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BRBRBR Language Tip

How much energy would it take to make Portuguese go global?

Portuguese is already one of the 10 most widely spoken languages in the world, but very few people actually choose to learn it as a second language. Would the emergence of Brazil as an economic superpower be enough to see a significant increase in the number of students of Portuguese? Thomas Alvarez who wrote an article with the above title admits that ‘ in order to convince non-native speakers to invest their limited resources in the serious matter of learning a foreign language, the process must be seen as a valuable means to achieve a desired transaction’. With Portuguese being quite a difficult language to learn, we would need to see Brazil really enter the world stage as a solid and significant supplier of energy in order to see a knock on effect in the classroom.

If it does happen, though, we who are on the Britain Brasil Bridge would be strategically placed as many of us not only know both languages, but also understand the cultures behind them.

(click on the link above to read the full article)

Caring for the elderly

I sat next to a very chatty Brazilian lady on a plane recently. We had a lot in common: we were both from the Northeast of Brazil, we both lived in London, and we had both been over to Brazil for a wedding. But, it soon became clear we were looking at our lives as immigrants from very differing viewpoints. By her own admission, she was coming to the end of it, while I was just at the start.  ‘I am going back regularly to Brazil these days to see whether I can re-acclimatise. I have been in London for 21 years, and though I have loved it, I am terrified of growing old there.’  As she spoke, I remembered my own grandfather, a Brit who spent most of his adult life in Brazil. His old age in a foreign country has not been easy, mainly because of the language. Though he spoke Portuguese fluently, a tired brain means he struggles to express himself clearly to the nurses – a very important aspect of good care.

The two countries do see growing old and the responsibility to care for the old in very different ways. One the whole, an older member of society in Brazil holds some status within the family. They are often welcomed to live in the home of one of their children, or close enough to keep an eye on, and their voice and opinion about family matters is often heard (even if not always followed). Because of this, the younger generation often have a lot of contact with the older generations and so each grow accustomed to relating with the other.

In the UK, it seems like it is more common for older people to care for themselves so they dutifully make plans, separating some money to check in to a retirement home. Through work and church I have met many elderly British people and have often heard them say ‘Oh, I don’t want to be a burden to my children.’ An older person in Brazil would probably be heard saying ‘It’s the duty of my children to take care of me after all I’ve done for them.’  There is also a lot of mobility in the UK so a grandparent might live quite far away from their grandchildren, visits only being possible once a month, or even less in some cases.

So, what happens when these two polar opposite cultures meet? Is my new found friend on the plane right in being scared about her retirement in the UK? She shared with me something  the daughter of a friend of her’s had said: ‘Mum, don’t worry because when I grow up, I’ll get a job earning a lot of money so I can put you in a nice care home’. The new generation of Anglo-Brazilian kids face a problem of cultural expectations because spending your twilight years in a ‘good care home’ is not the dream of a Brazilian mother.

Here are some statistics from the two countries (click on the link to see the source):

- The life expectancy in Brazil is 72.5 years and in the UK it’s 79.3 years (source:2007).

- In 2009, Brazil’s 65 and over population accounted for 6.7% of the total (about 11 million). IBGE (the institute for national statistics) expect this number to triple by 2020. In the UK, the proportion of people aged 65 and over is projected to increase from 16 per cent in 2008 to 23 per cent by 2033.

- Throughout the UK there are 21,500 Care Homes whereas in Brazil there were only 6000 in 2007 – that is, a third of the figure for triple the population.

- Most of the Care Homes in Brazil are situated in the South, whereas in England there is more of an even spread.

- The Government in Brazil gives a care Home R$64,00 per resident per month, the actual cost of a middle class Care Home in Brazil per resident is around R$1.000,00. In the UK, they judge how much money each resident is awarded based on a means-tested system.

A Death in Brazil – by Peter Robb

‘A Death in Brazil’ is an astonishing book about Brazil, surprisingly because it defies categorisation (part novel, memoir, thriller, historical narrative), is written by an Australian who only made three visits to Brazil over two years and fails to significantly mention that one subject that all books on Brazil speak of – football.

