Araçatuba, Sunday, 11th to Sunday 18th May 2003
SUNDAY, 11 MAY cont. Arrived in Araçatuba almost 2 hours after leaving Andradina, met up with our hosts and split from each other to travel to our seperate homes. My hosts are Paulo & Lucia DARE. They have two teenage daughters, both of whom are still at school. An older daughter is at University in Michigan N. America. They run a computer software company called Computel and their main product is to design systems for the pharmaceutical industry. Their company is just around the corner from their home, literally less than 100 metres, but they always drive to work, often seperately.
Anyway we had only been in the house a few minutes, when I was asked if I would like to go to a Sauna. An affirmative led to Paulo, Lucia, one daughter, one dog and myself, quickly leaving the home and driving out of the City, which has a population of approx 200,000 (the largest we have visited so far) to a Sports Club for lawyers situated in large grounds full of exotic fruit trees. It has a large swimming pool and a bar, which is where we adjourn to and spend the next hour ignoring the women and exercising our right arms. Then all the men, about 10 of us, troop of firstly to the steam room and then to the sauna. Amazingly all of them have taken disposable razors into the steam room and with me being the only exception they shave themselves by touch. More men arrive and I am introduced to people I cannot see through the thick cloud of steam as a Rotariano, & English Policia Superintendente. There is much typical male banter going on the whole time we are in there, such as `Don´t sit next to him, he´s gay` and more in the same vein. After the sauna, the shower has no head and just produces a torrent of extremely cold water. We were in their for almost 2 hours and then it was back to the bar to replace the alcohol we had just sweated out. Then collect the women and set off home about 9pm. We went via the bus station and collected a 19 year old woman called Catherine, a Youth Exchanger from Pennsylvania USA, who it turned out was going to stay at their house on a temporary basis. Dinner was a take away Pizza collected on the way home.
MONDAY, 12 MAY
This morning was free time, but I visited my host´s computer company and met the staff. He employs about 10 people, all young, some programmers and software geeks, others who are obviously the hardware specialists. Then I am whisked off again on a visit to the Policia Militar Rodoviaria. This branch of the Police are responsible for policing the bus station and the roads, in other words they are the traffic police. The roads in Sau Paulo state are in a far better condition than those in Matto Grosso do Sul. In fact there is a dual carriageway, which is almost to motorway standard that runs from the state border all the way to Sao Paulo city, a distance of about 700 kilometres. The Polkice Station is situated on this motorway just outside the City boundary and I meet with the Commanding Officer, Captain Claudio Mercadante. We have a chat about the differences in policing between England and Brazil and then I am shown around. They have both National and State Computer systems for Wanted/Missing Persons, Vehicles, Legally held Armaments and a 4th category that I still have not been able to work out. They also have a fixed penalty ticket system for motoring offences. The police vehicles are very modern and up to date, Ford Focus and Chevrolet 4 x 4 ´s. It is obvious that there is far more money available for state and national institutions in Sau Paulo than there was in Matto Grosso. I also came across a `Vountario Officer`. Do they have Special Constables in Sao Paulo? Well almost. This young man was employed for up to 2 years on a salary of R$480 per month, that is almost exactly GB100 pounds to work just in the police station. Then if he liked it he could sit the entrance exam and other tests with a view to becoming a regular officer. Cheap labour? Yes. but a regular officer only earns just over twice this.
An interesting visit, and my free day had become a professional one.
It was then home for lunch and as school finishes at 12 noon all the family were there. In the afternoon we had a visit to the Mayor of Araçatuba scheduled for 3.00pm and when we turned up so had the TV, the radio and the press. The mayor was a strange guy, in his late 60´s, he was formerly a surgeon, but was now on his second and final term of office as mayor. He just did not seem to be with it. There were long silences when he appeared to just loose all track of his surroundings and gaze vacantly in front of him. He appeared to be quite spaced out and when I later asked if he was ill, our hosts just burst out laughing. Following this bizarre audience, our hosts took us on a whistle stop tour of the City by car, pointing out various sites as we sped past. Then we went to the outskirts and to the Pousada Aguas Calientes, ´Inn of Warm Waters`, a hotel, that had been buit around natural warm springs. Why hadn´t our hosts told us in advance that we were going there? We could have taken our swimming things and used the 2 pools. The hotel had around 100 rooms, all with thatched roofs made from palm tree leaves, but they were very basic, the beds were concrete with a mattress on top. The up market rooms hnad air conditioning and cost all of GB15 pounds per night, including breakfast. There was only one couple and a small girl in residence. It turned out they were Italians from Milan and they had come to Brazil to adopt the small girl and take her back to Italy as their daughter and they were just fulfilling their residency prior to the adoption approval. Next stop was a sports Club next to the hotel, again based on the hot springs. We were told that they were both full at weekends, but empty during the week.
This evening we are at the Rotary Club of Araçatuba - Cruzeiro do Sul, which had 26 members, roughly in a 2:1 ratio of women to men. It was to be a party night to celebrate mothers´day the previous day and so we were asked to keep our presentation to a minimum, which we did. They had a live duo performing and it was the President, Maria Helena Rosetto, who led the singing. During the day it had become apparent, when we were told that we were going to visit a stud farm for cattle the following day, that out professional days, which were the next 2 had not been properly planned and prior to attending the Club I had been in touch with Marco Pompeu, the District GSE Organiser about this. He in turn had been in touch with Marliene, the local GSE organiser and had phoned back to tell me that everything was O K, but that I would meet with her at the Club, which I did. Everything was not O K, but after lengthy discussion with her the stud farm visit was deleted and she assured me that proper professional visits were being organised. So the day came to an end.
TUESDAY, 13 MAY - OUR 3RD PROFESSIONAL DAY (but it seemed like my 5th)
My day started with a morning visit to the 2nd Corp de Policia Militar at their baracks in the City. We were met by Major Paulo Arcanzo da Cruz de Oliviera, who was to be my guide for the morning. First introduction was to the Commandante, Colonel Luis Silvi Dante and the inevitable discussion about policing in England and why we didn´t carry guns. I was presented with a baseball cap and T shirt, which were part of a promotional campaign to warn young people aweay from drugs. Then it was a tour of the facility, seeing some of their training, which always seems to involve the use of weapons. A trip in a Chevrolet 4 x 4 Police Car, which had a 6 cylinder engine and was very powerful. This short tip involved the use of flashing roof lights, which in Brazil are red, and of course 2 tone horns. Mounted between the front seats, was a Berreta automatic machine pistol, with 14 shot magazine and a fold out stock. You only had to give it the slightest pull to have it in your hand and ready for use.
The bomberos, or fire brigade are part of the same organisation and I visited them next. The fire engines were fairly old, one a 30,000 litre water tanker, which travelled to fires to provide water for the other 2 appliances was positively ancient. The 2 ambulances, however were comparatively modern, one only 10 years old and the other based on a Fiat Iveco was brand new. Both were well equipped and carried basic first aid equipment, plus spinal boards and oxygen, but they lacked cardiac monitors and the operatives were definitely not trained to paramedic standards.
Next was a visit to the dog section, where they use German Shepherds and Rottweilers for crowd control etc and Labradors, both black and golden as drug dogs. The dog training was very similar to that in Britain. The officers live on site, which is like a barracks and have their own doctor and dentist, who hold officer rank in the Policia Militar. There were many uniform officers in the HQ and many of them did not appear to have a proper role. They were just standing around. There were also more of the Voluntario Officers I had first seen yesterday.
