Viva Rio, have already succeeded in transforming a favela (the Brazilian term for a shanty town), from a place of violence and despair, to a place of hope and pride. A boxing gym called Luta Pela Paz (meaning fight for peace) was constructed, with the bare minimum of equipment in the middle of one of these towns. With plenty of graft and hard work, the gym has become renowned throughout Brazil for giving its members the chance to realise that there can be a future away from violence and crime.  It has progressed to the point where one of the gyms star athletes may even have the opportunity to represent Brazil internationally. Viva Rio, aim to build on this success by developing Luta Pela Paz into a four-story sports centre within the favela, enabling the underprivileged residents access to a whole range of sports, with the hope of inspiration. Facilities provided will include those for dancing, boxing, martial arts, gymnastics and an education centre.

The motivation for choosing Viva Rio is credited to Luke Dowdney, an old school friend, who after completing a degree in anthropology at Edinburgh University, moved to Rio and became one of it’s chief fundraisers and diplomats in bringing Brazils disadvantaged societies the world wide recognition they deserve. A documentary has been made by Channel 4 following the fortunes of Luke and one of his fighters, Rivan, in the build up to his first fight. Luke has also authored a book called "Children of the Drug Trade", which is a case study of children in organised armed violence in Rio de Janeiro.

Find out more about the Luta Pela Paz project direct from the website www.lutapelapaz.org.br
Find out about Viva Rio and it's other projects at www.vivario.org.br
Read an article about Luke and the boxing club. Do a search for "Cool Hand Luke".The Scotsman