Ola!

What can I say Brazil is amazing! Rio is an amazing city and I can´t believe how fast time has gone. It has been go go go and I have loved every second of it. There have been moments however that will stay with me forever; the first of them was visiting Afroreggae. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the project and was enlightened to see how it helps young people within the community by providing education and equipment as an attempt to divert them away from crime.  The initiative was superb and was encouraged by a previous drug dealer which I found added depth to the project. They could look to him as a positive role model who has experienced a life of drug dealership but as someone who has got himself out of crime and is now helping others.

Another highlight was meeting the under secretary of education for Rio, Rafael Parente. I found him inspiring. He had a vision for the future but accepted that the challenge of getting young people into schools and to stay in schools was not going to be easy. A new form of education was proposed, something that would not necessarily be accepted in the UK was the divide in ownership of education. The proposition that that state owned the majority, whilst private investors also owned part of the system was put forward. I wasn’t sure at first but as his speech continued I became truly memorized in his vision and my confidence in him grew a great deal.  I felt really enthused by how business and education could really work to secure Brazil’s youth a future. It would encourage a positive form of globalization and would help to improve education a great deal.

I loved visiting the Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain! It was incredible to spend some time on Ipanema beach and learning Portuguese with some amazing teachers at Cultura Inglesa. The past 2 weeks in Rio have been incredible; my blog entry really does not do it justice at all. We have met some great people that I really hope I keep in contact with. I’m looking forward to the next 4 weeks in Sao Paulo! Bring it on!