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 My Time in Brazil
By Indea Cadman-Rivers
In July, I travelled to Brazil with 27 other people from England as part of the Prime Minister’s Global Fellowship (PMGF). The PMGF sends 100 young people to Brazil, China or India to investigate issues of culture, language, education and global enterprise. The six-week adventure is sponsored by PMGF. It is an investigation into the social, economic and environmental effects of globalisation and learning what a positive role we can play in the process. The programme is split into three parts; two weeks language and cultural immersion, two weeks in a local school and staying with a host family and two weeks as the guest of a global company learning primarily about their corporate social responsibilities and how they are coping in an emerging country.
 Our first two weeks were spent in Rio, where we were immersed head-over-heels in the culture. It comprised language lessons at Cultura Inglesa (more successful for some than others; whilst people returned to England being fluent and were mistaken for Brazilian on numerous occasions, others of us were not so fortunate… we all did our best and when there were language difficulties, charades prevailed!)
We had an incredible contrast, although we were staying in a hotel and visiting some amazing museums, we went to some favelas (slums) in which some of the poorest people in Brazil lived. We learnt about Bra zilian traditions and customs and we were all so excited to see them in practice when we went and stayed with the host families in Sao Paulo.
The following two weeks were spent with the Costa family in the suburbs of Sao Paulo, the daughter, Marianna, was seventeen and I learnt a lot about what it was like being a teenager in Brazil and how it different to England.
 On of my favourite days was when we went to Altes Horres, a popular TV teenage show in Brazil. It was my first TV appearance, let alone in Brazil. We saw some famous Brazilians (although I didn’t realize at the time) and there was lots of music. We went to ‘Giome’, a popular nightclub where we learnt how to dance samba…it seems samba was just as (un) successful as my Portuguese was!
Whilst I was in SP, it was Father’s Day. It is viewed as a really important day. Although not as commercialized as in the UK, there was no question of whether to celebrate it or not. We went to my host father’s father’s, it seems everyone did! It took me ten minutes to say hello to everyone since so many people were there. The whole family! Everyone made an effort to speak English and they were so accommodating. I helped with the BBQ and ate what I had cooked… chicken heart! It was surprisingly delicious.
We then had a chat about the Brazilian president, Lula which, after that, I was let into a secret: ‘There are three things you should never let a Brazilian talk about; soccer, politics and religion!’.
 We visited the school, which the Brazilian hosts attended: Collegio Sao Luis, a high-achieving private school situated on Paulista Avenue (the equivalent of Oxford Street in London). The school is seven storeys high and it was novel taking a lift to get to classes! Lessons started at 7am, which was a shock to the system, but ended at 1pm. We learnt about the disparities in public and state schools and how huge the differences really were.
For the final two weeks, I was on a work placement with HSBC in Sao Paulo; it was amazing to see the differences in how the company operated in such a contrasting country. We learnt about the various departments and went on trips to view all the various projects either HSBC sponsored or their clients (clients consisted of the biggest baked goods manufacturer in Brazil, essentially a cookie factory as well as container factory).
It was, however the CSR that I was most impressed with. Not only did HSBC have its own projects but it also encouraged its clients to do the same and help the community.
 Whilst we were there, we had to dig up these banana trees; I was stung twice by a visper, which is a (huge) black wasp. When one flew near us, I was told to stay still whilst everyone else was having a hissy fit and getting hysterical. I, deciding to be the responsible, mature one of the group, took the advice and stood still. As a reward, I was stung on my right side. It was painful, but I was mostly annoyed by the irony of it all. About three minutes later, another one approached – this time, I was not about to be the fool of the group…I ran for my life! (Linford Christie would have been in my dust!) Whilst running, I could see it out of the corner of my eye and it landed on my face (I was still running) and stung me on my left cheek – worst luck ever! I would just like to point out that no-one else got stung!
On the final day, we were told that we were leaving the hotel at 17.00 sharp. Since it was the last day and I had some Reals to rid myself of, I decided I could pack when I got back. I got back to hotel at 16.45 after a very successful shop…PANIC! My mother would be ashamed at how poorly my bag was packed!
 I checked out and we left for the airport. It was an emotional day leaving all the Brazilians (many came with us). It was only when talking to the other fellows, knowing this would be the last time I saw them for a long time that I understood what an amazing trip this had been. It was incredible to see all that Brazil has to offer, but also to meet the people who’d gone on it who were all like-minded, enthusiastic, lovely people. After hours of reminiscing, laughter and smiling at the memories, I promptly fell asleep and woke up when landing.
Although there is still abject poverty, with the help of CSR and heightened awareness, hopefully these issues will be tackled in the near future.
 I spoke to a man and asked what he thought of Brazil and how well they were exploiting their resources effectively, in response, they simply asked a question: ‘What good is wealth and power if 95% of the country don't benefit from it at all?’. My hope for Brazil is that it undergoes radical reform, eradicating corruption, improving education and helps its people in a sustainable manner rather that just becoming an artificial ‘developed’ country.
The application process is now open for the opportunity to participate in the fellowship 2010. For further information and the application form, please visit: www.global-fellowship.org.
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