The Right to Teach

It is a cloudy Friday morning in Rocinha, which is always the best time to write a blog post.
Currently, the free internet network that gives excellent high speed wifi access is down, which means I am writing this from the internet cafe near my apartment.

I have been living in Rocinha, working as a resident volunteer for nearly two months now and I am truly, finally beginning to feel settled in. It is a major adjustment to move from a "first world", safe, clean city such as Toronto to the wild hustle and bustle that is Rocinha.

One of the things that keeps me most inspired and dedicated to stay here and make this place "home", is the teens that I teach on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I took over the teen class from former resident volunteer Sergio and at first I was very intimidated. It was literally me versus a big group of 11-14 year olds, so not only did I have to pique their attention with my lessons, but I also had to win them over... (I am still in the process... I don't know if I am really "cool" in the eyes of a 12 year old girl born and raised in Rocinha...).

The teen class consists of a varied group of kids with very different levels of English, which at times makes it hard to manage, as you have the far more advanced kids vs. the kids who don't take English in school, because their school only offers Spanish classes. This is where I have decided to fully utilize Voluntourists. I bring them into my classroom and have them sit at different tables, based on the levels of the students, in order to make sure everyone gets a bit of individual attention. This has proven to be a very successful technique and I would recommend it to anyone who is considering coming to 2Bros and teaching as a resident volunteer.

Although English is the main goal in my lessons with the kids, I basically have the liberty to teach whatever I would like, so I am trying to balance grammar with general classes about the world, culture and current events.

As everyone should now know, Brazil has erupted into a massive scene of protests and social movements in the past few weeks- this was initially sparked when bus prices inexplicably augmented by 20 cents, but has turned into something so much more.
Two weeks ago, on Monday June 17th, English class was "cancelled". Instead I sat the kids down and let them know that "today was a historical day for Brazil". The first major protest was happening in Rio and about 100,000 protesters flooded the streets of  Avenida Rio Branco, in which was mainly a peaceful protest. I showed them 2 different videos that were circulating around YouTube- one that was entirely against the protesters (A clip by Arnaldo Jabor, who I believe is now biting his tongue) and a response to Mr. Jabor by the group Anonymous.
After showing the clips, I asked the kids what they got from the videos... is it really just 20 cents that the people are protesting for, or is it more??

Luckily, this day I was joined by the wonderful Geovani Martins, a very intelligent 20 year old man who is born and raised in Rocinha and is extremely down to earth and articulate- he was invaluable in helping me lead the discussion. ( My Portuguese is strong but not perfect and it was definitely challenged that day).
At first the kids were a bit silent, one 12 year old girl dropped her head into her hands and exclaimed "gente, que profundo!" - guys! this is too deep. But they quickly got into the discussion and we talked about the fact that Education and Health Care are deeply lacking in funding and proper structure here in Brazil. I wrote the word "educacao" on the board and we discussed exactly what they think the issue with the education system here is... "Well, our teachers don't show up to class" one girl responded... Many of the kids go to schools outside of Rocinha, because the schools here in the favela are severely lacking in funding and many kids aged  12, still can't read or write proficiently.
Schools here are dirty, unorganized and generally do not foster a positive environment for learning.
After we covered issues in the education system, we discussed issues in the health care system and what exactly "Health" means... what needs to be improved? We talked about the open sewers in Rocinha, the garbage everywhere, the conditions in the hospitals.

Then we discussed what they could do to change things around...Geovani played a big part in helping to lead this part of the class and it was an extremely inspiring moment for all involved. He said that for years, Brazilian people have been too lazy to really think and question, but that this is now changing. He told the story of his mother who went to school in the 1980s and didn't have the opportunity to express herself. He told the kids that "these days, we as Brazilians are committing one of the biggest sins. We have the right to speak, but we are not seizing our right. But you guys, you are the next generation and you, more than anyone, have the power to change things here, question the system and make a better country and reality for yourselves and your kids".

It was an amazing class to be a part of and I know it has had a lasting impression on all involved. The other day there was a protest in Rocinha and my kids were really keen on telling me that they had taken part.... I couldn't have been more proud!

