by Felipe Araujo   Follow @felipethejourno

For the past three years, winters in Brazil have been marked by major events. Around this time in 2014, the country hosted the World Cup, a tournament that ended in bitter disappointment for this football-mad nation of 200 million.

Last year, protests against the now suspended president Dilma Rousseff spread all over the nation, in what became the beginning of one of the biggest ever political crises to hit these shores.

And now the Olympics — the first ever to be held on South American soil, which concludes later tonight with the Closing Ceremony (the Paralympics will follow on September 7^th).

With the world‘s attention soon to turn away from Brazil, people here are afraid of what’s to come. The economy is in the gutter, unemployment stands at a staggering 11.2%, and violent crime is on the rise. The bill for playing host to the World Cup ($7 billion) and the Summer Olympics ($11 billion) in the space of two years is something Brazilians will have to live with for a very long time.

Little girl entertaining herself at her dad’s garage in Vidigal — perhaps Rio’s most picturesque favela

Lady standing outside her newly-built home. Her old one was demolished to make way for the Olympics.

View from above of the Favela Experience hostel in Vidigal. The hostel gives 40% of its profit back to the community.

She’s known in Vidigal as Tia (Aunt in Portuguese) Rosa. When I spoke to her she said even though she doesn’t have anything against foreigners moving to the favela she said bluntly they are the main reason why rental prices in the area have skyrocketed. She makes a fuss every time she goes to the local supermarket and prices are always higher. “They say I’m a troublemaker but I just know my rights.”

Violence used to be Vidigal’s biggest problem. Now one of Rio’s most beautiful favelas is fighting a very different monster: gentrification

“Go ahead son, take the picture. I’m ugly but at least I’m debt-free.”

I was no longer in Rio in 2015, but the World Cup and Olympics were the determining factors in my decision to leave London in 2012 and go back to my roots. Young, educated, with a good amount of experience in my chosen profession, once in Brazil the world would be my oyster… or so I thought.

Women playing beach tennis in Ipanema beach. Winter doesn’t stop Cariocas from doing what they do best: enjoying the beach.

Regina Nunes, 60, is a lifelong resident of Vidigal. She said the life in the community has improved hugely over the years but certain problems still persist. “We have a huge respect for them (the police). It is the type of respect based on fear.”

f you don’t believe Cariocas work hard try to go to a train station at 11pm and notice what time people finish work

Got chatting on the train with these women who were on their way to the Olympics fan zone, in the city’s port area. In the end they all wanted to take selfies with me for some strange reason, I jus complied. “We are loving the Olympics. Do you know anyone looking for parking spaces? I”m renting out my garage.”

Olympic volunteer on his way home after a long day at the Olympic Stadium

The truth is, during my first stint here I failed, miserably, to assimilate. With the arrogance of a privileged westerner, I could so clearly see everything that was wrong with this place and what people needed to do to fix it. Set in my ways, I alienated some locals. I came from a “better” place, where things worked and there was no corruption. Except that I didn‘t know jack.

My Brazil experiment didn‘t last long — a little over a year to be precise. Speaking the language and having the look were only going to take me so far. Culturally I was too far removed. And so I returned to London, certain that’s where I “belonged”.

Favelas are where some of the city’s most violent criminals operate, but they are also where the most creative minds in the country reside

In 2014, I came back for three months to cover the World Cup. Travelling Brazil’s host cities, speaking to the poor in urban peripheries, and the rich in hotel lobbies, watching the games in the stadiums, in the favelas, bars, restaurants, even airplanes, gave me a better sense of the many societal and cultural layers in this continental piece of land.

People leaving Copacabana’s beach volleyball arena in Rio de Janeiro

Volleyball is Brazil’s second sport and the home crowd got fully behind their girls in Copacabana beach

One of the most disheartening things in the daily life of any Carioca is using the city’s unreliable public transport network

Those who know downtown Rio know how chaotic the area is. This man isn’t fazed by much, though…

This place is not just Copacabana or favelas, carnival or football, rich or poor. In between all the stereotypes, those of my ilk lose sight of everyday people — those who are resilient, tenacious, generous and funny, who are just trying to make the sweetest of lemonades with the bitter lemons the system throws at them daily.

Rio’s Vila Autodromo was once a community of 800 families. By the time the Games started there were only 20 left.

The photographs here were taken throughout my six-week stay in Rio while covering the Olympics. Staying at my cousin‘s apartment in the city centre gave me a much more genuine perspective of how everyday Brazilians feel about the changes their city and country have gone through. But even if taken five years ago or even ten years ago, some of these images and the stories behind them would still be relevant today and, in my view, will remain so for many years to come.

The presence of the army in the streets of Rio has made foreigners feel a lot safer. Poor people in the favelas, though, continue to die.

Josias is the key maker on the street where I live. He told how life got tougher for him and his family over the last few and that he worries for her daughter, who’s studying journalism at university. “I think once the Olympics are finished things will get worst for us, but we are Brazilians — we will find a way.”

All photos by Felipe Araujo 

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Felipe Araujo is a freelance news journalist based in London. He spent five years at CNN International and covered the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for Germany’s public broadcaster ZDF. He writes about race and minority issues, sports and culture. Twitter: @felipethejourno

There’s sport, and then there’s the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’s an event like no other. Over the next few weeks this series, curated by Shane Thomas, will cover the medals, the nationalism, the competition, the corporatisation, the exploitation, and the sporting brilliance of Rio 2016.

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