I read the book wondering, as many of the press out-quotes seemed to suggest, this would be THE book to give to any first time reader interested in the enormous South American country. Is it? Well, yes and no. No, because as a self-titled “book of omissions” the book presents a detailed, dense, interwoven portrayal of only certain aspects of Brazilian life – namely, social history, literature, political scandal, sex and even cooking. The Brazilians, reviewed on this blog, covers much more systematically a wide range of historical, social and political phenomena through an academic lens.

However, whereas The Brazilians is a useful manual, A Death in Brazil would still be my choice of tome to give to a newcomer to Brazil. This is because Robb’s prose goes further than any book I’ve read in helping the reader experience Brazil through words. You can almost smell, taste and touch the beans and the manioc after reading the ornate description of the country’s staple foods contained in the pages of this book. Robb’s depiction of a bustling Recife is probably the best I’ve read in English. In short, Robb presents Brazil through a series of characters involved in the story of the country – these characters include Robb himself, Machado de Assis, a younger Lula, the corrupt Fernando de Collor, his wife, his brother and right hand man PC Farias, a barman from Recife called Vava, his wife and a host of others.

Robb, whose political roots are very red, does not hold back from graphically describing the violence perpetrated against Brazil’s lower classes over decades and centuries. These passages can be exceptionally moving. At other times, readers are left laughing by the author’s own interactions with the Brazilian police or his comical appraisal of Globo novelas. We see Brazil through the eyes of people – all kinds of people – and this is surely the book’s strongest point.

The book has its limitations, however. While it is refreshing to read a book about Brazil in which most of the action takes place in the northeast (and not Rio and Sao Paulo, cities which always dominate any account of Brazil), I am aware that large swathes of the country still get no mention at all. It really is a book of omissions. Further, despite Robb’s excellent skills at constructing a winding prose, I found myself skipping through certain chapters of heavy description anxious to get back to a recognisable plotline. Robb sometimes seems to overcook his own limited experience of Brazil and, especially for those of us who have been there, this gives way to boredom for the reader.

A Death in Brazil is a story of many deaths. Reading to the end you wonder how anyone might survive more than a few years in the country. But, the book does more than most in describing and accounting for the fragile, beautiful and precious life that exists in this great country.

Sandman or Snowman?

What’s the difference between January in Brazil and January in Britain? It depends what you want to build your man out of.

Thanks to Rachel’s cousin Mariana for the fantastic art…

Cooking for Life

Cooking For Life (CFL) is a Christian charity based in Uberlandia, Brazil and provides training programmes for young people in underprivileged areas to become chefs and waiters, enabling them to gain employment.  Until now 220 young people have been trained, the majority of whom are now working. CFL also runs a non profit-making restaurant to help fund the training programmes where the students gain work experience.

 At the end of 2000 Juliet Rogers visited Uberlandia, Brazil through a partnership with the Sal da Terra (Salt of the Earth) church and Go to the Nations.  In 2001 she decided to return to Brazil and in 2002 the project Cooking For Life was started. Since then she has been living in Brazil. She is currently part of the leadership team in the local Saraiva Sal da Terra church. She was awarded honorary citizenship of Uberlandia in April 2006. She is also part of New Hope Centre, Guildford, UK.

Cooking For Life is also registered as a charity in England, which raises funding for Cooking For Life in Brazil.

 Each training programme lasts for 3 months and each successful student receives a certificate. The students spend 6 weeks learning the basic skills then 7 weeks gaining work experience in the restaurant. After the students finish the course we help and advise them as necessary to help them gain employment. We have contacts with many local restaurants, cafes, hotels and bars who call us when they have vacancies. Currently most of the students are employed.

As a Christian charity, we make sure we recruit Christian trainers who will pray, counsel, offer support and visit the students and their families.  The local Sal da Terra (Salt of the Earth) church in Uberlandia is also very involved in counselling, visiting and praying with the students.

