In Rocinha, a sprawling favela nestled on a hillside in the southern zone of Rio de Janeiro, receiving mail is challenging. Few mail carriers from Correios, the public postal service, venture into this maze of narrow, anonymous alleyways where most of the 72,000 residents live in informal housing without an official address. According to a study by the Getulio Vargas Foundation, residents receive mail only 33.9% of the time, on average.

Frustrated by their isolation, three local residents, Carlos Pedro, Elaine Ramos and Sila Viera, started Carteiro Amigo ("Friendly Mail Carrier") in 2000. For a monthly subscription fee, Carteiro Amigo allows residents of favelas to receive mail at a pickup location set up at the entrance of the favela, where streets are wide enough for public postal vehicles to access.

Mail carriers from different sections of the favela then deliver letters directly to customers' doors on foot or by motorcycle. "Today, we have 2,000 clients, three locations in three different favelas (Rocinha, Cidade de Deus and Rio das Pedras) and 20 mail carriers," said Carlos Pedro Junior, the son of two of the company's founders who has run the business since 2017.

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