Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

"The books, I don't read them, I devour them!" exclaims Lua, greedily scrutinizing the pages of a book on Nelson Mandela, in the library she founded only 12 years old in her favela in Rio de Janeiro.

This room of about twenty square meters with a simple corrugated iron roof, with 18,000 books carefully stored on shelves and cushions scattered on the floor, this is her universe, which she called "O mundo da Lua" ( the world of the Moon).

With her real name Raíssa Luara de Oliveira, the little girl, radiant in her pink overalls, has chosen a nickname that evokes the moon, but she has her feet firmly on the ground.

"At 12 years old, I did more for my neighborhood than you during your entire mandate," recently launched this mongrel with blonde curls with pink reflections, in a video addressed to the mayor of Rio, Marcelo Crivella.

Her neighborhood, where she has lived since the age of five, is the Tabajaras favela, at the top of a hill that overlooks the chic areas of Copacabana and Botafogo.

From the balcony of the association building that houses the library, you can see Sugarloaf in the distance, one of the main tourist attractions in Rio.

- Buzz and TV sets -

Lua had the idea to create this place six months ago, after going to a book fair.

"I saw a mother telling her child daughter that she could not afford to buy her a book that cost 3 reais (around 60 cents). I said to myself that something had to be done ", she says.

Just back from the living room, the teenager secretly took her grandmother's phone and appealed for book donations on Facebook.

Passing herself off as her grandmother, she then sent a message to Vania Ribeiro, the vice-president of the neighborhood association, asking her to give her a room.

Ms. Ribeiro immediately understood that it was in fact Lua and replied: "If you take care of it yourself, it's okay".

"When I learned that she had done all this behind my back, I scolded her a little, but afterwards, I supported her fully," says her grandmother Fatima Oliveira, a 60-year-old seamstress. , which Lua calls "Mom" because she has raised him since she was a baby.

The video of this pre-adolescent girl overflowing with enthusiasm quickly made the buzz and donations began to flow from all over the city.

Lua then chained the TV sets, giving even more notoriety to her project.

Today she still receives quantities of books, around 1,500 per week, almost too many for her small library.

Behind the shelves, large filled boxes are ready to go to another destination.

"A young man from Piaui (poor state in the northeast) told me that he wanted to take inspiration from my project to open a library in his village. I selected 500 books for him, but we need to money to send him, so I'm going to call for donations online, "she said.

Other shipments are planned, in Rio and in four northeastern states.

- Problems of racism -

While waiting to make people happy throughout Brazil, the books collected by Lua give back the desire to read to the children of the favela.

"I love coming here, it saves me from hanging out on the street when I'm not at school. Before, I only thought about playing football or video games," says Daniel Couto Nascimento, 10 , sprawled on a cushion, a comic book by hand.

Lua was also not focused on reading before her nine years, until a teacher introduced her to "Journal of a deflated", bestseller by the American Jeff Kinney intended for the adolescent audience.

Today, she devours much thicker books, and on subjects such as racism or religious tolerance.

"I saw my father being tackled against a wall by the police just because he is black. And recently, a surfer called me a voodoo witch on social networks, saying that I had stolen the color of hair of Europeans, "says Lua.

This kind of attack only strengthens the motivation of the young Brazilian, who dreams of being a veterinarian and is already working on a new project: a refuge for stray dogs and cats in her favela.

© 2020 AFP