 More information is on the website www.cookingforlife.org.uk

Points of Contact – Art Exchange Project

Calling all Artists! Points of Contact is a new partnership recently initiated between the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, with Arts Council England and the British Council.

What is it? The initiative is being billed as “a new cultural knowledge exchange programme between Brazil and the UK… Points of Contact/Pontos de Contato will set up reciprocal learning visits between arts organisations, policy makers and funders in the two countries”.

Yes, but what is it? In short, it sounds like somebody official is trying to strengthen the bridge between Britain and Brazil when it comes to arts and culture.

Who is doing it? The driving force behind the project from the UK side seems to be Queens College London whose People’s Palace project seeks to provide a platform for art that promotes social justice.

When? According to Queens College, more announcements about Points of Contact will follow at the end of this year but in the meantime they are researching which projects to include in the exchange. So, if you have any involvement in the arts in Brazil or in the UK and think an exchange would enrich what you’re doing now might be a very good time to get in touch with these people.

How can I found out more? Click here.

Anglo-Brazilian Christmas part 2

3 – Where will you be celebrating Christmas this year?

Isabel: This year is a very special year because my parents moved to Rio de Janeiro (from Recife) in October and so we will be spending Christmas and New Year’s with them there in Rio. A very Brazilian Christmas.
Veronica: Phil (my husband) is a Baptist Church pastor so we go to the service in the morning. This year, most of our friends are travelling in Brazil or with other relatives so we will have our first traditional British Christmas just Mummy, Daddy and the kids (the first in seven years of marriage). We are going to make it a very special occasion.

On Boxing Day, we will be seeing Nana and Grandad and so we will open our presents there with them.

4 – What will you miss the most this Christmas?

Isabel: The other part of our family who will be in England, Cranberry Sauce to go with the Turkey, Christmas Pudding with custard and brandy. The fireplace, the board games before bed time at Gran’s house (like monopoly, trivial pursuit, etc).

Veronica: My sister and her husband who will be spending Christmas with his side of the family.  My Brazilian family and my Gran, on my mother’s side, who from now on is spending Christmas with Jesus.

Anglo-Brazilian Christmas 1

Merry Christmas to all our readers! These days are very important for both Brazilians and British people alike. A time to be with family, get presents, eat a lot, think about Baby Jesus. Those are the similarities. But, we know there are differences. We were curious to find out how an Anglo-Brazilian family goes about celebrating Christmas. We sent a few questions to two mothers, one who will be celebrating in the UK, and the other in Brazil. We think you will want to check out the answers because we learnt a lot from them. We will be publishing the answers over the next two days.

1) What are the differences/similarities which you have noticed between the British and Brazilian Christmases?

Isabel: The differences:
– Christmas in Brazil is warm, but in Britain its cold and it could even snow!
– The Christmas trees in Brazil aren’t real, but in Britain almost always the Christmas trees are real.
– In Brazil, the Christmas decorations are put up in the houses and in the stores in November, whereas in Britain they only do it for advent in December and will take them off by January 12th maximum… it’s tradition.

Veronica: 
- in the UK, you get lots and lots of cards but not as many presents; in Brazil you don’t get as many cards, you get more presents (LOL)
- In the Northeast of Brazil, you put your cards on the Tree, you can find frames for that in the UK which is very useful
- Advent in the UK is more celebrated and you really feel like you are preparing yourself for Christmas Day, Advent Calenders are a wonderful idea and in the churches a candle is lit on each of the four Sundays running up to Christmas.
- In Brazil, the meal normally involves many people but in the UK its normally the closer members of the family
- In Brazil, people have a beer or wine, but in the UK sherry is more popular at Christmas and some men even smoke a cigar
- In Brazil, you can be eating your meal overlooking the sea, but in the UK you could be cosy in your warm house
- In Brazil, the presents don’t necessarily need to be opened on the day, it depends on the family, but in the UK, you can only open them on the 25th.
- In Brazil, there is always someone dressed up as Santa on the day, but in the UK I have never seen Santa on the actual day.
- In Brazil, the churches don’t always organise meals for disadvantaged families, but in the UK, there are many opportunities to help the poor in the UK and in other countries.
- In Brazil, we only sing carols at the Christmas Service, but in the UK we sing so many that we really do feel the spirituality of the season.
- Unique to the UK: UK Crackers which are part of the Lunch, The poem ‘The Night before Christmas’ which generates a lot of anxiety in British children, Christingles, Stockings, The Queen’s Speech, Boxing Day (the day after Christmas)