This Sunday, I am taking them to the Centro Cultural do Banco Do Brasil (CCBB), which is an incredible cultural center in downtown Rio. They are showing an exhibition borrowed from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, called "Elles". There will be art on display from some of the greats such as Frida Kahlo- and the whole exhibit is entirely for free!

Next Wednesday, my volontourists Kaye and Wilson from the NGO "Rocinha Mais Verde" will be doing a presentation for my class about community farming and sustainable living. The girls are currently working way up at the top of Rocinha, building a beautiful community garden. I have started working with them which means that every morning I start my day early and walk the 30 minute hike up the steep hill of Rocinha and then do hard manual labour in the sun! Next week we will start planting fruit trees and vegetables after all the digging and preparation is finished. I plan on bringing my teens in next weekend to help with the planting and hopefully also become involved in the project.

What makes this opportunity with 2Bros so wonderful and exciting is that you can really make it your own- you have the power to truly make the most of it, bond with your students, and hopefully show them some things or discuss topics that they would otherwise be unexposed to.

The adventure continues and I still have two more months here- I will post again soon! Any comments or suggestions are always appreciated and I can be reached at erin@2bros.org you can also follow me and my personal development here in Rocinha at www.erinsbrazil.com

Beijos,

Erin/ Liza

Dan Parr: Theatre Workshop

Last week 2Bros and Escola Mouranghinos welcomed British Actor, Dan Parr in for a Culture Friday session. See below for pictures.

Having travelled over to visit his friend and Resident Volunteer Ben, as a team we thought we could use Dan’s experience and enthusiasm to give the kids a memorable theatre session.

After a great turnout, the group got started early with a meet and greet activity. Resident Volunteer Erin acted as translator for the session and we got the ball rolling by forming a circle and introducing ourselves as well as sharing an interesting fact with the group. Some of the kids even used their English knowledge to do this.

After this we got cracking with some games to engage everyone and get the energy levels up. Firstly we played a concentration game that focused on the use of eye-contact. By throwing a series of balls around, only to people who maintained eye-contact with you, the game kept the kids entertained, for the at me being at least.

Following this, we played Splat. For those of you who don’t know, Splat is a group game that requires quick fire reflexes both orally and physically. Having narrowed the group down to a final two, Ben and one of our teenage students, the game resulted in an agonizing defeat for our seasoned Resident Volunteer as he crumbled in the face of victory.

We continued the games for a little while longer playing Grandma’s footsteps, a personal favourite of the kids.

The main body of the workshop centered on some devised performances by the kids. We split them into groups, assigned a helper with each group and gave them a topic to base their performances around. The topics were music, sport, beach, and dance amongst other things. After allowing a 15-20 minute planning and rehearsal period we formed a little audience and shared each other’s work.

This was no doubt the hardest part to keep the kids engaged. A combination of it nearly being home time and embarrassment when it came to performing for the group seemed to be the main reasons. All in all, it was a great session. Vibrant, fun and engaging and Dan really enjoyed himself as well.

So a big thanks to Dan for coming in, hopefully we’ll see you again In the future and good luck with your acting career. 

Introductions

It is a cloudy Monday morning in Rio and therefore, a perfect day to sit down and write my first blog entry for 2Bros.

My name is Erin, although in Rocinha I go by my second name “Liza” because Brazilians tend to have a lot of trouble pronouncing the name, Erin (The “R” in the middle throws them through a loop). I arrived in Rocinha from Toronto, Canada exactly a month and a half ago. My role here is as Resident Volunteer, teaching the adolescent class (kids aged from 11-14) and also a beginner English, adult class. I will be living here in Rocinha until September, at which point I need to go back to Canada and start my third year at York University.  

Since my arrival on May 2^nd, 2013, my life has been entirely turned upside down. Rocinha is impossible to describe unless you have actually been here- it is it’s own world- A city within a city. It is loud and wild and dirty and alive and extreme, but most importantly, it is a community with very strong roots and pride. I have never felt so welcome anywhere in my life, as the residents have taken me in with open arms. Every day that I walk through the winding streets and alleyways, I wave to at least five people ranging from true friends, to acquaintances to the man who sold me sunglasses on my third day here but still remembers me and calls out as I walk through the market.

