Volunteer in Brazil: The Blog

Hi bloggers.

Apologies for my absence, this has been owing to my poor time management skills as of late and a lack of creative juice … but I am back now! I know you haven’t been totally starved of news as Jackie has since made her blogging debut so I am not going to feel terribly guilty, just a little!

It seems like we have quite a bit of catching up to do … where to begin?! So, as Jackie has already mentioned in her blog, we had annual Children’s Day at the project and to celebrate this special day the kids had, what is music to all children’s ears (and many adults’ too), news that they were going to be spending the afternoon at an all you can eat pizza lunch. Well it has to be said I have never seen so much pizza in all my days. Not only was I staggered at the volume of pizza that was served and consumed but it was the sheer variety of toppings … I mean, chocolate pizza, who knew there existed such a thing, well apart from Joe, Laura and past volunteers that is! I felt like re-enacting that well known part of Peter Kaye’s comedy act about garlic bread! Plus the journey home on all those winding roads in and around Santa Teresa had us a ll a little green around the gills. C’mon guys, you didn’t think I was going to be rude enough not to participate in this food fest did you, it would be rude to abstain!

It was so funny to hear that some of the kids wanted to really ensure that they got their moneys’ worth from this gastronomic spectacular so much so that they skipped their meals the day before to make room – ah kids, they are the best, they don’t miss a trick!

Beth and I left Rio for a few days and went to the state of Espirito Santo, we stayed in the city of Vitoria but also got the chance to go and visit the city of Venda Nova. Vitoria is in complete contrast to Rio, as where here in Rio the rich and poor live cheek by jowl, in Vitoria you could almost be forgiven for thinking that there was no poverty whatsoever. And as ashamed as I am to admit this, it was a nice change as there, provided you are living in the right ‘zip code’, you don’t have to live with the sound of gunfire and/or the constant anxiety that brings, like you have in Rio. Oddly enough you only realise that you live with this anxiety once you leave Rio, before I’d never really notice. Of course this sort of segregated living isn’t desirable in an ideal world as it poses the obvious risk that the more wealthy sections of society, who consequently it seems are also those with the power, may become ignorant of the social problems facing the less well off in their community but who lives in an ideal world. Anyway, even the wealthy and powerful in Rio do a good job of closing their eyes to what is right on their doorstep, so who is to say?! Vitoria is like a new city, it has many modern buildings, large shopping centres, etc. It has an abundance of wonderful beaches and I felt very privileged to be staying at Beth’s apartment there which literally had a beach on its doorstep, ah what bliss.

As I mentioned, I got to visit the city of Venda Nova and I absolutely fell in love with the place, it is stunning with vistas to die for. Its history is very interesting and the European influence there from a bygone era is obvious, as you wander around you feel as though you may possibly be in Europe as its houses wouldn’t look out of place in the Alps. It seems that one of the city’s main revenue streams is generated by what they term ‘Agroturism’ so, for example, you go and visit local food producers and buy their fresh produce and/or go for lunch at a fazenda, etc. If any of you get the chance to visit this storybook city please take it as it is a place not to be missed.

On my return from my trip with Beth I took time to reflect upon the time I have spent in Rio so far, to see whether I felt I was being true to my original inspiration for volunteering or whether I had unwittingly deviated therefrom. Although I am here for one year time does have a habit of going awfully quickly. I was quite shocked to realise that I have already been here for two months and I do not want to get so far down the line to only to realise that I had not achieved what I had set out to. I think as a volunteer it is important to keep a check on yourself as it is all too easy to get distracted and lose sight of why it was you came to be a volunteer in the first place. I am still in this reflective period but I have to say that I am, on the whole, happy with my progress thus far but I will never be completely satisfied, I always strive to do better.

This Sunday the project is hosting its annual Feijoada Festa here at the Assumption Convent. The kids have been feverishly selling tickets for the event, tickets cost BR.5 and entitle the bearer to a plate of the best feijoada in the city, neigh the country, and a drink. Rumour has it that Beth is making her deadly caipirinha! I just hope the attendees don’t forget that in order for them to get home there are a considerable amount of steps that they have to traverse and I don’t want to be pulling stragglers out of the hedges the next morning as I make my way down to street level for my walk! Actually I can be honest with you, I would love for this to happen and on the off chance I think I will take a camera with me! Watch this space bloggers……!

Ate mais!

