[Rogério Rodrigues with Boxing Coach and promoter Cesario Figueiredo]
By some accounts Rochina is Latin America's biggest shanty town (favela) and according to wikipedia it is the 9th largest in the world.
A recent campaign by the Brazilian government to reduce the strong hold criminal elements had over Rochina has now made it one of Rio's safest favelas. But the poverty it suffers is still very real. What it lacks in wealth it makes up for in the richness of spirit and dynamism of some of its residents.
Rogério Rodrigues is one such resident. He works as a volunteer coordinator at the Instituto Dois Irmãos, a non-profit organisation created to provide educational and cultural activities for the people of Rocinha.
It was at the Instituto Dois Irmãos that he met volunteer and US Marine Chris Clark and it was here that the idea of Rocinha CrossFit, Brazil's first non-profit CrossFit affiliate was born.
Press play for the full inspirational story:
