Cleaning up Curundu

Curundu has been known for its shootings, drugs and poverty, but a government-sponsored project is renovating the district.

Composed of 14 neighborhoods, Curundu extends from Brooklyncito to Santa Cruz.  Officially established in 1971, its first residents arrived earlier, building their homes of zinc, cardboard and wood.

This is where the government has promised big public works projects, built by Brazilian construction company Norberto Odebrecht.  New buildings would replace the makeshift houses, currently surrounded by garbage, with 516-foot-square apartments for over a thousand families at minimal rents.  To date, a total of 103 heads of Curundu households have signed up for the apartments.

Residents who prefer to get out of Curundu also have the possibility of buying a repossessed home or lot, or the state would provide materials for them to build a new home.

Director of the the Marie Poussepin school Amarillis Tunon told La Prensa in July that these new homes and new parks are a hope, but the important thing is human transformation.

“Curundu is a neighborhood that expects everything given to it and this has to change,” she said.

One Dollar, the price of life documentary (2001) about life in Curundu.

View of Curundu from Above / LA PRENSA David Mesa