Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I try hard not to make too many comparisons while living here in Brasil. I try really hard not to say, "well, that's not the way we do it at my house", or, "well, in the United States we..." or, "well, if you ask my opinion...". But, let's be honest. I am an American. I was taught to make comparisons before I learned to walk. It wasn't like there was ever a "lesson" in it, but it was just ingrained in me. And, with the holiday season among us I have found myself making more comparisons than usual!! Not good or bad, just differences:). I figured I would share!

1) Not once have I heard someone say, "Happy Holidays". Well, of course Brasilians won't say "Happy Holidays", but I have not heard the Portuguese equivalent!! :). I have, however, heard many many "Feliz Natal" and "Feliz Ano Novo" well wishes recently!! Everyone knows that I personally am a big advocate for political correctness and "Happy Holidays" but it feels kind of fun to throw political correctness out the window while at the same time knowing that I would never have to worry about someone complaining that there is a "war on Christmas"!!! Of course, I also have yet to meet anyone in Brasil who is Jewish (they have to be here somewhere!) or who celebrates Kwanza (where are they!?!?!) so "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" are really our only two options. But, still.

2) Anyone who knows me knows how much I despise cold weather and snow!!! Sure, it is fun and pretty while it falls but if you know me and my driving skills you don't want me to be anywhere on the roads in snowy conditions. And, I hate to be cold!!! But, it just feels odd to have nativity scenes, Santa and Christmas trees when it is 90 degrees and I am at the beach. Something just isn't clicking for me. I can't quite reach that "holiday spirit" when I am dripping sweat. :)

3) One of the things I really disliked about Christmas in the states was all the commercialism. I don't like shopping and this time of the year was dreadful being anywhere near a mall. I never understood why my sweet well-meaning mother still insisted to fill an entire room with Christmas gifts for her grown children. And, I could not stand the pressure everyone feels to "find the perfect gift!". I love that I don't feel that here. We don't have a Christmas tree, there is not a big "to do" about gifts and it doesn't feel like everyone is stressed out with the pressures of the season. But, as much as I love this freedom from the commercialization of Christmas I feel as if something is missing. Sad but true.

4) What? We don't go to church on Christmas Eve? Not Christmas day either? We go on New Years Eve? Hmmmmmm... Not sure you will find me in the pews on New Years Eve.

5) I am missing all the holiday parties and YOU, but I am so glad to have my incredible Brasilian friends and be spending time with the amazing people of PRECE. We wish you peace, joy and love during this special time of the year.

And, don't forget... If you are still looking for that "last minute year end tax write-off" we can help!!! Haha!! But, really, I am serious!!! :) Email me at kacyleighbrubaker@gmail.com for more information.

Trailblazin'

A few weeks ago I felt like I was a real trailblazer. I wasn’t with my regular moto-taxi guy who faithfully takes me from community to community on the back of his motorcycle. And, this new guy took me on some new and different routes. Routes that had us crossing through people’s farms, weaving around herds of cattle and speeding through back yards. Each time we crossed in to a new farm I had to hop off the back of the motorcycle, un-latch the wooden fence, let him pass, close the gate and hop back on the moto. It wasn’t my idea of “fun” and I definitely felt like a “trailblazer”. Of course, a trip of this sort is everyday life for most people in rural Ceará, Brasil, but for me it was something new.

In this post, however, that is not the type of trailblazing of which I want to write. I want to tell you about some real trailblazers- people who have done something where there is no precedent set, where there is no expectation or previous vision, where something truly amazing is taking place. I am privileged to teach the students in the community of Providencia where the joy and enthusiasm of the children fills the PRECE EPC. In just 3 short weeks they are already excelling in their English. But, there wasn’t always a place in this community where this was possible. In fact, it was less than 10 years ago that the first person from the entire town of Providencia entered UFC (Federal University of Ceará). I have heard people say before, “she was the first person in her family to go to college”. But, never before have I heard someone say, “she was the first person in the whole city to go to the university”.

Granted, the visiting doctors and dentists had attended the university. But, they were not “from” the community. And some of the teachers had also received education past high school, though not at UFC. She was the first in her town to go to school at UFC (the best university in Ceará). Her name was Horleina. The year was 2002. She heard about PRECE in Cipó and traveled there (30 minutes by motorcycle) where she studied with a small group of students who all had the dream of passing the Vestibular (now ENEM) and entering UFC. In 2004 she passed the test and entered UFC. Since that time much progress has been made in the community of Providencia. A PRECE EPC opened in that same year, and 3 students from Providencia are now studying at UFC. Each weekend Carla, a UFC student and the Providencia EPC coordinator, opens up the doors to many children and teenagers hoping to following in Horleina's path. Here the vision and dreams are great and the energy is explosive. The students have so much talent and they now have the vision for success and growth.

Because of the PRECE trailblazers the lives of so many are being changed and improved. But, I must wonder… If I had not had constant examples setting me on the path to college, grad school and good jobs would I have been as motivated as I was? If I had to blaze the trail on my own without someone else first setting the precedent could I have been so brave? I don’t know the answer to those questions. But, I sure am glad that there were strong examples in my life and other people like Horleina to show the way and set others on the right path.