Also on the site was a Kids Club, not for the children of the officers, but for poor kids from the city. It operated from school closing time at 12 noon, until dark and was designed to keep kids off the streets and out of mischief or harm. That´s proactive policing, but then they seem to have the staff to throw at such ventures. For me a very good visit.
I was a little late for the lunch time meeting of the Rotary Club of Araçatuba- Noroeste, where agsain our presentations were kept to a minimum.
My afternoon visit was to the Tiro de Guerra, or Army, barracks in the town. Brazil still has national service of a sort. Every 18 year old male is required to take part and they have to report for 2 hours per day, plus 7 soldiers on a rotation system are on duty for 24 hours per day, but they can bed down after 10.00pm. The barracks has 2 platoons of 50 soldiers each and each is under the command of a sergeant, who live in the barracks with their families. There is no pay and they still go to school, university or work, because they are only there for 2 hours per day. If after a year the conscripts are interested in army life, they can take the entrance tests with a view to becoming a regular officer, but less than 15% do. The road outside the barracks is closed off at 9.00pm each evening until 6.00am as a security measure. The weapons, ammunition, gas and uniforms in the barracks arfe seen as a target for the drugs gangs. The conscripts duty day begins at 6.00am, when all 100 are there to do drill in the road outside as a prelude to classroom lessons and cleaning the barracks.
Another Rotary Clun meeting this evening, with the R C of Araçatuba - Bandeirantes and President Sidney Garcia. This time we had a data projector, but we were cutting down on our talking trying to achieve the 15 minute total that we believe we are being given at the district Confernce this coming weekend.
...posted Thursday, May 15, 2003
Andradina, Monday, 5th to Sunday,11th May 2003
Our first official duty (sounds a bit like the queen put like that doesn't it?) was Monday evening and a visit to the Rotary Club of Andradina - Intergracao. this is a new Club formed 1.5 yrs ago by my host, Modesto. He wanted his old club, the R C of Andradina of which he had been a member for 17 years and a former President, to change. He wanted the Club to admit women, recruit younger members and to stop drinking alcohol at Club meetings. When they would not change he resigned, but the then DG (my host in Campo Grande, Olimpio) contacted him, persuaded him not to resign from Rotary, but to form a new Club with the profile that he wanted. So he did. In just one month he had 28 new members, 50/50 split men and women and many of them in their 30's and they do not serve alcohol at their meetings. We were going to do our presentation with 35mm slides, but the bulb didn't work on the first projector and the fan didn't on the second, so it was overheating very quickly. So it was down to an oral presentation, which we all agreed should be cut short and only include details of ourselves and our families.
Also present at the meeting were Genesio Char - the District Governor, who lives in Andradina and is a member of the RC of Andradina, the President of Andradina Council, plus the Mayor and a famous (in Brazil & Germany apparently) artist called Sarro, who works with different materials and creats very big works of art. One of his claims to fame, if I understood it correctly, is that when travelling by air he passes the time by carving hollow figures inside bread rolls and then later casting them in plastic or other materials and I did see 2 he had done.
Anyway, back to the President. He was invited to speak and then all of a sudden he was mentioning all our names and it turns out that the Camara (Council) of Andrandina had passed a motion - Official No. 760/2.003 formally and individually welcoming the 5 of us to Andradina and we each of us have copies of the signed motion to prove it. Not to be outdone the Mayor then stood up and started speaking. He had passed a Direction No 3.631/2003 declaring that we were official and illustrious visitors to the City. I have a copy of that too. From the Rotary Club we all received T shirts, specially printed to record our visit, in Portuguese on the front & English on the back, showing the Brazilian and GB Flags and District details. Like all Rotary Clubs in Brazil they conducted the business first, then closed the meeting prior to sitting down for a meal and fellowship. What this in fact means is that although meetings are scheduled to start at 8.00pm they don't. Brazilians are invariably late, up to an hour is common, for everything, so you don't actually start eating until well after 10.00pm and meetings don't actually finish until after 11.30pm.
TUESDAY 6 MAY
We all had a free morning and in the afternoon gathered together, accompanied by the DG for a visit to and tour of a sugar cane processing factory. I found it very interesting, seeing the cut cane arriving at the factory in two different forms, 2 metre lengths where it had been cut by hand and 20 cm lengths where it had been cut by machine. Also it was in 2 different forms of lorry, hand cut were contained in cages, machine cut in what could best be described as lidless containers. The lorries pulled two trailers and had an overall length of 30 metres. Prior to cutting however, the fields are set alight, to burn the leaves off the cane, but also to destroy the bugs, spiders and snakes that would be dangerous to the workers. In Brazil wages are so small that it is actually cheaper to cut by hand and this does provide necessary employment for many. We were taken through the whole process of turning the sugar cane into alcohol with the only concession to health and safety being the provision of a hard hat. Why do they do it? They manufacvture cars in Brazil, with engines designed to run on the alcohol. It has zero harmful emissions and is considerably cheaper at R$1.19 (about 25pence) per litre than petrol, which costs R$2.15 per litre, still about half the cost in the UK. by the way diesel costs R$1.49 per litre, but there are no diesel engined cars, only trucks, buses and small commercial vehicles.
This evening we went to the Andradina Tennis Club, where some of the Rotarians regularly play in a 7 a side game of football. I"m not sure whether they play in a League or not, but Jin was going to play in goal for the team - his dodgy knees would not stand up to him playing in the outfield. He had a very successful debut, making a number of fine saves and only conceeding one goal in what turned out to be a 6 - 1 victory. After this we sampled the steam room and the sauna, both of which were rather primitive and Jin had a massage, which from the noise he was making he didn't enjoy one bit.
WEDNESDAY, 7 MAY
We travelled together today, again accompanied by the DG to the town of Guaracai, where we were being hosted by the local Rotary Club and their President Alceu Caetano. The club is ten years old and has 21 members from a town with a population of 11000. We met with them on the edge of town by the permanent Rotary sign for the obligatory photograph session and the usual very warm welcome. Guaracai is a fruit growing area and as the day progressed we were to see fruits growing that we had only previously seen on supermarket shelves. Our first stop was the Pineapple Growing Co-operative and packing station, where today's price was 24cents per kilo, that's 5pence. We also got our first free sample, not the sort we get in England that gets the edge of your tongue hurting from the acidity, but pineapple that was juicy and deliciously sweet. Then we went for a tour of the plantations. The pineapples are grown in different stages so that they can harvest year round and we saw them from small fruit covered in small purple flowers up to fully grown ready to harvest. As the fruit matures each one is wrapped by hand in old newspaper to protect it from the sun. Some of the fruit grows mis-shaped and these are used to produce pineapple juice. We then got to sample fruit picked straight from the plant. Maybe it was my imagination being out in the fields and the sun, but this seemed to taste even more delicious and sweet than that we had tasted back at the packing station.
We then visited a Creche called "Casa da Crianca - Santa Marques", for children aged 6 months to 6 years, which was supported by the Rotary Club and for which they had secured a matching grant with a Club in Italy for $6600 to install a laundry. The creche was in excellent condition with really good facilities and it enabled young mothers to go out to work and earn money to support their family.
The Rotary Club had brought its normal evening meeting forward to lunch time and so we met in a town centre restaurant, swapped banners and a peace candle and generally had a convivial lunch, before visiting the town hospital, which had 5 doctors, an operating theatre and 32 beds. It was not the most up to date facility I had seen, but it was clean and until they allowed us to start wandering through it no doubt hygenic. There is obviously no such thing as patient confidentiality in Brazil as we were marched into rooms totally unannounced. We were shown the laundry, which was a museum piece, and yes, they want to do a matching grant for $6600 dollars to replace it.