The team at Two Brothers is also amazing and have acted as a true support system whilst I was adjusting here. For my first entry, I think I will just introduce the team and then from now until I leave, I will make sure to keep you updated on the many activities and day to day life events  that I experience as a resident volunteer with 2Bros.  

On Saturday June 15^th  we had to bid a very sad goodbye to one of the “family” members, Jess. Jessica is a beautiful compassionate girl from Cambridge,  UK, who was working in Rocinha for five months as a part of her university program. She worked mainly with the little kids but also taught adult classes. She was a majorly creative force, with an abnormal amount of compassion and empathy and in my mind, represented the definition of what 2Bros is looking for in their volunteers. We really miss her already.  

In her place, we now have Wesley, who is also a university student, coming from the prestigious Princeton University in the United States. He will start teaching this week, taking over the kids class which is easily the most difficult class to work with as you are thrown into a room full of kids ages 8-11.

The team also comprises of Ben, another UK representative from the North of England who has been living in Rocinha for the past four months. Ben also heads home relatively soon and will start his Masters program at Kings College starting in September. Ben possesses one of the biggest hearts of anyone I have ever met and brings a lot of fun and enthusiasm everywhere he goes. The kids absolutely love him, and despite some language barriers (Ben came to Brazil knowing next to no Portuguese), he has thrived here and his classes have benefitted from his dedication and creativity. 

Then there is Paul, who works with the adult classes at 2Bros. Paul is from the States and has been living in Rocinha for quite some time now and I believe plans to live here for the next while. Paul is the definition of an adventurer having BIKED from the U.S.A. to Brazil. 

Last but not least, there is our Field Coordinator, Jennifer. Jenn is also from the States and has been living in Rocinha for the past 9 months. Jenn has fallen in love with Brazil and Rocinha in particular. The community adores her here and in less than a year, she has managed to become nearly completely fluent in Portuguese. If and when you are applying for a volunteer position at 2Bros, Jenn is the gal who you will communicate with and greet you/orient you upon your arrival!

One of the best things that Two Brothers does is bring in a slew of creative “Voluntourists”- people who can’t actually live in Rocinha for the minimum three months but are willing to come in and help us for at least three weeks. This is such an important part of the program and supplies the Resident Volunteers with a lot of inspiration and also extra hands to help in the classroom. It also widens the kids perspective on how big our world is and how many different kinds of people are out there.    

Currently, we have two amazing Voluntourists from the UK, Sophie and Olivia. They have been helping out and also teaching drama classes every Friday. The classes are geared towards creativity and identity and it has been really fun working with the kids on a theatrical level and seeing how they respond (which luckily, has been very positively!).

 The point of this blog entry was to give you a sense of the people who are on the ground at 2Bros, who are actually putting the positive ideas and philosophies into action. If you think you can relate to some of the character traits that I have mentioned, please consider applying as a Resident Volunteer or popping in as a Voluntourist! If that isn’t possible, just sending us good wishes and support is hugely appreciated.

I promise to write again soon, next time describing life with my teens, our classes and extracurricular activites!

Paz e Beijos,

Liza

PAC 2 the Future

Earlier this week after class we were speaking to Jen, who informed us that the government had recently unveiled its plans to build a cable car, with 6 station stops and 2 lines to connect to the cities Metro service, which will run from the entrance of Rocinha to the very top. While the President and Mayor of Rio have urged that this development will be beneficial to the residents of Rocinha, the reality is not as bright!

 Rocinha already has an abundance of tour companies operating whats known as the 'Favela Tour' which more often than not involves rich middle class tourists being walked through the favela (protected by their tour guide  of course as all the guide boks say dont go to Rocinha alone only with respected tour companies) so they can see the 'real rio'. In my opinion the building of this cable car will bring with it an greater influx of tourists, who now wont have to walk  around and see the poor sanitation and unhygienic way these people are forced to live, they can simply pay money to a cable car operator and get a lift which takes them straight to the' beautiful view' of the coloured houses piled ontop of each other cascading down the to mountain, and from that vantage point they can take some pictures to show everyone that they went to a favela!

