Friday, September 21, 2012

Dropping Off Supplies for the Children - End of Futebol Project

Yesterday was a sad day, we had to say goodbye to all of our friends at project.  Mike and I wanted to do all we could to help improve the project in anyway we possibly could.  With funds that Mike and I have saved up, we were able to bring the children brand new futebols, several pairs of soccer socks, a new ping pong set, adidas headbands, stickers, stamps and much more.  Since yesterday was our last day, we made it our supplies drop off day.  As Carlao (the head coach) told the morning and afternoon group that we were leaving, their heads dropped and they stomped their feet.  Some pretended to cry.   Each one came over to us and said, "Obrigado," (thank you), while giving us a handshake and a tight hug. I was not expecting it.  One said to me, "I love you." As the futebol games were on their way, one of the boys yelled, "Mikey, Mikey!" And, as Mike watched, he took his penalty kick the same way Mike takes his... and then ran over to Mike to tell him a secret, in Portuguese he said, "that was for you."

They had not even seen what we had brought them yet, and they were already so sad to see us go.  As I came back from filling my water bottle in the afternoon, I turned and saw all the children surrounding Mike, hugging him.  It was such a sad/happy moment, that brought tears to my eyes.  The children in this Favela, live in houses that are comparable to huts. Their streets smell of feces.  We heard gun shots a few different times at project (very close) and saw police helicopters swoop down close with machine guns hanging out of the doors.  This area is not safe and these children live in conditions that I never knew existed.  Maybe I knew, but you don't actually know, until you see it.  Some children wore the same clothes everyday.  I'm sure some did not eat, you could tell when I brought cookies, some were so hungry.  At times, it is heartbreaking and you wish/want to do everything you can to give them a better life.  To be there for them. But, with these children, it was not about what we could buy them or bring, it was about the quality time we could spend with them.  Making them laugh, playing silly games, laughing when we fell or missed the ball, singing Brazilian songs, dancing, and just letting them know they had someone that was excited to see them.

Lovin the Stickers


Boys giving Mike the Neymar



Morning Crew

Afternoon Group









I walk away incredibly blessed and grateful to have met these children.  The happiness they have brought me is, 10 x's what I could give them.  I wish I could stay forever and help every single day.  I feel a contribution to the world, to Brasil, to the favela, to a child.  Brandi Snyder said, "To the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world." Remember that.

In the words of Richard Bach, "Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't."
Still alive, let this just be the beginning of our mission...
Sunset from the house yesterday

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

ILHA Grande


With all the adventure going on out here, I have not had much time to sit on my laptop. But, after an 104 degree day today and playing soccer for four hours, I decided I could take a night to rest and catch up on telling you about Ilha Grande.

Ilha Grande is an island on the southeast side of Brazil. Several volunteers will take trips out to this island. In fact, when we first arrived, a group was just getting back. When they told us about Ilha Grande, I remember thinking, wow, I wish I could go there. Well, we did... and I never wanted to leave. If you have ever imagined paradise, euphoria, complete relaxation, a state of zen, well then you know what Ilha Grande feels like. Although, I could write a complete series of novels on the experiences of Ilha Grande, I will try to make the stories short and let the pictures do the talking.

After a trip to the Botafogo futebol game on Thursday night, (they ended up tying) we awoke at 3:50am on Friday morning to meet 3 of our fellow volunteers at the kitchen table, where we would leave to find a taxi. After finding our taxi, we were off to Central, where we would get on a bus and travel to a small town in southwest Brazil. The bus ride was about 2 hours and beautiful! We went through the mountains and along the Atlantic ocean. Even though there was fog, rain and it was 5am, you could feel the excitement in the air. We arrived at the small town, where we picked up cafezinhos (coffee) and some acai with granola. After talking with some locals, we found a boat that left a little earlier than our previously planned boat. Perfect. We could not wait...








Once we arrived onto Ilha Grande, we had to find hostels. After getting turned down multiple times because, “they did not have rooms for five people,” we decided to separate and see what we could find. Separating worked and we each met back by the palm tree to discuss where we found our home for the next couple of days. After a couple beers and a traditional Ilha Grande meal filled with fresh seafood (by fresh, I mean they just caught it a couple of hours ago!), caipirinhas, cheese platter and an end of the meal celebration with, tequila! Tequila only meant one thing... we were dancing! And we did... A LOT.



Saturday we headed out on a boat with a Brazilian wildman by the name of Marcio. I say he is a wildman because there were stories of him catching two live octopus on his boat the day before... skinning them and then bringing them back to grill up for that nights dinner. Not only that, but he drove the boat like we were setting out to sea to catch great white shark or something. Marcio had wild hair, a wild tan and a carefree, no worries, island attitude. He was the Bear Grylls of Ilha Grande.








On the boat, you saw nothing but blue skies, palm trees and mountains. We snorkeled for about an hour and headed back to shore for lunch/dinner. And, followed it up with another night on the island of singing and dancing.