Next we were shown an oldfolks home, "Centro de Convinvencia do Idosos de Guaracai", which takes people aged 60 plus and had 20 residents. They had a matching grant in progress here with the Rotary Club of Salt Lake City, USA for $6600 to fund a new...laundry. Why didn't they just build one central laundry to serve all 3 facilities? No answer, not a concept they had considered. They seem to have fixed on laundries like Campo Grande had on dental surgeries and are not able to think outside the box.
We then went to meet the mayor, but she wasn't in, so we were met by her assistant, who happened to be her husband and also a Rotarian and we were each presented with individually inscribed placques to commemorate our visit to Guaracai.
Our final visit of the day was to the farm of the RC President Alceu Caetano. This was fascinating for in addition to cattle he grew coffee and fruit. We saw coffee beans being dried, coffee beans on bushes 2 metres high, coffee beans being harvested, being tossed in the air to seperate them from the leaves which inevitibly come off the stems as you harvest them and finally being bagged. The dried coffee beans are very dark brown almost black in colour, but those on the bushes vary from green through red to brown. We also saw greenbeans of every shape size and colour being grown. This was the first time I had seen beans growing on bushes 8 to 10 feet high. We saw Avocados the size of rugby balls, pomegranites still on the trees and freshly picked they have a totally different taste too. Oranges, lemons, but to me they were limes, star fruit, sweet potatoes, manioc were all being grown there. Our final stop was in a rubber plantations, where they were still tapping rubber in the age old traditional way that I first heard about in school some 45 or so years ago. What an interesting day! So off we went home with the car boots full of freshly picked fruit, not to mention smoked cheese which we had all been presented with by Rotarians Luiz and Silvia Nishimura. I handed mine over to my hosts. I've previously learnt if you put something smoked in a case you end up having to wash all your clothes more than one.
This evening we are at the Rotary Club of Andardina - Urubupunga and they are having a party for mothers' day. Again there was no euipment for our presentation, so we kept it to a minimum once more and we were all given the same gift as all the mothers, a hand towel.
THURSDAY, 8 MAY
This morning we visit the Friboi (pronounced free boy) Frigorifico, which is a very modern slaughterhouse and meat processing facility, which produces own lable brands for Sainsbury, Tesco, Libby's, Princes and John West to name just some. We are given a full kit of whites to wear, plus hard hat and hair net and they even found white boots big enough for my feet. Given our experience at the Frigorifico In Jardim we declined the full tour, but they did want to show us the cattle waiting to be slaughtered, because at the insistence of Tesco they had built a roof over the cattle pens, in the name of animal welfare, to shelter them from the hot sun as they stood in line waiting to be slaughtered. We then went into the processing factory, where we saw the various cuts of meat being seperated from the bone and packaged ready to be either frozen or chilled for shipment around the world. Some of the meat was Hal Hal slaughtered as it was destined for Muslim countries. Then it was into the canning part of the factory to see stewed steak products being prepared for the American and British market. This part was not fully mechanised and the meat was being put in the cans by hand, once again cheaper than mechanisation and kept a considerable number of people in gainful employment. Then it was time to see corn beef being produced. This was fully mechanised and they had 1 line producing 7oz cans, 3 lines producing 12oz cans and one line producing 6lb cans for sale to butchers supermarkets etc. 2 different qualities were being produced and the best was reserved for Sainsbury and Tesco own labels. Next time you buy corn beef look on the bottom of the can and if it has 385 stamped there this is where it was made and I have personally quality tested it. The company also makes soaps, fabric conditioners, liquid soap for washing clothes and washing up liquid as a by product of the animal fats.
We were then taken for lunch at a Churrasco back in the town centre of Andradina. Some of the group didn't feel like eating huge quantities of beef after our morning visit. I can't say that it affected me that way. In the afternoon we had free time and we escaped our minders and the 5 of us went shopping. I managed to find myself a pair of Nike Air Max Trainers for R$160, a very reasonable 34 pounds. This evening we had our 4th Rotary meeting in 3 days, the Rotary Club of Andradina and once again the DG was present. He's certainly put a lot into our visit. This time they had borowed the data projector from Friboi and so we were able to do our full presentation.
FRIDAY, 9 MAY
This had originally been scheduled as a professional day,but then re-scheduled as a free one, although all of us had something to do during the day. My morning was however free and so I ventured out on my own. Visited the bank and once I had gained admission, which was the most difficult part, managed to draw cash from a money machine. Then I went to the hairdresser and got a full haircut, eyebrows, nostrils and ears trimmed for R$10 - that's just over 2 pounds. Having succeeded there I thought I would try a pedicure as walking around the fields in open sandals had given me some very hard dry skin. The cost again R$10, but I had also had my hands manicured as well, not that I asked for them doing, it just happened. No. I did not have nail varnish before you ask or jump to the wrong conclusion.
In the afternoon I went to the court and met with 2 judges. Augusto Antontive, who presides in the Juvenile Court hearing cases against young people up to 18 years of age and upon whom he can impose a maximum sentence of 3 years, even for murder. Rodrigo Paes Andreucci was a judge in the adult court. Both were very young and I learnt that you could become a judge after obtaining a law degree and practising for just 2 years, so it was possible to be a judge at just 23 years of age. It was also regarded as being a good job with a starting salary of R$1000 a month, or just over 200 pounds. Interestingly all people serving a prison sentence must work and as they near the end of their sentences they get day release to help them back into the community. Judges also have some oversight of the prison system, mainly it seems as to how full they are. They also have a jury system, but only for murder. The jury is 7 people and they have to vote on the guilt of the accused, with a simple majority system deciding guilt or innocence. We passed an interesting 1.5 hours discussing the merits of our 2 systems.
In the evening we all met with our hosts at a Bahia Restaurant, Bahia being a state in the North East of Brazil, to sample typical examples of the food in this region, particularly the fish.
SATURDAY, 10 MAY
A free day, but it started by visiting a hospital, where the RC of Andradina were assisting at a blood donation clinic, something they do every 4 months. There were many volunteers waiting to give blood and they were organised and directed by tabbard wearing Rotarians. Otherwise the donation process was pretty much how it happens in the UK with a primary pin prick blood test to make sure you are not aneamic and cholesterol is ok. Then an interview with a medic about your sexual and other habits. After they had donated the Rotary wives took over offering drinks and cake. The one difference from England though is that some time later every donor gets a letter through the post informing them of the results of analysis of their blood and that is the way some Brazilians find out they are HIV positive.
We are due to spend the day at the Andradina Yacht Club, where my and one of the other hosts have weekend homes. Scheduled meeting time is 11.00am, so we leave home sometime after 12noon, arriving there at about 12.40. My host has lost the key to his home, so he has to travel back. The homes were actually built of concrete blocks to house the workers who built the hydro-electric dam and power station that we visited last Monday and are built in terraces, but they have very tastefully re-furbished and given the climate in Brazil could no doubt be lived in permanently. When my host finally returned with the keys and showed me round, his home had 3 bedrooms, one en-suite, a living room, indoor and outdoor kitchens and a partly covered terrace. The complex was situated on the edge of the Lake formed by the dam on the Rio Parana, so there was fishing and watersport on hand. The first thing we had to do, off course was eat our barbeque lunch, the meat coming courtesy of Friboi. Lunch went on for a very long time and was washed down by copious amounts of Caiparhinai (I´m not sure that is spelt correctly), but it is a highly potent drink made from fresh limes, ice, sugar and Pingha, another form of alcohol distilled from sugar cane. In a hot climate it tastes delicious, how it will be in England I am not sure.