Anne.x

So I have been in Brazil for four weeks now and on the one hand I still feel like the newbie but on the other I am starting to feel like a local in the Santa Teresa neighbourhood, it all has a comforting familiarity.  This has been particularly highlighted to me on the occasions Jackie has joined me on my morning walks, I have actually felt knowledgeable in being able to say this is here and that is that, etc.  Jackie arrived on Thursday evening and is settling in well, I think she feels like her Brazilian adventure has truly begun and I am confident she will slot in nicely both at the project and here at the convent.

I am happy to report that the last week in Santa Teresa has been a peaceful one, the turbulence of the past few weeks has abated, at least for the time being, and I think this has had a calming effect on all concerned at the project. 

As you all know by now, and if you don’t …. where have you been(?!), Rio has been selected to be the host of the Olympics 2016 and I, for one, think it is well deserved, an Olympics in South America is long overdue.  I know it is tempting to say well should Brazil really be spending its money on an Olympic games or should it be spending the money instead on its community services such as schools, housing and hospitals, etc but lets all be real but for the Olympics the government of this (or any other country) would not otherwise spend the cash in any event!  My hope is that the pressure of being under the glare of the world’s media and the desire to have Brazil to be seen to have the same living standards as other world superpowers will be such that the situation of those who most need help will get it.  For me, it does not really matter whether there is a true sincerity or indeed desire for those in power in bringing about better living standards for the favela communities, just so long as real change is made, we cannot always afford to be fussy as to the whys and wherefores, I am sure if I were living in such conditions I would just be glad to have any improvement, I would not be questioning the motivations. 

The children at the project had their annual spring party on Friday also, so it was timed nicely with the Olympics celebrations.  It was an afternoon of music, games, food and general fun, it was wonderful to see them so relaxed and at ease.  They were so excited about the Olympics and so very proud that it was coming to their City!  I found it very touching as they are arguably the very segment of this City which will arguably be the very people who may, on a worst case scenario, get nothing from the Olympics’ arrival here but still their excitement and pride in the having the games in Rio touched my heart and I pray that this will be a games for all. 

Speaking of the Olympics I had quite a surreal experience here at the convent, so let me set the scene, it’s Friday night and some hours before the announcement that Rio, neigh Brazil, had been waiting for finally came in – parabens all round!  So, later that night I turned in for some much needed beauty sleep and it was around 2:25am when I stirred to the sound of, it couldn’t possibly be, a full band, I am talking trumpets, drums, guitar, you name it I could hear it!  I could also hear what sounded like hundreds of people singing, shouting, laughing and I thought someone must have slipped a magic mushroom into my rice and beans as I surely must be hallucinating! I got up, out of bed and threw open my window, which overlooks the courtyard, and sure enough I was not dreaming or tripping there actually was the mother of all parties going on on the main road which passes by the convent, I just burst out into fits of laughter and thought, wow, how surreal is this?!  I was half tempted to go running down the hill in my PJs and fluffy slippers to join in but I didn’t want to give the night watchman too much of a fright, I think he has had enough of those in the last few weeks with the gunshots to last him a lifetime … the sight of my ‘just out of bed’ look may possibly have tipped him over the edge!    

On Saturday afternoon Beth took both myself and Jackie to a music store come café come music venue, it was fab!  It was so relaxing just whiling the hours away listening to great musicians and singers and, for me, having a beer or three!  I don’t know of many places in the UK where you could just sit and nurse a drink for a couple of hours or so, but at this place this was the norm and I really enjoyed the relaxed attitude – it was all about the music and the artists.

Last night Beth, Jackie, Bea and myself went to see a film called Dancando com o Diabo (Dancing with the Devil) as part of Rio’s International Film Festival 2009.  It was a documentary by an English director by the name of Jon Blair.  As it was the opening night of the festival and the premiere of the film the director attended and gave an introduction to the film highlighting his motivations behind it and the controversy it had caused given that Rio is now to host the Olympics 2016.  It was said that there were some people who did not want it to be shown and it almost wasn’t.  He quoted from Rev. Martin Luther King, to paraphrase, that in the end we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends, he said he was a friend of Rio and did not want to be silenced.  The film focuses on three main ‘characters’ (1) a drug lord (Spiderman) of a favela in West Rio; (2) a pastor of an Evangelic church (an ex-trafficker); and (3) two policemen.  Lets just say that the film left a different impression upon us all and it made for interesting ‘debate’ on the way home in the car (ha ha)!  Perhaps if you get the chance to see it you can judge for yourselves – it was made in conjunction with Channel 4 so perhaps it will be aired on C4 at some point, so look out for it. 

