Life in Brazil: Our first few days

It may have only been a week, but I have learned so much about Brazil and seen so many things that have been beautiful, sad, joyful and surprising. In this entry to my blog, I won't attempt to tell you everything as I don't have enough time to write it and you wouldn't have enough time to read it! 

The base where we are staying is beautiful. Situated in Santa Monica near Camaragibe (a town at the end of the Metro to Recife), we are at the top of the hill overlooking the countryside. To our left is a community with many poor families, in front of the base is a concrete 5-a-side football pitch and some local shops selling amazing fruits some of which are only available in Brazil. One surprise regarding our view was seeing one of the World Cup stadiums so nearby - the Pernambuco Stadium which hosted several games. Having seen the local area, this stadium looks so out of place being so modern and expensive! It is easy to see why so many Brazilian people were upset and angry about vast amounts of money being spent on stadiums for the World Cup. 

On Tuesday, we travelled into the centre of Recife and I saw the incredible contrasts of life here in Brazil. On the way in on the Metro (similar to the London Underground), we passed housing that in England would never exist made of any materials the people could find. Then, as we travelled further, we entered an area of great wealth (similar to Canary Wharf) which had majestic new shopping malls and impressive new buildings.

This week, we have also spent two evenings on the streets in the centre of Recife visiting children and families. Before I went there, I felt scared as I did not know what to expect and what I would see. There were quite a lot of people in the many places we visited of all ages from young babies to older men and women. I have learned that many of these people come to the streets at nighttime from their homes in the favelas (slums) as they can receive soup from charities who often give it out on the streets. Knowing this has helped me realise how challenging their lives can be. Imagine taking your family including really young children into the town centre late at night just so that you can get food! Imagine little children being out in the town centre at midnight (and later)! 

The children we met on the streets were so excited to see the team as they knew  that we would spend time with them and play games. During those evenings, I played Uno, street football, and even played with a very young child with a broken cardboard box that was lying on the street. The fact that he seemed so happy playing with a piece of rubbish really tells you a lot about his life. Another little boy (4) was playing with my wife and was making up a game with little stones that he could find. These simple experiences have already made me consider how we in England sometimes are not grateful for the things we have and often want more. For the little boy, at that moment in time, he had everything he wanted and was having fun in what otherwise is a challenging life!

There were other children who live on the streets but I'll explain more about them another time as I still learning about that situation. What I do know is that it is much more complicated than I first understood.

I have also had the privilege to visit several families in the slums. My wife and I along with two Portuguese speaking members of staff from the base went to a favela next to a busy Metro station in central Recife. I was allowed to go into two separate homes and the first thing I noticed was, unfortunately, the smell. However, within a few minutes, I was used to it. The next thing I noticed was that it was a home. The people living there had made it look as nice as they could! I learned that they can be very crowded; the first family had six children in a small space with one bedroom! Whilst visiting, I did not understand the conversations but was able to bring a smile to some young children's faces by just being a bit silly whilst playing with a balloon and some bubbles which we had taken with us. 

To finish for now, I thought I should share some of my more unusual findings from this week:

buses are busy. When you think that the bus is full, 30 more people can get on!

five-a-side football can even attract a huge crowd

traffic is crazy

dogs don't go 'woof woof'; they go 'ow, ow' 

caterpillars are dangerous 

There are so many other things I would love to share but until next time, tchau.

What we could be doing?

YWAM in Recife 

Soccer Show Project: Currently 200 children and teenagers between 9 to 18 years old attend with social and educational activities provided through the soccer school.The children need to be up-to-date in their studies at school to be allowed to attend. Besides developing soccer skills, the participants and their families learn about the dangers of drugs, violence, about making good choices of friends and the influences of negative peer pressure.

Show de Bola

Other sports activities include karate and floorball (it seems to be a cross between ice hockey and hockey)

floorball

Karate Kick

Love Project: This project works with families, women, girls and teens to help them discover their potential and personal value. Families are reached by home visits, counseling, workshops, and crafts. This allows them to be capable and productive, and in turn creates a good family structure. Empowering them to be self-supporting and free from addictions is also one of the goals.

I know that my wife is intending to participate in this project as she is taking lots of loom bands with her to share. In fact, my 10 year old niece has been teaching her!

Heritage School: There is also a school on the site where we will be staying which is under construction. At present, it educates children between the ages of 2-6 offering education, food, recreation and personal care. I'm not yet sure how much the school has been developed but I'll update you when I know.

Street team: Many of the volunteers spend time on the streets developing friendships with street children. Through this, they can identify which children are willing to leave the streets and return home to their families. Often members of the street team will play games with the children. We are taking Uno with us as this is a popular game in Brazil. I hope the children understand my attempts at saying numbers and colours in Brazilian Portuguese!

Hope House (at the base); This is a restoration house for former street boys between the ages of 10-14.. After leaving the streets, the boys live full time in the home with qualified staff. The boys go through various phases of the program until they are ready for a full reintegration into society. At Hope House, the boys are part of a program which has areas which includes social, physical, family, spiritual and education.

Hope House

DAILY SCHEDULE

My wife and I are going to be busy! We will be working on the projects for 6 days a week and breakfast is at 6:15am!

It is going to be hard work and perhaps a little scary at times, but we are excited to be able to go there and looking forward to sharing more of it with you.

Vamos ao Brazil

On the 22^nd September 2014, we will be saying goodbye to the UK and jetting off to Brazil (via Lisbon Airport). We are very excited for what God has in store for us and the journey he is taking us on. We will be spending three months with YWAM (Youth with a Mission)  in Recife, north east Brazil, and returning to the UK on the 17^th December,  in time to spend Christmas with our friends and family.

During our time there, we will get involved in various projects that the base run.  For more information please visit: www.jocumrecife.com/en/ Once we are in Brazil, we will more about the work we will be doing but are excited to be able to help children whose lives not as privileged as our own. We look forward to sharing more about these projects and the stories we experience during the coming months on this blog.