Modesto, my host, has a boat on the complex. Its an 18 foot aluminium skiff powered by a 50hp outboard, powerful enough to water ski behind, but not when you have eaten and drunk as much as we had, but at least we all had a trip on the lake and saw some magnificent properties built on the edge of the lake. One, which the locals had nicknamed The White House for obvious reasons given its design had its own helicopter landing pad and another owned by the boss of Friboi had 14 bedrooms.
As dusk came down I saw my first tropical sunset since arriving in Brazil, with the sky turning vivid shades of red and reflected in the lake and because I´d been in the boat I hadn´t got my camara with me.
That night, back in Andradina, I visited the Festa de Amour (Fair of Love) that had been set up in the Town Square, immediately opposite my apartment, to celebrate Mothers´ Day. Lots of stalls around the square, mostly selling food and drink, but some selling handicrafts and all in aid of various charities. The Brazilian equivalent of Inner Wheel, called Casa da Amizade (House of Friendship) were selling home made cake and had virtually sold out. At one end of the square there was a stage with a live band and exotic dancers. This was a two day event, which on Friday had finished a midnight, early by Brazilian standards, because tonight I was still awake at 2.00am with the beat of the music seemingly in my brain.
SUNDAY, 11 MAY
This morning my host was up early to visit his farm, which at present he rents out to a sugar cane grower, but the contract is coming up for renewal and he is thinking of taking up sugar cane growing himself, having worked out that he will earn 10x more after costs than he gets from renting, without doing any of the work himself. Their daughter , who is 20, has come home for the weekend and as I am in her room she is sleeping in the spare room, where the computer is. He very considerately lifts her our of bed and carries her still fast sleep into his own bed so that I can work on the computer filing this report.
Sunday lunch is taken in a Restaurant with Lana´s mother. The restaurant is self service. You take what you want on a plate, then weigh it and pay according to the weight of food on your plate. It is also a very cheap way of eating. My lunch cost less than GB 1.50 pounds. Soon we were all gathered together to say goodbye to our host families, with much hugging, kissing, back slapping and handshaking and many, many photographs. Then we were off by minibus. Goodbye Andradina, Hello Aracatuba.
...posted Sunday, May 11, 2003
Tres Lagoas, (Three Lakes), Thursday, 1st to Monday, 5th May 2003.
It was good to see Marcia again and to be introduced to Sebastiao her husband. Also to meet up with Catherine Ledbetter, our exchange student, who after 8 months in Brazil was speaking fluent Portuguese and at times was to act as our interpreter. Perhaps the most striking thing was that she has lost her English accent when speaking her own language and now sounds more like a South African. Over the next few days I was to hear from her at first hand all about her adventures in Brazil and her latest one in the Amazon Jungle, much better than reading her regular emails.
From the Bus Station we were taken to the home of Lydia Garcia de Souza, the President of the Rotary Club of Tres Lagoas -Cidade das Aguas and yet again they tried to feed us, although we were also to have dinner together that night. Then it was off to our respective homes and later we gathered together at Marcia's for a swim in their pool and generally to chill out - nothing too strenuous. In fact I think Marcia had a considerable input into our programme given her expeience of GSE last year and our stay in Tres Lagoas was to be fairly relaxing compared to the hectic schedule we had endured so far.
FRIDAY, 2nd MAY
We started the day with a visit to a new factory complex for a firm called Avanti, which produces synthetic spun fibres and then turns them into fabrics for furniture and curtain materials. The company had located in Tres Lagoas, because of the tax breaks given to it by the state and town for a period of 10 years and in turn this has created over 600 much needed new jobs for the town. Strangely a group of state tax inspectors and their families were on a visit at the same time and we tagged along with them, trying to converse with one or two of them and adding to our list of friends. (The tax inspectors were having a three day convention in the town). Afterwards we went into town to some shopping as it was Rachel Speight"s birthday and we were trying to buy her a present without her being aware. Brazilians shoes are very cheap, they just don't stock them in small towns big enough to fit me.
Then it was home for lunch, during which it started to rain. Now the houses don't have gutters, nor drain pipes, so the rain just pours off and runs where it can. The roads don't have drains, so again the rain just runs where it can and forms deep pools in every depression. The roads are built so that at every cross roads there are deep gullies that 1) make you slow down, and 2) fill up with water when it rains and these get quite deep. When we went out this afternoon we took the family 4 x 4 double cab truck and I got to drive, quite an experience given the conditions. We left Marcia's small Corsa for her husband.
Our first stop was to see the mayor, Essam Fares, a giant of a man, as tall as me, but I would hazard a guess that he was at least twice as heavy. He was sat in a chair that would have done duty as a throne and the people were almost paying homage to him. Next we visited Poco de Gaco or "Jacobs Well" a home for street children for which I had brought over some money for matched funding to help buy equipment, so that they could start and make their own bread, pizzas, etc and at the same time teach the children life skills that may enable them to get employment when they are older. The Rotary club had already invested in this project by building a well in the yard, which enables them to get their own water, rather than buying it through a meter and they had persuaded Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company to put in new bathrooms and toilets for which they were waiting for work to start.
The final visit for the day was to visit the council chamber, where Marcia works as a town councillor and meet with the President of the Council, Valdomiro Aguirre, a far more communicative figure than the mayor. The rain had continued all afternoon and when it rains in Brazil its definitely torrential, so the drive home was quite interesting, but safely accomplished. Not so for Sebastiao, who arrived home some time after us bedraggled and soaked to the skin. He had been crossing a junction, put the car into one of the gullies mentioned earlier, and the water had come over the bonnet, swamped the engine and he had had to abandon it.
That night, still in the rain, we went out to a local Churrasco at which only two cuts of meat were served, "Picanha" which is from the rump and "Cupim" which is from the nape of the neck, or from the lump on the back of the neck, which is normally seen on Indian cows and has now been bred into many Brazilian cows. This latter meat from the neck is almost white in colour. They are two very tasty cuts of meat indeed.
SATURDAY, 3 MAY
It was to be a leisurely start to the day, but having got used to getting up early I was awake and up before 7.00am. Marcia and her husband had gone out already shopping for food and so I popped next door to Marcia's mum and dad, where I met her grandfather, 91 years young and still a man about town and definitely one for the ladies. He certainly told me some tales about his girlfriends, but I dare not publish them here so if you want to know more you will have to speak with me privately.
After breakfast we visited President Lydia's husband's farm, where they breed cattle. They have some prize cows and bulls, but suprisingly in Brazil cows are more valued than bulls, because to them it is the cows that are the production line or "ovens" as they call them for producing more. The bulls are virtually redundant as embryos are created in the laboratory and then transplanted into the cows. We were shown various prize specimens, which were described as beautiful, but as ever beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We were then taken into a field in which there must have been 50 to 60 bulls and soon we were surrounded by them. They were actually inquisitive about us and came right up to us, even nudging us but in a very none threatening way. Lydia's husband had taken a cow to a cattle auction in another state and so important are these auctions that they are actually televised and you can make telephone bids from TV provided you have pre-registered. The auction took place on Sunday and the cow fetched R$42000, which is over 8500 pounds GB and was bought by a syndicate who were to export it to Senegal in West Africa.
On the way home we stopped at a handicraft shop and we all made purchases - hand made items were so cheap. I bought 4 x small wooden dishes shaped like leaves, but all different for R$15 or just over 3 pounds.
