millstein

A family's desperation isn't always obvious in the face of a child. Five-year-old Cleberson Narciso lives with his parents and two older siblings in a neighborhood known as Atlantica in Guaruja, Brazil. Their three-room shack is made of salvaged wood planks and cement blocks, situated just a few feet away from the foul-smelling Acarau River. Cleberson's mother has draped every wall of the house with fabric and lace, a lovely distraction from the fact that every time it rains for more than half an hour, the garbage-soaked river saturates the rickety, warped floors. By the middle of 2008, the Narciso family and 31 others will be living in new homes built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Brazil and the Dow Chemical Co. Though only a short walk away from the favela they now call home, it will be a different world for Cleberson and his family.