The build itself will not only mean a rise in tourists, but also huge destruction to this community as they will have to demolish a substantial amount of houses and businesses to make way for the new stations. Jen's house is situated at the entrance of Rocinha and this will be the site of the ground cable car station, meaning her building along with many of her neighbours will be torn down. When discussing this she stated that many families in her building have lived there for generations, and are being forcibly evicted from their family home and there is nothing they can do about it. according to Erin(another 2bros volunteer) people of Rocinha lack the education which would provide them with a voice to mobilise and rally together to reject this proposal. They are caught in a viscous cycle because they are not educated enough to realise the injustices being done against them. It seems this is exploitation of those who are most vulnerable and it will continue as long as someone is making a profit!

With 6 open sewers still running through the streets of Rocinha Jen highlighted that basic sanitation improvements are the priority for most residents, along with improvements in education and a most efficient garbage collection.Even the architect, Luiz Carlos Toledo responsible for the plans claims "it will not bring any great benefit to the community" it will simply be a coup to bring more toursim and benefit the big companies who orchestrated this remodelling.

Olivia Jackman
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk

I - Me, You -You, He - Him, She - Her, It - It, We - Us, They - Them - Voluntourist Post

I - Me, You -You, He - Him, She - Her, It - It, We - Us, They - Them

We went back to grammar with the 11 to 13 year olds and focused on subject and object personal pronouns. Erin was leading this class and we were given a table each to assist. The structure of this session was a good mix of individual and group work and mainly centred on filling in the blanks of each sentence with the correct personal pronoun. I like Erin’s approach of speaking in Portuguese and English intermittently because it held the student’s attention and seemed to help with their understanding because by the end when they were solving a class problem on the board most of them were shouting out the correct answers. On our tables we helped the students with their work by miming out the written conversation and encouraging them to read it aloud in order to help them fill in the gaps. We both really enjoyed the opportunity to work with a small group of students as it allowed us to really engage with them and offered a different type of interaction from facilitating. When we have worked with this group as facilitators the language barrier is more obvious than when working in a smaller group, on this level it seems easier for them to speak in English as there are less distractions and you can really see how Erin’s commitment is working small wonders. 

Sophie Wakeford
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk

Bella's Island - Voluntourist Post

In today’s adults class we only had one student (let’s call her Bella) but we continued with our plan which was based around creating a new society. The brief was that the government had marked out an area of land in Brazil (Bella’s Island) and the student or would have been students were in charge of making the rules by considering the following: what would the education system be like, would the citizens be able to carry guns, would they allow the death penalty, how would they handle immigration, what languages would they speak and so on. The controversial nature of some of these questions allowed for musings to become a debate which is when we used role play. By facilitating the session so that the student had to argue a case, for or against, allowed her to practice her pronunciation and try a different style of speaking by playing a character. Our student was very passionate about her answers and was adamant that no one should have guns and that education was the most important thing; adding that ‘it should be for life’.   

Over the course of the session we played around with the idea of creating a News Report about a hypothetical large scale event that will be coming to this new community. This allowed the session to have another activity which required basic drama skills and opened up a different avenue to think about how we communicate and how we could use the English language in this context.

Both of these tasks inevitably developed into a discussion about the laws in Brazil and the effects of the coming FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 to Rio de Janeiro. Bella was concerned about the cost of living Rio and how it is only increasing due to these two major events and the influx in tourists. She told us that the bus fare increases each month and it used to be 1R$ per journey but is now set to rise to 3R$ in the next few weeks. Considering the average wage in Rio is between 400R$ and 500R$ this can become a huge expense. Food and house prices are also being affected by this inflation and our student expressed sympathy for visiting tourists and the amount they will spend during their stay.

The main changes Bella has witnessed to Rocinha has been the increase in traffic on the main road outside and the pacification efforts of the police which will stop as soon as these mass events are over. Our student said that they are there to stop the gangs, the guns and the drugs but this is all still very much there it is just further underground and the people who would usually go to the up market places such as Ipanema and Copacabana to burgle houses are now stealing from people in Rocinha. Bella’s house has been robbed twice in the last few months.

On the flip side, she said that there will be more opportunities for work and so more people will learn English in order to secure a job during these events. Bella herself would like to apply for a position at the FIFA World Cup however, getting a job in Rio is all about contacts and not necessarily to with education or your CV. She also said that the Brazilians love Brazil and there will be a huge party full of yellow green!