In the afternoon we visited another Rotary supported project, which was situated well outside the town and involved a lengthy passage along very rough red dirt roads, made worse by yesterday's rain. It was called "PENNIEL" and was a centre for drug addicts who wanted to become clean. It had been set up by a Protestant Pastor called Marcos and at the time of our visit had 52 people being cured there. They were all men, mostly young, but a few who looked as if they were about 40. They came from all over the state of Matto Grosso do Sul, but also from the neighbouring states of Minias Gerias and Sao Paulo as well. When asked the maximum capacity it became obvious that they would never turn anyone away. If someone goes there to be cured they are taken off drugs immediately and subjected to 'cold turkey', but here I must mention that there are no heroin addicts in Brazil - H is sent to the more lucrative markets of the USA & Europe, so immediate withdrawal is not as drastic as it first sounds. The other good thing was that some of those who had been cured stay on to help the newcomers through the early days of their ordeal. The centre makes money by recycling the rubbish from Tres Lagoas, in particular paper, cardboard, aluminium, metal, plastic, plastic bottles etc. The men living there sort it and then package it into bales, using crushers and bailing machines bought by Rotary through a matching grant between the R C 's of Tres Lagoas - Cidade das Aguas and Salt Lake City in the USA. They are also encouraged to take part in very physical sports and activities, so that they sweat a lot and get the toxins out of their bodies. They have built their own gym. The weights are plastic pipes filled with concrete. Jin got to play football. I was a little more sedate and played table tennis. The people there spoke to us freely. The majority were so pleased to have been given a second chance, a chance to regain control of their own lives. Without a doubt this is the best Rotary project I have seen since I came to Brazil, not that all the others have not been worthy, but this one is saving peoples lives and giving them a purpose in life, something to live for.
That evening we had a meal in the OT Hotel, overlooking the largest of the 3 Lakes in Tres Lagoas and I left the 4 younger members of the team there to dance the night away.
SUNDAY, 4 MAY
This was to be a relaxing day on the ranch of one of the Rotary members. The ranch was called "Cantinho do Ceu" or Little Corner of the Sky and was situated on the shores of the Rio Sucuriu, which at this point is part of a lake formed by a hydro-electric dam we are to visit tomorrow. Sebastiao was on cover for the hospital and had to work, so once again we took the 4 x 4 truck and I was the designated driver, so no lunch time drinking for me. We started off doing the shopping, bread, 3 crates of beer and lots of ice. We also took the maid with us, as did one or two of the other families, so that they prepared the food. The ranch was really a weekend retreat, with a large covered outdoor area and kitchen to live in during the day and several bedrooms with many beds for the night. My home would have fitted in the outdoor area twice. The property also had a beach on the lake. Whilst the maids prepared lunch every one else just chilled with a drink in hand, although the men did barbeque a few cuts of beef to nibble at and keepaway the hunger.
Michelle Nogueira, the 5th member of the Brazilain GSE team also came along to the meeting and brought her boyfiend her boyfriend along to intrduce him to me. She called me her second father and being introduced to her boyfriend really made me feel like my approval was being sought. So now I only have Daniel left to meet.
Before lunch we had a meeting of the Rotary Club of Tres Lagoas - Cidade das Aguas, during which we exchanged banners and I handed over one of our "Peace Candles". These were a splendid idea, they are being so well received. I also handed over to the President US$700 as the Rotary Club of Dronfield's matched funding gift for Poc de Gaco (mentioned on Friday). They were all thrilled, there was much handshaking, backslapping and kissing and that was just from the men. Catherine told me that the day was typical of how the Brazilians spend their weekends, when they just get away from it all and totally relax. We returned to Tres Lagoas in the evening, but still had to go out to eat Pizza later on.
MONDAY, 5 MAY
Today had a very early start, up at 6.00am and off from the house at 6.40am to visit a Hydro Electric Power Scheme on the Rio Parana. The powere station is situated in Sao Paulo state and in a different time zone, even though it is only 5kms from Tres Lagoas. The river has been dammed and there are 14 main turbine generators built into the dam to provide power to the states of Matto Grosso do Sul and Sao Paulo, plus two small turbines that actually provide the power for the station. There is also a lock so that ships can pass up and down the river and it has a 28 metre lift in a single lock and obviously takes a lot of water to fill it, but this is a very sizeable river and makes the Thames look like a stream. We were also shown some of the ecological effort the power company are putting into the region, breeding fish for release into the lakes.
We were back home by 11am and spent the rest of the day around town and of course eating, before it was time to leave Tres Lagoas. There is by the way an older Rotary Club in Tres Lagoas, but we never met any of them as they were hosting around 40 youth exchangers during the tiome we were there and had their hands full so to speak. So we piled into 3 vehicles, with Marcia, her husband Sebastiao and her brother Marcos and drove, back across the hydro-electric dam into Sao Paulo State and to the town of Andradina, where we met our new hosts and said fond farewells to our friends from Tres Lagoas.
Alan.
...posted Thursday, May 08, 2003
Campo Grande, Monday, 28 April to Thursday, 1 May 2003
Monday morning saw us all meeting at what was to become our regular meeting place, a baguaterria, a sort of cafe come bread and cake shop in the centre of the City. We were being hosted by the Rotary Club of Campo Grande - Sao Francisco, named after Saint Francis of Assisi not the town. This is a very new club formed only on May 2001 and Chartered on 27 June 2001, but it has some very committed members. They have a prayer by St Francis of Assisi, which some of you may know, but they call it their Ínstrument of Peace´and I will try to reproduce it in readable form:
Lord, make me am instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
I just thought I would share that with you as they had the prayer translated into English and printed for us.
My escort for the next 2 days was to be Colonel Jose Pedro de Moura from the Seguranca Publica (Public Security) of the Policia Civil and he came in an unmarked 4 x 4 complete with uniformed driver. Our first visit was to an AAPAES Home - Aids Carriers Support Association - Hope in God. It had been set up by the church and was a home for children suffering from the HIV virus. It was supported by the Rotary Club and at present it housed around 20 young children, but also gives support to another 100 families who live in the City. It is undergoing an extensive building project designed to increase its capacity to 100 people from babies to adults. Its objective is to inform the public and to take care of Aids/HIV carriers, independent of their age, by providing them with familiar surroundings and social reintegration where possible. It is the only home in the state of Matto Grosso do Sul (which is the size of England, but with a population of around 2 million) that offers this sort of service. About 7% of the population are said to be HIV positive, so they have an uphill task facing them. The Rotary Club are seeking a matching grant of US$10 000 to purchase a full set of dental equipment for the home, to be installed in a surgery that is already built, because prejudice and the fear of the spread of infection is preventing HIV sufferers from receiving dental treatment. The staff of the home comprise both professionals and volunteers and the level of love and care given to the children is magnificent.
From the home we went for lunch at a Churrasco, which is a restaurant providing as much as you can eat barbequed meat for a fixed price. The one we went to called Khalil´s seems to be well known across the state. They roast many different cuts of beef, chicken, lamb, pork, sausage,which is very spicey, kidney, chicken hearts, etc over an open barbeque and then simply walk around the restaurant with the roasting spits and a sharp knife, cutting pieces off onto your plate. There are also serve yourself dishes of salad, vegetables manioc and rice to go with the meat, some of the cuts of beef were totally unknown to us, but many were absolutely delicious.
After lunch we had 2 more visits, the first a Young Offenders Institute, or Prison for young males up to 18 years of age, who have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment ranging from 2 months to 2 years. We were shown around the prison, where conditions could best be described as adequate and also allowed to mix a little with the inmates. We even got a preview of a dance routine they had started rehearsing that day, which they were going to put on in public. 3 of the inmates were locked in their cell, but we were unable to properly establish why, something to do with bad or violent behaviour. This was another venture supported by Rotary.