2 – How is Christmas celebrated in your home? Does it include both traditions?

Isabel: Christmas in our home includes a bit of both traditions, in Brazil Father Christmas leaves the presents in a shoe left under our bed. In England, he leaves it under the tree. In Brazil, our family get together and make a huge meal with turkey, champagne, fruits and we celebrate Christmas at midnight between the 24th and 25th with everyone together.
In England, the Christmas meal is at lunch time on Christmas Day. But, all the family come together for that as well.
In England, at night my kids leave a bit of Christmas cake, cheese and a bit of sherry for Father Christmas and carrots and some water for the Reindeers.

Veronica: Before the day, the children have presentations and some trips out at school. We are also part of some Christingles and other special celebrations. We send lots of cards and make a newsletter about us for our family and friends. We take pictures of the kids in nativity clothes and we send the picture to family and some closer friends.

In our house, Christmas is generally full of people (which is something quite Brazilian) and whoever doesn’t have somewhere to go, ends up with us. We also have the British Sherry alongside the Brazilian Farofa and rice to eat with the turkey – together with roast potatoes, vegetables and cranberry sauce. Crackers cannot be missing.

We spend the afternoon on the sofa watching films and the Queen’s Speech. We also call Brazil via the computer using the webcam on both ends. on Boxing Day, we visit Phil’s family. In sum, its a mixture of traditions which makes Christmas even more special.

A Suggestion for a Christmas Present (Book Review)

When considering the Britain Brasil Bridge, one name you cannot hide away from is Sarah de Carvalho. Born Sarah Jarman, this English lady, in 1992 at the age of 30, gave everything up to follow God’s lead in working with street children in Brazil. Without wanting to sound like a cliché, her achievements are truly remarkable. Her book, ‘The Street Children of Brazil’ reads well but what keeps you turning the pages is the story. In fact, so much so, that when you get to the end of the last chapter you are left with the question, ‘So, what happens next?’, – a question of frustration which demonstrates the books gripping appeal. Thankfully, I had her second book ‘A Survival Guide to Frontier Living’ at hand so I started quickly reading that. It is less autobiographical (but does answer some of the questions I was left with) and more practical in that it gives general guidelines on how to live your life more effectively for God. That is, how to know your calling and how to answer it daily with the many challenges that come your way. You can’t help but be inspired as she brings out personal stories to illustrate the points she wants to make. Both books are a good Christmas present for those interested or involved in the Britain Brasil Bridge.

Happy Child, the organisation that she and her Brazilian husband Joao Bosco started in 1995, have a very good website (apparently run by their son). They are still very active in ministering to street children in Belo Horizonte, where the ministry started, and in Recife.

For me, Sarah and Joao’s story is more than a good missionary tale. It personifies what I believe God has been doing in bringing together these two nations and their people. As a Brazilian, I grew up with street kids all around me, and to be brutally honest, these young people became a part of the scenery at some sad point in my own history. We need people from the outside, like Sarah, to wake us up from the injustice before our eyes and to invest their unique skills in bringing about a solution. As has already been said elsewhere on this blog, British people have a lot of gifts that Brazilians lack. In Sarah’s case, perseverance was key as she faced some pretty hairy moments. On the other hand, the Brazilians’ openness to a spiritual dimension taught her a few lessons about spiritual warfare. One revelation Sarah shared in her book which is very informative to the Bridge is that in a small way, the problem of street kids in Brazil was caused by the British push on slavery many, many years back. The lady in London who shared this with Sarah was pointing out that God was bringing restoration to the country from the very people who had caused the problem. Isn’t that often the way with God? He brings resurrection and hope from the most unlikely of places. Just like Jesus, the Messiah, being born in a manger.