Congratulations Wagner Gomes and ADEL

As most of you have read before, a really amazing organization by the name of ADEL (The Local Economic Development Agency) was developed by PRECE students and has had great success in introducing economic development to the rural communities. Recently ADEL's President, Wagner Gomes, won the Social Enterprenuer of the Future award from Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil's biggest newspaper). Congratulations Wagner and ADEL!!! Read below to learn more about ADEL as well as the award:

ADEL is a social organization founded by a group of young adults who were completing their college courses at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC). These students were all born and raised in small rural communities of Pentecoste and Apuiarés in the state of Ceará. When these young adults were still living in their hometown communities which offered very few opportunities for educational advancement and social mobility they luckily had access to PRECE. The method of cooperation learned through PRECE continued to be of value for these young adults. While attending their undergraduate courses in the areas of economics, agriculture, engineering and geography the students continued to return to their communities using the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they were learning toward local development programs in their communities.

ADEL’s mission is to enhance and articulate knowledge, talent and opportunities in support of economic and social development of communities and territories across the state of Ceará forming cooperative networks of knowledge and ongoing technical support for social and productive enterprises. ADEL believes that sustainable economic development involves the formation of human resources and social capital in communities and territories so that the local individuals themselves are able autonomously and efficiently use the potential and opportunities available to them. One of the ways the young adults found to generate income is through opening small businesses. ADEL encourages entrepreneurial methods which empower young people to enter the work world. With the entrepreneurial culture included as part of their experiences the young adults will be better able to identify and realize their professional, educational and social projects and opportunities. Therefore, since 2007 ADEL has been investing in the training of young adults in Apuiarés and Pentecoste.

The Youth Entrepreneurship and Microcredit Project (one of ADEL's programs) aims to promote entrepreneurship and the development of young adults in the rural areas of Pentecoste and Apuiarés through the installation of a micro-credit program for the rural youth who have participated in ADEL. Micro-credit is the missing ingredient to closing the continual cycle of poverty in the rural poor communities where young adults often cannot find any other alternative source to generate income. ADEL expects this final action and implementation of the projects will create an agency of micro-credit formed by young adults, for young adults and that will support their own initiatives in line with the development model for sustainability of local rural areas. They also hope to combat the exodus from rural areas as new companies allow young adults to remain in their areas following the principles of organic agriculture and generating income for their families and local communities.

Recently, ADEL's President, Wagner Gomes, won the Social Enterprenuer of the Future award from Folha de Sao Paulo. This award recognizes innovative ideas with strong potential for sustainability, social impact in local communities, and the ability to replicate and spread to other areas. Through this award, ADEL will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from SITAWI, an organization that offers consulting for social organizations, for 10 days and receive consulting and advice. Wagner Gomes will also receive a grant to attend post-graduate courses in NGO Administration and study of social projects.

In three short years ADEL has received numerous awards:

2009 and 2010 BrazilFoundation awards

2010 Award Rosani Cunha (second place), give by the Department of Social Development and Poverty Elimination (government agency).

2010 Award Partner Grade 100 - Tejucuoca County

2010 Certified Ecoefficient (Green) Organization by the Norteast Ecobusiness 2010

Congratulations go out to Wagner Gomes, ADEL and all those who continue to grow and develop the PRECE movement.

Superwomen!

I have been blessed to know a lot of amazing women in my life and I have learned so much from the incredible examples they have provided for me.

My mother worked tirelessly to care for her children- not just her two biological children but her classes of 20+ students. Never once did my mother miss anything of mine- a gymnastics meet, a tennis match, an awards ceremony, nothing- because she made her family her top priority. But, never once were her students neglected. How she juggled all her responsibilities will forever remain a mystery to me.

My grandmother is possibly the only person I can say I love unconditionally (unfortunately that says more negative things about my personality than about her beautiful personality). She is one of the kindest and most gentle souls I have ever met, and her naivety makes her completely adorable and irresistible.

The nuns, teachers and counselors that I taught with on the Navajo Nation taught me acceptance, forgiveness, inclusion and persistence better than anyone else. Their selfless act to give themselves to the work of Christ and to become one with the Navajo people spoke volumes to me.

The list of inspiring women goes on and on and on.

But here in Brazil I have met some Superwomen. Women who thrive in conditions that I as a (spoiled- see last post!) 21st century American woman could not have imagined ever struggling through. Women who do not utter the word “can’t” or see anything as “impossible”. Women who see only the need to attend to their families (biological as well as the entire community) and will stop at nothing to provide the best they can offer. These are truly Superwomen.

Take for example Dona Martha. She has raised 8 children, has cared unceasingly for her husband and has welcomed 2 grandchildren in to her family. She has also helped to initiate the Boa Vista EPC. She has watched as her husband and 4 children have left home to study at the university and only return to their community on the weekends. She has welcomed in to her home countless wanderers (ME!) as we come to visit and volunteer with the PRECE movement. All of this she has done without running water and by using a wood burning stove. Can you imagine washing dishes for a family of 8 by dipping water out of a bucket? Can you imagine cooking enough rice, beans and meat on a wood burning stove? Can you imagine hand washing clothes for 8 people in basins of water from the reservoir? Only a Superwoman could accomplish this.

And, take for example Dona Fransisca and her daughters. Never have I seen a woman build a church on to the side of her own home because she saw that the community needed a house of faith. Never have I seen a woman welcome 18 strangers in to her own home- putting out blow up air mattresses and preparing 3 meals a day (including snacks)- so that they would feel welcome as they observed and participated in the PRECE movement. Never have I witnessed a woman who builds additional rooms on to her own home so that her own grown children can return and find a place to call home once again. Never have a watched a woman open up her own kitchen and cook all through the night in order to prepare 700 hot meals for students preparing to take the ENEM the next morning. Only a Superwoman would extend herself like this.

I am so grateful that I have the example of these women in my life. But, the amazing thing is that Dona Martha and Dona Fransisca are not unique here. They are the women of Brasil. They are the women of PRECE. And, to me they are SUPERWOMEN.