Next was a school for Downs Syndrome Children, which had increased its numbers considerably and was now supporting and educating over 150 children. Rotary had provided new desks, chairs and computers for the school. We saw the children making paper and cardboard for use as fruit seperators in a local supermarket, which also provides some work experiences for the older ones. Jin soon got his hands covered in bright yellow goo? as he was instructed by one of the kids in the art of making cardboard.
That evening we had dinner with the Rotary Club of Campo Grande - Cidade Morena in the Bristol Hotel in the City Centre. This was the first time we had used 35mm slides and it enabled us to shorten our presentation somewhat, but it still took 35 minutes.
TUESDAY, 29 APRIL - 2nd PROFESSIONAL DAY
My day started with a visit to the Training Academy of the Policia Militar under the Command of Major Evaldo Iahn Mazui. After a brief chat we watched a number of training exercises involving firearms, which included stopping a suspect car, where the occupants were believed to be unarmed. This was accomplished quite safely, with officers remaining behind the car at all times and getting the supsects out with oral commands and completing proper body searches etc. The next was to stop a suspect car where the occupants were believed to be armed. I could not believe that they trained their officers to surround the car with two of them completley exposed at the front and two behind. All were armed with guns drawn and if they had opened fire would have been in as much danger of shooting their colleagues as the criminals, let alone being exposed to gun fire from the car. The next was a raid on a house where armed criminals were supposed to be hiding, but they just ran in with guns drawn. There appears to be a complete macho culture about it all including the women officers, and very little thought given to the personal safety of the officer. I tried to talk to them about safer tactics and although I had an interpreter did not feel that I got through to them. The really telling figure for me was when I asked how many officers had been killed on duty this year and the answer was 271. Yes, that is 271 in 4 months. Life is cheap, especially as the average soldier (constable) only earns the equivalent of 1000 pounds per year. No wonder corruption in the police is a major problem.
Next stop was the Bomberos or Fire Brigade, under the command of Colonel Joao Alves Calixto. Just like in Jardim the bomberos here were responsible for fire, rescue and ambulance and they put on a splendid demonstartion for me, including a piece of equipemt I had never seen before, which used compressed air to fire slugs of water at high velocity into a fire, with a remarkable capacity to extinguish it. They presented me with a bomberos tie pin and key ring.
Then it was on to the Military Police Headquarters, to view their communications centre, which was very up to date and computer based. I also saw the training of operatives for the coms centre. The Brazilians are certainly up to date as far as computer technology is concerned. I met with Colonel Roberto Fransico de Souza, the former General Commander of the Military Police, who although still serving was being allowed to work down to retirement. Not suprisingly we discussed the benefits of retirement and I found that their pension is the equivalent of their final salary. Not bad, but I wonder how long the state can continue to finance that.
Next was a meeting with the State Security Secretary, Dagoberto Nogueira Filho, who is the political head of the policia and this morning had a succession of mayors in to see him, all of whom were clearly unhappy about the state of policing. It turned out the same bank had suffered an armed robery for the third time this year. To escape he took me out for lunch at the ´Casa do Peixe´or Fish House, which operated on the same principle as a Churrasco - as much fish as you can eat for a fixed price. The fish was fresh water of course and I sampled small peices of many different sorts cooked in lots of different ways. The cost was about Pounds 5.50 per head, expensive by Brazilian standards as the previous days meat meal had cost about Pounds 3.50 per head. Dagoberto and I talked throughout the meal, (which left our poor interpreter with hardly a chance to get a bite to eat) and he was amazed at the lack of political involvement in actual policing in GB.
Back to Police HQ and a meeting with the new General Commander of the Military Police, Colonel Jose Ivan de Almeida and more presents including one of their uniform T shirts and a warning not to wear it in Rio de Janeiro as I might find myself being used for target practice. I don´t think they were joking either.
By way of a little relief I was then met by my host and taken to a Primary School for Poor Children called Educandario Getulio Vargas. This project was being supported by the Campo Grande equivalent of Inner Wheel, of which my host´s wife Francisca is this year´s president. Here teenage children were being taught job skills, such as sewing, baking and gardening, but the Principal, Nely Macksoud Rahe, told me that the school was running out of money and they only had enough to keep going for a further 2 months at the most. I politely told her that Rotary would only purchase goods and equipment and would not supply money to meet running costs. It is apparent that state provision is insufficient to meet the needs of the poor and disadvantaged and that Rotary with the help of other volunteers is trying to bridge the gap in many areas.
The final meeting of my professional day was at the Mato Grosso do Sul Court of Justice with the High Court Judge of Appeal, Rubens Bossay, a charming, intelligent and interesting man. My scheduled half hour meeting lasted for nearly two hours as we cross examined each other in a most gentlemanly fashion on the merits and demerits of our respective criminal justice systems. What a tiring day.
WEDNESDAY, 30 APRIL
We were all back together today for a morning visit to the Campo Grande museum, lead by the President of the R C of Campo Grande - Pantanal, Ms Gislaine M Rezende S Skovronski. The museum, very much concerned with the ancient artefacts and civilaisation of the Pantanal was extremely interesting. After the museum we went to buy ice creams and you actually pay for them by weight, filling up a plastic carton with all the flavours and toppings that you want, having it weighed and paying. It cost around R$17 for seven of us, that´s a little over 3 pounds. Lunch was in another fish restaurant and provided a welcome variation from all the meat.
In the afternoon we firstly visited a school for children with cerebal palsy , which was set up by Padre Renato and supported by Rotary, which has put a lot of money into it. Thry are seeking a matching grant to purchase modern wheelchairs as a replacement for the mostly wooden ones currently in use. We had a discussion about the practice in England of using ultrasound and amniosinthesis tests to detect defects in unborn children, which could lead to the offer of an abortion. The Brazilians clearly did not agree with abortion and thought that children should be born no matter what and then looked after.
Next we visaited two different campuses of UNIDERP (The university for the study and development of the State and the Pantanal Region), escorted by members of the R C Campo Grande - Universidade. This is a private University that charges tuition fees, about R$1700 (GB pounds 340) per month for medical doctors and half that for vets. The first was the agricultural and veterinary site outside the City on a 70 Hectare campus and is where my host Olimpio works part time as a lecturer in Veterinary Practice. The second was in the City Centre and was the equivalent of a teaching and dental hospital, where dental and med students practice on the public.
In the evening there was another Rotary Club meeting to attend and it was the 24th Charter of the RC of Campo Grande - University. We gave our presentation once again, but it still took over 30 minutes. Our hosts were so attentative that they completely forgot about their own birthday celebrations. Little Marcia from last years GSE Team also attended the meeting and so did Fabiana. It was great to see them both again and Fabiana wanted me to go and stay the night at her home, but it was not to be.
THURSDAY, 1 MAY, CAMPO GRANDE TO TRES LAGOAS
Had a lie in today, our bus did not leave until 10.30am so breakfast was scheduled for 9.00am. It was also a public holiday, Labour Day, so everything was closed. My hostess was concerned that we would not be able to eat on the journey and so after the usual fruit, bread, cheese and ham my hostess served me steak and onions - for breakfast? As I was about to leave the house she gave me bottles of water, fruit and biscuits to sustain me on the journey, despite my protests that it was only 4 hours. At the bus station little Marcia was there to see us off and she had made sandwiches, (a bag full) plus crisps and biscuits. So we said our good byes amongst many invitations to return and set off on out 4 hour journey with enough food to feed the whole coach, which had air con, fully reclining seats, was very comfortable and enabled us all to fall asleep, so the journey was not too harduous.
