‘Now I steal people’s attention’: how a Brazilian newspaper has turned a city’s rough sleepers into journalists

Porto Alegre’s Boca de Rua is sold and written by some of the city’s most vulnerable people, giving them a voice and a sense of purpose

Every Tuesday afternoon, Michel Vasconcelos goes to an open-air market in Porto Alegre, a city in southern Brazil, his backpack full of newspapers to sell, to which he contributes words and illustrations. “I used to steal and deal drugs,” says Vasconcelos, 43, who ended up living on the streets due to a family fall out.

It was there that he got involved, nearly 10 years ago, with the project Boca de Rua (Word on the Street) and became, in his own words, a paperboy and journalist. “Now, I steal people’s attention and deal in information,” he says, flashing a smile.