EIL Intercultural Learning

Eleanor Reece is an Information Administrator from Dublin. In 2007, she spent 3 months in Florianopolis volunteering for the Vidal Ramos Fundation. This project supports children facing difficulties and keeps them off the streets.

Casa Brasil is a new volunteer project based in the City of Florianópolis in the Southern Brazilian state of Santa Caterina and was only established about two years ago. The main aim of Casa Brasil is to provide a safe and accessible place within the community for local children. Not uncommonly, needy children do not return to their homes after school for a number of reasons; instead, they play in the streets and become easy targets for drug dealers and people who start exploiting them - even their own parents. For these and many other reasons there are many projects like Casa Brasil that focus on poor children. Here they spend non-schooling hours in an environment that encourages learning, co-operation, social skills and of course fun. There are about 80 children between 6 and 15 years old who attend this project. Some children attend in the mornings and others in the afternoon. Everyday is different and for volunteers there is no set routine. The children are divided into classes based on ages and the volunteer can work with different groups each day. The teachers and volunteers work with the children and encourage them to play together and fairly. We organise and partake in many sports games and art and craft activities, as well as teaching new games. This requires a lot of self-initiative and continuous enthusiasm especially as this project is still in its infancy. However this has many advantages as the volunteers can participate in the continuous development and progress of Casa Brasil.

I have been working here with one other volunteer from Germany and with the help of our volunteer co-ordinator we have implemented new programmes including teaching basic English and also decorating and making physical improvements of the outside playground area. We have also tried to inform the children of our home countries, the culture and languages we use through different activities. In addition we also taught them about their native Brazil and other countries especially in South America as this opens theirs minds to global understanding and awareness of the world around them. Through these ideas and our daily interaction with the children, you can really see the benefits of the volunteer presence here even though it is only for a short period of time - you can see it in the faces of each individual child you come in contact with. It is important to remember though, that the contribution you make is not just about being involved in activities 24/7, it is about the difference that you made in that one person's life by showing them that they are important and they deserve love and attention.

As a volunteer you definitely benefit hugely from this experience and you learn so much especially when you live with a host family. This improves your knowledge of the Portuguese language and also your knowledge of Brazilian life, local culture and food. Also most Brazilians are so friendly and love to show visitors their home and family life, their city and their country so you can experience it all first hand. As with any volunteer programme certain skills are necessary including a level of adaptability, flexibility and enthusiasm. What I realised most is, that the more positive effort I put into this, the more positive my overall experience has been and it has been an amazing wonderful positive experience.

Eleanor