TRES LAGOAS
We were met by our host families at the bus station, Marcia the GSE Team Leader from last year with whom Jin and I are staying and Catherine Ledbetter, the Youth Exchange Student from Dronfield, who is sponsored by my club, and is staying in Montes Claros in the next state and Rotary District. She had been travelling in the Amazon and had to return via Sao Paulo so had caught the bus to Tres Lagoas to meet with us.
Alan
...posted Monday, May 05, 2003
Saturday, 26 and Sunday, 27April, 2003
Saturday morning was free for me and I went into Jardim to find an internet cafe, to actually start this web diary, so at the moment I am operating about a week behind as I frantically try to catch up. Anyway, there I am walking in the street, when this complete stranger comes up to me, utters the one word Inglese and shakes me by the hand. We exchange the usual pleasanrties and then depart each others company. It just shows the power of publicity and possibly the fact that we are the very first Rotary Team of any form to visit Jardim, which is a young Club - only 6 years old.
The team finally met up some time after midday and collectively decided that we would like to go to Bonito, which translates as beautiful. Bonito is a resort town on the River Formosa, famous for its water sport and other outdoor activity, but first we all have to go to our repectives homes for our swimming things, so we are a bit late setting off. We arrive in Bonito and go to a place called the aquarium, really a park with the river running through and because the people feed them many fish right alongside a man made quayside, I try feeding the fish by hand but they are not that tame, but Jin and our minibus driver are soon in the water with the fish. After too short a time lunch was ready in the local cafe and then rather than go back to the river our hosts took us to see a hotel in Bonito - The Zagia Eco-Resort Hotel. The first 5 star hotel in the state of Matto Grosso do Sul of which they are quite rightly rather proud. Whilst there we met and were shown round by an English Travel Agent, called Jay, who was on a fact finding mission, actually she was originally from Mozambique, but now works for Star Travel in Ealing London. She told me that her agency could do return flights from London to Rio for 399 pounds including taxes. Remember, you read it here first folks. After this we tried to find an agency that would take us on one of the river adventures, but already it was too late for white water rafting abseiling into caves and the myriad of other adventures on offer in the area. By the way here in Brazil it is pitch black before 6.00pm.
So off we went again on red dirt roads, the minibus with the team and various rotarians in, me following behind with my host and his family in his car. He was driving at around 50 mph in zero visibility because of the dust thrown up by the minibus in true World Rally style. Mad! No completley loco. It wasn´t long before he hit a pot hole and broke something on the car, but did he stop? No. When we reached our destination, a big hole in the ground, about 200 metres deep, with a deep blue lake in the bottom, which was the entrance to a cave system that descended through the water for 250 metres, I was the only one who looked under the car to see what had been broken, I can´t be certain, but I think it was an engine mounting. I was the only one who swam in the lake after we had descended into the hole, but I needed to cool off.
Then we paid a visit to the Passo do Cure, a farm, where they are trying to raise wild boar and we were there allegedly to see them feed as they did every night at 6.00pm. We were actually there at 5.40pm, very un Brazilian. The boar never turned up and the only tings that got fed were the mosquitoes.
Finally arrived back in Jardim, with only minutes to get showered and ready for our next meal with Pastor Samuel, the local parish priest, who had been sent to Brazil from his native India 12 months before, not speaking a word of Portuguese. He wanted to spéak english with us. The snag was we were going out for dinner at 10pm as well! We did however manage to make our excuses in time to sit down for Arabic dinner party complete with belly dancers.
SUNDAY
A very early start as we´re going on a river expendition on Rio Prata. (Silver River) By 8am we had changed into wet suits, not the most suitable attire for a 50min hike through the jungle! Eventually we were floating down the river with face mask & snorkles. A very pleasent experience with the water being a cool 24 degrees C. We saw so many different fishes, vegitation and even underwater volcanoes. Just hoping the underwater camera I hired actually worked.
After lunch we visted another big hole in the ground and another river resort, before returning to our host homes to pack, say goodbye and depart. We all met in the centre of Jardim, close to 50 people had come to wave goodbye. Which they did repeatedly over the course of 1 hour. Finally we were off, but they all sprinted to their cars and soon our mini bus was surrounded by a convoy of vechiles all with hazhards flashing and horns sounding. Also with people hanging out the windows, waving & shouting. This continued to the city boundary were everyone had over taken us, so that they were waiting at the city boundary to wave and shout a final goodbye. What a send off.
The journey to Campo Grande passed off uneventfully and we met up rather belatedly with our next host families.
Alan & Jin
...posted Saturday, May 03, 2003
Friday 25 April 2003
Today is our first professional day, so I am not sure what yesterday was, because that seemed very professional to me. It was another early start, breakfast at 5.30am, and then all the team meeting at my home, as my host wanted to show us all his place of work, ´FRIGORIFICO BOM PREÇO LTDA`, a refrigeration unit. So off we all went. It turned out to be an abbatoir, capable of dealing with 450 cattle a day and by the time we got there it was in full swing. They were going to deal with 270 beasts that morning and roughly half had been processed. I drew the line at actually seeing them being slaughtered, but the cattle were just lined up outside awaiting their fate. I also told the team that they did not have to see any of the process if they didn´t want to.
We were given a full tour of the facility. Obviously they do not have any form of Health and Safety Regs in Brazil, nor do they have to seperate out the central nervous system like we have to in GB. I´ll save you all the gory details, but 1.5 hrs later when we left there were no cattle standing outside.
Thus started our professional day. Rachel Speight went off to see Bispo Dom Bruno and the Diocese of Jardim. Rachel Colebourn on a visit to the Courts and meetings with prosecutors, defence and officials of justice. Nuala and Jin to visit a hospital. Whilst I went to visit a corpoaçao do corpo debombieros militar de Jardim. The fire and rescue service, which also operates the local ambulance. I sat down with the whole shift and talked to them for about 40 minutes about the Fire Service in GB and answered a lot of questions. Then they put on a demonstration of fire fighting, rescue and paramedic skills. Their rescue vehicle and ambulance were fairly modern and well euqipped and I even got to use ´JAWS´their pneumatically operated cutting equipment. Their two fire engines were ancient mercedes, about as modern as our green godesses and about as fast. My overall impression though was of a well trained well motivated group of men who knew just what to do and when.
My next visit of the day was to a corporacao da policia ambiental - the environment police. They were responsible for policing rivers and forest, to prevent illegal logging, hunting and fishing. They had very wide powers and could seize vehicles, boats, weapons and other tools used as well as the wood wild animal or fish illegally obtained. There were only 6 of them and they had a 4 wheel drive car that had been broken for 2 months and 2 boats, but only one working engine. They could also arrest offenders and hand them over to the civil police. It struck me that the punishment for killing a bird in Brazil might well be more severe than for taking the life of a human. Nevertheless, they were clear about their objectives of protecting the environment.
We all got back together for yet another radio interview, our third, just before lunch this time with the rival local FM station.
After lunch it was an interview with the Mayor of Jardim in his office. Another impressive politician, sharp astute and straight to the point, no political waffle from him and his budget was going to be used to the best effect for the town. I´m really starting ti like these people. Let me explain here that the Rotary Club covers 2 towns separated by the RIO (river) MIRANDA. Jardim with a population of 23000 and Guia Lopes with a population of 11000. The main roads through the towns are are tarmac, but with horrendous speed humps on them, as well as potholes. The majority of sides roads on which the housing is situated are red dirt with no drainage and no pavements.