I am so happy to be able to write this blog and have nothing but good things to report.  It just goes to show good things happen as well as bad but it is just that the bad seems to get more attention!

Until next week this is your roving reporter Kate Adie, whoops I mean Anne McMahon, signing out!!

Love to you all.

Anne.xxx

I have just had a read of my post from last week, together with all your comments for which I am very thankful, and it seems as though in my penultimate paragraph I´d predicted the children at the project having a bad day and my having to put into practice what I had said about showing understanding and compassion during such times. I was disappointed that I didn´t find it as easy to do as I had hoped but it was a huge learning curve for me, particularly in not taking unruly behaviour personally.  I am sure for all those professional teachers out there this is something that you learn early on. 

As I have already mentioned things around the convent have been less than peaceful as of late and, of course, all of this unrest has its affect on the children, how could it not, and I experienced the difficulty of trying to teach children who have arguably become accustomed to living in war-like conditions, it was not easy for them or for me.   

When something is troubling the children you can tell immediately, there is a palpable sense of nervousness than hangs in the air as soon as you descend the stairs from the convent to where the project is situated.  The children are charged with a kind of nervous energy that has them on edge for the entire day, you see it not only when you are trying to teach them but also in the way in which they play balls games during their break and their general interaction with each other.  It is not a case that they become naughty as such, it is difficult to describe, I would say that they disconnect and that their minds are elsewhere.  During my classes with the two younger groups, P Group and M Group, on this particular day (last Tuesday) I had lost all control, they were unenthusiastic about participating in the work I had set, they were bickering amongst themselves and I felt ignored and pretty much discarded.  This was quite an alien experience for me insofar as my work background has always been within the very formal and, dare it be said, stuffy setting of solicitors´ offices in London, although this is not to say that I´ve not come across countless difficult and irrational lawyers in my time who unlike the children here have no reasonable excuse to áct out´ but that is another story! 

I think that day really demonstrated, at least to me, that children really are products of their environment, particularly as their behaviour on this one day stood in stark contrast to their previous behaviour both in classes with me prior to and since this time.  They really are good kids with good, kind hearts and what seems to be an almost unbreakable spirit and I really admire that – I think I will learn a lot from working together with them.  I think this experience was more a lesson for me in how to teach and also as an opportunity to develop better coping strategies.  I feel confident that should such a day occur again in the future I am now better equipped both practically and emotionally in how to best manage the situation. 

The weather here in Rio has been very mixed, it often feels like they can have all four seasons in one week.  When it rains in Rio it really does rain, none of this drizzle malarkey that Englanders are accustomed to.  Oh no, everything is on a much larger/dramatic scale here … from hills to weather!  Luckily on the weekend we were blessed with a couple of really beautiful days of sunshine and for the very first time since arriving here I was fortunate enough to get to experience one of the things that Rio is most famous for …. its beaches!  On Saturday evening we went to Copacabana which I really enjoyed, it is a great area with a lot of nightlife and oodles of people jogging, jogging with their children, jogging with their dogs … I have never seen so many joggers!  However given how delicious Brazilian food and the copious amounts of sugar that many people add to their beverages (including fruit juices!) I guess you have to balance things out some how! 

On Sunday morning Beth took both myself and Rosie to Ipanema beach.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful beach.  Like Beth said, the beaches in Rio are at least one place where everyone is the same, there is no barrier as to class, colour or creed, everyone is there enjoying the beach together, rich and poor alike.  For lunch we went to a style of eatery which seems to be quite popular here in Rio, and I can see why, it is where you pay for your food by weight – I´ve not come across such a place before either in the UK or on my travels overseas.  The food is set out in a buffet style and they have every kind of food you could imagine, from sushi to that good old Brazilian staple of rice and beans!  Once you make your selection you take your plate to be weighed by the staff and they give you a kind of charge card which you pay off at the end of your meal.  I thought it was pretty cool and I hope to make a return trip in the future. 

As I have been here for almost four weeks now I am starting to settle into my own new routines.  Each morning, weather permitting, I take a walk through the local neighbourhood and see everyone going about their daily business, maids, gardeners and other domestic help busily getting underway with their morning´s chores, mechanics and engineers who, at least look from the amount of oil and grease on their overalls, have been hard at work for some time already and also there is the quintessential professional setting off for his/her day at the office somewhere in the centre of the city.  I really enjoy this time of day and observing every day Cariocan life. 

This is all for this week´s post, my apologies that it is a bit late but I have been having computer problems! 

Until next week! 

Love, 

Anne.x