A Christmas Thought

Christmas Eve 2009 will be the first anniversary of the death of Jonathan Romario Alves da Santana, one of the ‘old’ boys of My Father’s House project, who at the age of 13 was brutally murdered by being shot 5 times in the head by a gang who had been after him for over a year.

Jonathan grew up on one of the many ‘favelas’ or shanty towns in the greater Recife area and it just happened to be the favela by the side of Olinda’s rubbish dump where the Anglican Church of Living Waters and My Father’s House project reaches out to the poor and needy. Jonathan shared a childhood which isn’t unlike many of the other children on the favela; his Mother found a new man who was violent towards Jonathan and made his Mum choose between her son and himself. She chose him which effectively forced Jonathan out of the home. Out on the streets Jonathan became engrossed in the world of gangs, guns and drug trafficking and at the age of 11 became an ‘aviãozinho’ (little aeroplane) – a delivery boy for the gangs. He would be armed with a pistol as he delivered drugs and money around the favela. He was eventually caught by the police and naively gave up some names of his gang superiors – effectively a death sentence since he ‘talked’. My Father’s House found him and took him into the project to hide him from the gang.

After a few months, things got too much for Jonathan and he ran away from the project. I got a call one morning telling me that the gangs had tried to kill Jonathan; he had been shot in the shoulder but had survived and was now in hospital. I went to visit him along with another project worker to see what we could do. I met his Mum and his uncle who I drove to the bus station and paid for Jonathan and his uncle to get a bus to his Grandma’s house who lived in the countryside – a place where he would be safe. He stayed there for a few months and was apparently doing well, studying and working to get a little bit of money. I still remember the day when my phone rang and Jonathan’s Mum told me that she had gone to get Jonathan and had brought him back to the city. ‘Why would you do such a thing!?’ I asked, ‘Because I was jealous of his Grandma having custody of my son’ she replied. Sometimes the family needs more help than the actual boy. Four days later, Christmas Eve 2008, Jonathan was ambushed around the corner from his home and at just 13 years old was shot and killed.

My faith is constantly challenged by those short months that I knew Jonathan and by the many other lives of children which I am involved in. What is my role, our role, the Church’s role in a world like this? Christmas time is a time when the Church proudly proclaims the birth of Jesus Christ, ‘the King has come’, ‘Emmanuel – God with us’. Can the poor and needy of this world truly say that God’s representatives in this world, i.e. the Church – the body of Christ, are ‘with us’?

I don’t think I will forget the last words that Jonathan ever said to me as he climbed out the back of my car at the bus station – ‘Andy, you and the project, are the only ones who ever believed in me.’ I believed in Jonathan because I believe in Him – Jesus Christ and his power to change and restore lives. Can our non-Christian friends, the poor, the needy, the sick, the shunned, the downtrodden, can they really say that we, the church through Jesus Christ, are the only ones who truly believe in them, who by God Emmanuel are ever ‘with’ them? As Bill Hybels said, ‘the local Church is the hope of the world’, I believe that.

Rose and I have been challenged by this thought and so this Christmas, our first as a married couple, we’ll be receiving Emerson for four days, one of the boys in the project who can’t go home for Christmas as his Mum is an alcoholic and drug addict who lives on the street. It’s a bit of a challenge and a few sacrifices have to be made but it’s also a tremendous privilege and a pleasure to be able to give someone something that he has never had before – Christmas in a loving family.

With Love,

Andy and Rose Roberts

(Anglo-Brazilian couple working with street kids in Olinda)