Next stop was the ´Casa do Garoto´, a hostel for street children, which was running out of money and woulks soon need a cash injection to keep it afloat as they only had $2200 left. It needed quite a bit more than that, particularly in terms of the bedrooms for the younger children and the toilet and washing facilities. I have no doubt I shall be getting a proposal for another matching grant in the near future. Later however, I talked to the local Interact Club about them taking on the decoration of the place if the Rotary Club provided the paint, so I am hoping something might happen as the Interactors seemend quite keen.
My professional day then continued with a visit to ´á Delegacia Regional da Policia Civil´ - the regional civil police. I met with the chief and his deputy, who were both typical of senior hard bitten police officers the world over. We had about an hour long discussion and then a faxed arrest warrant for murder came in for one of their local villains and everybody got quite excited. The deputy gave me a quick tour of their facilities and there were some things that quite surprised me. Conditions in the cells were absolutley atrocious and there were many things lying around that prisoners could have used to injure either themselves or the officers. The visit finished with the deputy promising to make sure that I got home safely after he got me drunk at the Rotary meeting that night.
The rotary meeting scheduled to start at 8.00pm finally got under way at about 9. We had to link a computer to a TV set so that our power point presentation could be used, although we were due to use a 35mm slide projector which never materialised and i feel that we were all slightly betterand by some judicious pruning a bit shorter too. Over here all the Rotary business is conducted before the meal, so it was round about 10.30pm before we started eating dinner and way after midnight before I got home.
Alan H.
...posted Thursday, May 01, 2003
Thursday 24 April 2003.
Left Aquiduana for our 2 hour, uneventful journey to Jardim and were met on the outskirts of the town by a large gang of Rotarians, their wives and children. Introductions are made, but there are so many of them that no names stick and none of them speaks any english, but they have brought along Josh an English professor from the local university, who is our mentor for the next two days. He is also quite a character and I could probably write a chapter on him alone. Hermes and Norma are my hosts, but firstly we have to pose for obligatory photo´s alongside the Rotary sign at the town entrance. Whilst we are there, somebody´s mobile rings and in the next few seconds I find myself doing my first radio interview of the day, live, down the line, on the mobile, oh and in Portuguese.
We dump our luggage at our hosts´ homes and by 11.00am we are on air again, live at Radio AM Futura, but this time everybody had to say something. We´ve also picked up a couple of hangers on who turn out to be a reporter and photographer from the local newspaper. Later we are told that the photographs and story will be on a website www.agenciapantanal.com.br and click on noticias. So why not pay it a visit. Then it was back to our individual hosts homes for lunch and a get to know you chat. My host Hermes is the young, ambitious, founder president of the Rotary Club of Jardim and Guia Lopes do Laguna, founded in 1997 and he is now in his second year as A.G. aiming to be DG by 2008.
The first visit of the afternoon was to APAE (Association of Parents and Friends of Exceptional Children), a school for children with special needs, through either mental, physical, or learning difficulties. They are seeking a matching grant, but as the school is moving into new premises and they could not provide answers to my questions they got a lecture on matching grants, which with hindsight was probably the last thing they wanted.
The group was then split and I visited the local Institucao da Policia Militar de MS. My expectation was that I would be shown what they did, but my visit turned in to a 1.5 hour presentation with Q and A´s to 30+ officers on the pólicing systems of Britain. To say it was off the cuff I was pleased with the session and got a real buzz out of their quest for information and knowledge.
Next stop was the Lord Mayor´s office in Guia Lopes. The mayor was a lovely lady totally committed to improving her city. She had been deputy mayor and come into office when the former mayor was arrested for corruption. She then took us to a hospital, which had been built 12 years ago as a photo opportunity for some government visitor, but had not yet opened, because no money had been provided for staff and equipment. The mayor was now providing that funding and it will open on May 14 this year.
The next visit was to a social work co-operative, where poor people, single mums etc. are taught simple handicraft skills to enable them to earn a minimum wage. We were welcomed here by a large band striking up with some very stirring music as we walked in. We were given a tour of the facility, offered food and drink, which probably cost more than most of them earned in a month and then we were given presents of articles they had produced. It didn´t feel quite right, but they would not take NO for an answer.
We then went to see the President of the local Rotary Club, Sidnei Escudero Pereira, a lawyer, in his new office, of which he was rightly very proud, but he had a fixation with 17 March, No he was not Irish. He had started to practice on 17 March, started the building on that date and finally opened it on that day. 5 visits in one afternoon, boy are they working us hard, so it was home for a shower and then we thought out for dinner, but we went to the University (Universidade do Matto Grosso do Sul or UEMS) to teach English, firstly in class, but then all the team together in the lecture theatre, which was crammed full with people standing at the back, probably 300 people in the room and all wanting a piece of us. We finally got dinner at 10.40pm and home to bed after midnight. Another 18 hour day and a 6.00am start tomorrow.
Alan H.
...posted Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Arrival
Hi everybody, Finally arrived in Campo Grande, District 4470, after 37 hours of travelling to be met at the airport by a crowd of our host families, little Marcia, who came to England with the GSE Team from Brazil, last year and a large England flag. We were made very welcome and taken to our hosts homes. (sorry some of our punctuation is not available on this keyboard). My sleeping clock was way out as Sunday in Sao Paulo had been a bit of a funny day. If we were awake we were eating - if we were not eating we were asleep. So by 3.00am Monday morning I was wide awake.
Monday morning we were all independently taken on a tour of the City of Campo Grande by our hosts. A large City of approx 800,000 people. Then in the afternoon we were off by minibus to Aquiduana. The minibus and driver has actually stayed with us throughout the week and is taking us back to Campo Grande this coming Sunday. We were met in Aquiduana by our hosts and Candida, another member of last years Brazillian team.
Candida had organised our programme in Aquiduana and therefore there was nothing too taxing for our brains. The first day was spent sightseeing in the countryside around Aquiduana, a spot of fishing, lunch at a farm, swimming and generally lazing around. Then late in the afternoon we went to an indiginous (thats probably spelt wrong and I cant find the spell checker.) indian village where about 80 put on a display of dancing and martial arts for us.
The following day we were up at 5.00am and off into the Pantanal. The first stop was a farm where we went horseriding for 2 hours, my backside is still bruised. Tried my hand a rounding up cattle, but my horse and I were both speed freaks and although we got on very well together the cattle were rather frightened by this 12 foot high apparition galloping towards them. We were taken through lakes on the horses and at one stage I was kneeling on its back so I didnt get my leather shoes wet. When we got to the other side of this particular lake, we dismounted and stood around - imagine my horror when CAIMAN CROCODILES started following us out of the water!
This was followed by more swimming, more eating a boat trip on the Rio Aquiduana where we saw monkeys swinging through the trees and then a return to the town in the evening to view two projects, one a childrens home, the other a hospital, for which they are seeking matching grants. Then that evening, Wednesday, was our first presentation. I had all of 20 minutes to get showered changed and ready for it and then we were off to the Police Station, which was where we were giving it. The police had powerpoint and thats what we needed. We set up in alarge lecture theatre, which gradually began to fill up with people, The Rotary Club only had 17n members, but it seemed they had invited half the town. When we finally got started there must have been close to 200 people in the audience and this was going to be the first time we had used our Portuguese in anger so to speak, but we did it and got a pretty good ovation at the end too. (N.B. for Paul Christie:-The powerpoint presentation worked well.)
At 10´o´clock that night we were off for dinner with the local Rotary Club. They have their own meeting rooms, which had been paid for by my host Analia Trindade Dutra dos Santos, widow of the past district governor for 4470, Fabio Dutra dos Santos. Analia is a very good friend to Rotary. She also got up at around 5.00am every day to make me a cooked breakfast, plus fruit, bread and cake.
...posted Tuesday, April 29, 2003
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