AMIGOS Brazil

2006-07-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

As the Brazil project is wrapping up, volunteers and staff are working hard on finishing up their projects. Recently we’ve bought 7 goats for a goat micro credit cooperative, 12 bee houses for honey producers, teen novels for a youth book group, sewing machines for a sewing group, seeds for a community rotating seed bank, binding for an alternative medicine recipe book, and construction materials for latrines, gazebos, benches, fences, and swings. We have also cleared spaces for organic gardens and soccer fields. We have facilitated classes about organic gardening, how to make fruit candy, natural water purification from the amazing moringa plant, English, literacy, dental hygiene, recycling, and the environment. Cistern construction also continues in all of our communities, and our volunteers continue to acquire more muscles and blisters!

We are excited, but also sad, to have our Despedida party on Saturday afternoon, during which we will have a chance to thank all of our partners, friends, and host families with music, food, and a picture slide show. Then we are off to the beach, to relax and reflect for the last couple of days with program evaluations, return culture shock activities, performance evaluations, and dune buggy rides!

We are all very content with the summer and our experiences – which ranged from the hilarious to the absurd, but will all be unforgettable! We will be sad to say goodbye to all of the motivated, loving people we worked with – from the Cáritas staff to host families to the children we see every day. We are sure that the memory of the World Cup, the TV novela Cobras e Lagartos, the upcoming presidential elections, and the magic of the sertão – the semi-arid land of forró, São João, macaxeira, and literatura de cordel, will leave some of us with enough taste in our mouth to come back!!

Brejo da Madre do Deus

2006-07-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

Riacho das Almas

2006-07-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Linda, Marianne, and Kate's trip - surveying the area and observing cistern construction.

Local artwork in Caruaru

2006-07-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Lagoa dos Gatos World Cup lunch

2006-07-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Tacaimbo

2006-07-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

Visit to Tacaimbo - Serrote da Carreira and Boa Vista de Cima, with Denise and Fernanda from ASA Recife.

Criminoso, Gravata

2006-07-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

Ana's volunteers in Gravata!

Flor e Barro

2006-07-13T05:15:00.000-07:00

During Briefing, a local folkloric dance group, Flor e Barro, performed several regional dances for us, and conducted a workshop to teach us some steps - what a workout!

Routes and partnerships

2006-07-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

Maya's route, Ana's route, Ben's route, Sara's route!

Briefing - Caritas and ASA

2006-07-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

During Briefing, our partner agency - Caritas Internacionalis of Caruaru, gave a one-day course on water resources management (GRH). This is the course given to every family that receives a cistern through the P1MC - Program One Million Cisterns, conducted by Articulacao no Semi-Arido Brasileiro (ASA). Topics covered include survival in the semi-arid region of Brazil, water purification methods, recycling and decomposition, the water cycle, how to maintain a cistern, and more. In these photos (left to right): Tiago (Jatauba), Linda (Caruaru), Sara, Sandra (Riacho das Almas), Beth (Canada), Seu Paulo (Jatauba).

AMIGOS Staff!

2006-07-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Ana, Marianne, Ben, Kate, Sara, Maya. A equipe do Brasil!

Mapping out their nametags of Brazil...

2006-07-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to AMIGOS Brazil 2006!

2006-07-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here is the whole group at Briefing - happy and clean! Little do they know what they are getting into... ;)

Contact us at: amigosbrasil2006@yahoo.com.
www.amigoslink.org
http://www.asabrasil.org.br/
http://www.caritas.org/