Connections

Connections: Rotary, University(IESPES) and Pastoral do Menor:
Reflecting on the past three months of my Rotary grant stay here in Brazil, I would say “connecting things together, bit by bit; with patience” - this has been my mantra.

First I was assigned to teach a marketing class at IESPES, the local university here in Santarem. I encouraged the students to make marketing plans, and to think beyond the box about what kinds of businesses they could create on their own. My university students here are studying in the discipline jornalismo, many already are working for on-line or paper newspapers, local radio / television stations.

Then because of rotary connections, when I arrived in June I aligned efforts with a non-profit here called Pastoral do Menor. Through that organization, I worked with a group of unemployed women to initiate a microcredit cooperative - they would make purses from recycled plastic coke and fanta bottles and I would lend them the money to start (micro credit) and then work to export them to other parts of Brazil and the US. My students from my IESPES marketing class came to visit Pastoral do Menor, interview the women, appraise the situation and between us we have made up a marketing plan. So we will see what develops, we are doing a test run in September for selling the products in the US. (Fotos of women and students)

Special thanks to my friend Tish who came to visit me here in Brazil and support the Women’s Cooperative.!

Obrigada

I have many people to thank for my good fabulous stay here: Steve and Aurea, Gustavo, Karina, Ron and Vera, my Pastor de Menor family (Dona Ana and Gileci).

Things I Tried to Learn from Brazilians

- To walk graceful, like all Brazilian women (I never did take the course “finishing school” in my education, is it too late?)
- To eat without getting my fingers or mouth soiled, or leave crumbs all over the table (there is a reason you get only a very tiny napkin with meals here). Maybe less is more!
- That in spite of what misfortunes may happen in life, be patient, try to enjoy life with friends and family - more parties/festas! For It's Áll Good!

And so here is a picture of me with my new Brazilian ``digs`` and attitude!

More Thanks and Parting Thoughts on Brazil

• More thanks to my Quilombo (medical boat team) family for guiding me to not be a casualty but even a help to them, all the taxi drivers and tour guides I came across with their interesting views of what it means to be a Brazilian, especially Darlan –of Sao Luiz,; and last but the most important thanks to Ana, the maid at the Fundacao Esperanca where I was housed, who cooked and cleaned for me all the time. What will I ever do when I get back to the States without a maid???
  
  Things I understand now
  -why women wear platform shoes - to stay above the mud and dirt
  -why women never put purses on ground - because of bugs
  
  
  Best scenic destination, little known -Lencois in Maranhao (hundreds of clear blue mineral lakes in pristine white dunes on beaches - spectacular!)
  
  Things I will miss - hugs and kisses, gentileza - gente boa - such good people!, spirit of handling terrible things in life. I will miss all kinds of Amazon fruit we so not have in the US - graviola, cupuracu, caju
  
  Things I will not miss - bugs, heat, trash, noise (cars roaming about blasting political endorsements/advertisements from loud speakers)!
  
  Best thing Brazil has copied from the rest of the world– plastic chairs – durable can survive Amazon, anywhere, cheap
  
  Worst thing Brazil has copied from the rest of the world – Coca cola, Fanta. Gosh, Brazil has a delicious drink of its own – Guarana from real juice!
  
  

Boat Trip to Quilombo People of the Amazon

A quilombo (from the Kimbundu word kilombo) is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by Quilombolas, or Maroons and, in some cases, a minority of marginalised Portuguese, Brazilian aboriginals, Jews and Arabs, and/or other non-black, non-slave Brazilians that faced oppression during colonization. Quilombos was in fact a group of African fugitive slaves and their descendents.
The Brazilian 1988 constitution granted the remaining quilombos the collective ownership of the lands they have occupied since colonial times, thus recognizing their distinct identity at the same level of the Indians.

A riverboat, equipped as a medical clinic, monthly makes a five day trip, staffed by Fundacao Esperanca, a public health medical clinic organization in Santarem (which helps fund the university IESPES, my sponsor). This project is subsidized by a bauxite mining company, Mineracao do Rio Norte. This boat reaches the remote Quilombo communities along the Rio Trompetras, a tributary of the Amazon, where the bauxite mining exists. The boat is filled with medical records, supplies and public health personnel.

Amazonas Medical River Boat

I had the unique opportunity and privilege to be part of the incredible humanitarian medical team this month, participating and sharing with the Quilombo communities their strengths and problems. I just got back, exhausted yet exhilarated! What a life moving experience for me! I will not editorialize in this blog but merely share my Amazon experiences about the Quilombo people. Often native people are the forgotten ones when issues arise for political or economic reasons. Today the Amazon is a point of interest to the world at large – important for resources, for consequences of the environment, of global warming, etc. But here is some information I will share with you about the people, the most valuable resource, no?
No body can tell me for sure but I believe that the origin of the Quilombo people of the Rio Trompetas is that hey were escaped slaves from Santarem and Manaus in the late 1800’s during the cane sugar, rubber and/or gold rush times. They got as far away as possible. Indeed it took us a 24 hour riverboat ride from Santarem to reach these communities.

The Quilombo People

My pictures are of the boat we took, the medical team, and the local people. The boat would dock at each of the three communities visited and with the help of local volunteers, medical records and supplies were taken from the boat in nearby centers. My participation (since I have no public health nor medical expertise) was to help from simply passing out numbers for the sign up consultation to accompanying a young male nurse tech on home visits made by motor taxi. These visits are so necessary as many cannot make it by boat to the community centers every month. The nurse tech checks elderly people for blood pressure and locates young children who have not been identified in the data collection. These home visits were the most moving for me. At one of the river homes where we stopped, after the nurse tech took blood pressure of two elders, and weighing three new babies, a young mom was pointed out to me having a problem. The people wanted me to check her for lumps in her breasts since she was having some pains. I told them that I was not a nurse nor a doctor but had a special interest and would check her. The young 29 year old deaf woman was extremely fearful, as older members of the family who had died were thought to have died from cancer.. I did not find anything I thought to be concerned about but advised her to get consultation next month. She is so much in my thoughts since I have come back…..