Wallace

Wallace is 14 years old and is one of 4 boys. He lives alone in a small house with his brother William aged 11. His brothers Adrial aged 4 and baby Davi live close by with his mum. Wallace and his brothers caught my attention not only because they are my neighbours but also because I noticed a closeness in siblings. I would see Wallace and William walking back from the crèche with their baby brother and often sitting outside my house caring for their sleeping brother .

Wallace is a boy full of ambition he dreams of being an actor, professional dancer or singer. He is on the right track having been dancing hip hop for 2 years and is self-taught from watching videos on the internet. Wallace is also in a rap group with 5 other guys and a girl who were picked to do a show for Nike. He loves hip hop and rap music. Wallace has also learnt several martial arts, 8 different ones including jiu jitsu, capoeira, judo, and kung fu. He would like to learn English and other languages because there are people coming to Vidigal from different places and he would be able to make new friends

He has presented his skills a number of times at the Campinho show. A show hosted by Nos do Morro the theatre group in Vidigal of which Wallace is a member. The theatre group get together and present a showcase of talent, different types of skills of the community. The show is open to everybody and is a great opportunity for the community.

In a normal day Wallace goes to the theatre in the morning, school in the afternoon and the evening he spends with his brother. He takes care of his little brothers, collects one from school and as the older brother gives them good advice. His family is very important to him but like most teenagers he fights with his mum. Unfortunately she threw him out because he couldn’t clean up the house enough an so now he lives alone with his 11 year old brother. As much as it makes them closer it is a lot of time to spend together. Now Wallace also works long days working as a van operator to earn extra money.

Wallace is a positive and very active young man. His positivity comes from suffering a lot as a child and has already passéd nights without dinner. He has had to go to other people’s houses to ask for food but he says he has never stopped doing the things he loves and has never felt the need to use drugs.