In pictures: UAE volunteers build homes for Brazil's poor

Geraldine Hafez an Egyptian ex students from American University of Sharjah for a Nadeem Hanif story on a group of volunteers from the UAE who went to a favela in Sao Paulo to help build new houses for local families, it's a project run by Monyati Initiatives, a not-for-profit social development organisation that is based in the UAE.(Photo courtesy-Amelia Johnson) *** Local Caption *** 0E1A2782.jpeg

“The favelas are like a scene from Slumdog Millionaire,� he said. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

Volunteers from the UAE have helped to transform the lives of poor families in Brazil’s biggest city by building new homes. Courtesy Amelia Johnson

The experience helped families and gave the volunteers valuable insight into how people living in the poverty-stricken neighbourhood cope. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

Monyati Initiatives was founded in 2009 by Monja Wolf, a German businesswoman based in Abu Dhabi. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

Each home cost Dh6,426 and took between two and three days to build. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

The organisation has carried out a variety of aid work, including providing clean running water to nine rural schools in Kyrgyzstan and giving blankets and food to disadvantaged people in New Delhi. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

But the discomfort of living in spartan accommodation was a small price to pay to help needy families, said Rami Al Otaibi, a Jordanian architect at AECOM International in Abu Dhabi. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

The group worked in partnership with Etihad Airways, which gave plane tickets to the volunteers. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

Jameela Al Baloushi, an Emirati law student from Al Ain University, was one of the volunteers working on the housing project. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

The volunteers had limited food rations and endured the coldest temperatures in Brazil for 52 years. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

The volunteers also stayed at a school and lived with dozens of other volunteers from Un Techo, a South American charity that specialises in building low-cost housing. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

Working with a not-for-profit social development organisation, Monyati Initiatives, the group built six wooden homes in a favela in Sao Paulo. Photo courtesy Amelia Johnson

The group had to pay for their own accommodation, transport and food in Brazil. Photo courtesy-Amelia Johnson

“It was very emotional when we were handing over the finished houses and wishing the families peace and happiness. I couldn’t stop crying,� said one of the volunteers Kiko Hindash, a student at Middlesex University in Dubai. Photo courtesy Amelia Jo???