Sunday was one of the best days in my entire life. As we awoke from our hostel and sluggishly made our way to the breakfast table, we talked about what we would do for the day. Not really coming to any conclusion, we hoped our cafezinhos would kick in quick and we would come up with something. We put on our bathing suits and grabbed our sarongs and decided we would take a walk. The walk turned into a search for secret beaches (where we found many). We would stop at each beach, sometimes lay out for a minute, sometimes swim, and some just to look at who was there or what kind of view we could get. The search for secret beaches turned into the finding of an old prison (which I can tell you right now is absolutely haunted, um yikes, back to secret beaches)... oh perfect-a sign to a secret waterfall! Let's GO! So, in our bathing suits we went on the search for the waterfall. After, seeing bamboo forests and natural springs, we really started to get deep into the mountain... and the day got hotter and we had no water... and we started to wonder... where is this waterfall?




 We heard two girls coming our way and Mike whispered, “Should I ask them?” Thinking, YES PLEASE for the love of God, I said, “Um, sure!” They told us it was only 30 minutes up the trail and described the rest of the hike. So we went and we saw the most beautiful sights I have ever laid eyes on.









I'll go ahead and mention that Mike and I had quite the walk back. We ran into some guy who thought he HAD to tell us he saw 2 very large snakes ahead... “How far ahead?” we asked. “Not that far ahead, but not that close. Farther down,” he said, doing the estimates of how big they are with his arms. The fact that his arms were spread all the way apart was not comforting. As we walked the rest of the way, we told funny stories and tried to hop over the dark shadowy spots. Lucky for us, no snakes. And, soon we were back on land headed for a much needed (once again) fresh as can be seafood and a caipirinha, of course.

Ilha Grande, all in all, was an experience I cannot even describe. As I looked out onto the ocean and the mountains, I thought to myself that I never would have thought I would ever be somewhere or see something like this in my life. It was so surreal and I was so grateful to have been there and to have seen what I saw. It reminded me that you can go and do whatever it is in the world that you want to, but you must be patient. Everything you want will not come over night, not in a summer, not in a year and sometimes not even in 5, 10, 15 years. To reach a goal you have to work everyday for it. You create your own life... you are the decision maker, the one driving the boat. And, if you want something, you can have it... but, be patient. It is coming. Maybe you're still waiting for it, maybe you're still on the journey.. and maybe that's ok, because do any of us really want the journey to end? I sure don't.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Futebol Project Begins


Where to begin with this pass week... We began our project, which has been phenomenal! Each day we wake-up at 7am to catch two buses to our favela. A favela is the term for a shanty town in Brazil, most often within urban areas. It takes about a little over an hour to arrive at our project. Once we arrive, we meet the head of the futebol program, Carlao. He is very kind and although he does not speak English, we have had no issues in understanding one another. As we walk to the futebol court, we pass through the favela and people yell out, Bom Dia Carlao!! It is safe to say Carlao knows everyone in the neighborhood. Not only do they know him, they love him. We are quite thankful for that because since he is loved, it seems we automatically loved in the community as well.

In Brazil the children go to either morning or afternoon school. Because of this, there is a large gap in their day where there is not much to do. When there are not many things to do, it is more likely that the children will get involved in the incredibly large drug, violence and gang scene. In order to avoid this, Carlao developed this soccer program where the children can come before or after school to play. They love it! In the mornings we have 35 children and in the afternoons, it is the same. The children range in age from 5-16. They were incredibly welcoming to us and by the end of the day, we were exchanging handshakes, hugs and high-fives. I think the fact that I scored a goal helped a bit! By the following day, when the children would see us, they run up to us and ask if we are going to play today! The smiles on their faces are priceless. So exciting! Mike and I, honestly feel so thankful and grateful to have this experience. Seeing how excited these kids are when we are around, is something I never imagined would happen. I thought, ok, one or two might take interest in us. But, literally every single one is grabbing our hands, high-fiving us, giving thumbs up and just smiling when we are around. And, can I add in, they do not speak a word of English. Amazing the connections you can make, when you do not even speak the same language. It does not take much. The little things. Simple things. A smile goes a long way. It is better than I could have ever imagined and I can say, I have never felt this happy before. What they give us is so much more than we can give them. Pictures below are not the greatest but you get the idea of where we are working the futebol program.





I am also working on putting together some information on the houses we build in the favelas. As you can imagine in the, “slums,” there are families of 8 living in what can be compared to a medium to large bathroom in the states, with no plumbing or electricity.

This week, we also had a family dinner with all the volunteers. Our house manager, Marie (amazing woman), made us a traditional brazilian dinner. Again, I could not stop smiling. It was so much fun to sit around a table of 20 people, each from a different background, country, purpose, passion, and talk, drink, enjoy food all together. I think the other volunteers could see and hear my excitement when I started hugging everyone and singing Bob Marley's, One Love.







 Today is Brazil's Independence Day! Which means we had the day off. Brazil loves their holidays. We thought no better way to celebrate, than to head to Copacabana beach to work on our tan and drink some caipirinhas But, before that we headed to the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral and a kilo lunch. Kilo style restaurants are everywhere around here. Basically, buffet style food but, good and fresh. Queria que vocĂȘ estivesse aqui!! (Wish you were here!!)
Outside the Cathedral
As you walk in...


Kilo Lunch all Smiles
hi mom :)

Copacabana Beach


Happy Independence Brasil!
The Real Coconut Water