i love the set of recent pictures posted from their visit. looks like they're having loads of fun and i woldn't mind being there at the time. looks like such a vibrant city.
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it's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate.
The inhabitants of the community of Candeal (Salvador) have prepared a party to receive the heir to the Spanish throne, who went there to launch the first rock of a nursery center. Felipe de Bourbón and his wife, Letizia Ortiz, who hold the title of Princes of Asturias, had arrived at 8h00 in the community of 5,5 thousand inhabitants.
They attended a musical presentation and later unsealed a commemorative plate, where the building will be constructed. The day-care center will be raised in a land bought by the musician Carlinhos Brown. The Spanish Agency of Cooperation (Aeci) donated 200 thousand euros for the construction and equipment of the building as well as for the training of the educators, who will take care of 200 children, from zero to six years old.
Carlinhos Brown started a work in the community during the 90’s. There he constructed the MusicSchool, which was also visited today by the Spanish princes.
As soon as the royal staff arrived at the favela, the Timbalada started a row to greet the princes. To each step, a musical group, as the Hip Hop Roots, interrupted the stroll of the princes, who stopped to listen to the music and greet the inhabitants. The streets had been decorated with flags of Brazil and Spain.
The princes took more than a hour and a half to cross the quarter to the ghetto, where they were received by Carlinhos. Surrounded by children and adults, the princes took care of the public with affection.
Carlinhos Brown then explained how the day-care center will be called Virgin of the Almudena, in homage to Spain and President Lula, as saints are above of any political parties.
The princes also visited the School-Workshop of Salvador, where each year are formed one hundred specialists in restoration of pieces of art. Later on, they visited the cathedral and the convent of San Francisco as well as the Pelourinho.
The district of Candeal is a kind of miracle in the heart of Salvador da Baía, in which dignity has won the battle to poverty. Most of his 5,500 inhabitants survive with a wage of about one hundred dollars the month, but we can see them much happier than those who live in the most developed cities. Little time ago they had water and light and their lofty streets are now asphalted. There is also a health center and a school, and soon they will have a day-care center to the children, that will be financed by the Spanish Cooperation (AECI). Almost everything has been obtained thanks to the musician and their most famous neighbour, Carlinhos Brown, who is engaged for years on removing poverty from his district.
Yesterday, Candeal received the most special visit of its history. TRH the Princes of Asturias entered in this humble district, to place the first stone of the day-care center, and the inhabitants of Candeal thanked for the Royal visit the best way they know: organizing an impressive celebration of Carnival, in which almost all the district had participated. At the sound of drums and trumpets, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia let themselves be infected by the Afro-American rhythms and they even discreetly danced, as they were fascinated with such full spectacle of authenticity that was offered to them.
"If everyone put in everything the same persistence which we put at the time of organizing a Carnival, then would be much more progress in the world", said Carlinhos Brown, minutes before their guests arrived. Thirty years ago, when Brown still was a boy and used anything - a glass or a box to turn into a musical instrument - Candeal was a precious place with few houses, surrounded by a forest through which the clean water ran. But as time passed, the simple small houses were multiplied; the majestic trees that surrounded the district were replaced by the immense towers of houses, which have transformed the quarter into a very poor favela or marginal district. Ten years ago, the situation started to be corrected by the cooperation projects that Brown started up; most famous of all is the Professional School of Music, which was also visited yesterday by the Princes.
In order to receive the Princes, the main street of the district woke up yesterday all ornamented with garlands with the colours of both the flags of Spain and Brazil, and many neighbours put spectacular clothes and ethnic plumes that filled the place of colour. Accompanied by hundreds of neighbours, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia crossed the district until "the ghetto", a sacred place where the neighbours of Candeal practice their religion, denominated "candomblé" (that incorporates Christian and African rites), and which is also used in many other celebrations. While hundreds of children shouted the name of "Letizia", at the deafening rhythm of the drums, Don Felipe discovered a commemorative plaque, in memory to the first stone of the future day-care center. Microphone in hand and before singing, Brown thanked the Princes for the visit and the support given by Spain and the Government of Lula, as well as other Brazilian institutions. He also wanted to thank Trueba for the documentary «The miracle of Candeal», which made this district and the Brazilian musician enormously popular in Spain. Finally, he wished much luck to Doña Letizia "and the pretty family that she is going to raise".
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