This session turned out to be an extremely informative and interesting lesson. The different drama techniques helped to bring the subjects to life by allowing us to explore them through different avenues, opening up the need for new vocabulary and to concentrate on ‘If’ clauses and conditional sentences.

Sophie Wakeford
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk

The Girl from Ipanema

For this session we wanted to continue along the theme of place, specifically where the students are from. Having spent last mondays session discussing what they like about their city, we wanted to push this slightly further to include more drama based activities  Our aim was for them to learn how to use the video cameras  (which we had brought with us) and in two separate groups film a tv advert promoting their city to the rest of the world !

We had a class total of 10 for this session and our first task was to lead a discussion about what makes an advertisement catchy. They were extremely energetic and excited coming up with suggestions, talking over each other (which caused some confusion for our translator Erin). Some suggestions were that adverts are usually loud and energetic and that they like it when the advert has songs, music and celebrities. We then split the group in half, so Sophie and myself would have a group and a camera each, and Erin could go between the two groups to translate. The introduction of the camera caused quite a stir! as the kids all wanted a turn pressing the button and recording something, but we decided  that the camera would be used when we have practised the advert and they could nominate a 'director' who would be in charge of filming. Once this was agreed upon the group started thinking about the key attractions in Rio. 

After a little deliberation and the realisation that some members of the class just wanted to give suggestions and not be on camera, myself and Sophie came to the decision that we should merge the groups and have those who want to be in the advert acting, and the others could direct or give suggestions from behind the camera. As in most classes it took a sufficient amount of time to agree upon a theme for the advert but eventually they decided to perform the famous song' The Girl from Ipanema' and draw the beach on the blackboard behind them. Erin found the words online and said she would stand with them so they could read and sing whilst being filmed. One student in particular a little gril called Anna was particularly hyper this session, as the 'queen bee' of the class she seemed to want the attention of everyone in the room at all times and this made it quite difficult for anyone to direct or record what was happening. After deciding we would just try and film as best we could the other members of the group practised the song a few times and then Dan filmed the ad! Overall the session was a whirlwind but a success the kids seemed to really enjoy letting loose and 'playing' and they told us are looking forward this fridays session as we will be collaboration with Dan, who is an actor friend of Ben's form London and who will be arriving later in the week .

We will be posting the video once it has been edited but for now im going to share the poem written by two other students which was read as the end of the advert.

Sobre: Surf

Assunto: Ipanema ao Rio de Janeiro.

um do as melhores praias para surfar,

ele é linda e eu adoro surfar lá.

About: Surf

Subject: Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro,

one of the best beaches for surfing,

it is beautiful and I love surfing there.

Olivia Jackman
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk

In the future i want to be.....

During our monday session with Jess, who takes the 8-9 year olds, the topic was 'aspirations'.  As usual the classes started around 15 minutes behind  the allocated time (we have become accustom to the way that Briaziians view punctuality after 2 weeks of classes ) and consisted of the usual hustle and bustle before everyone finally settled down. The children were extremely friendly as usual and greeted us with a simle and some hugs. Before the class had begun Jess had written on the board in English (followed by the Portuguese translation) the sentence" in the future i want to be...." followed by a list of different career choices such as a doctor, an actor, a footballer, a fireman etc. The task for this session was for the children to write the sentence( in English) filling in what they would like their career in the future to be (it could be anything and didn't have to be one already listed on the board), and drawing a picture underneath.

This was a really insightful exercise for us as outsiders from England. We have come into this space with a particular perspective on this age group formed from our own experience back in the UK and it was interesting to see how the topic of 'future careers' was taken by the children in Rocinha. I was sitting next to one little girl Anna who started by drawing her picture, it was of a little stick figured girl on a catwalk with people sitting either side, she proceeded to tell me that 'in the future she wants to be a model'. This  little girls drawing seemed to be a prime example of the highly debated topic - the structure of education in Rocinha . We have had many convosations with the other volunteers, whose take on the structure of the system is that it places very little emphasis on leaning or progression, resulting in little boys and girls dreaming of a career as a football star or Victoria Secret model ( they see this as their only way to escape a lifetime in Rocinha with little work or prospects for the future). However despite this well acknowledged belief, when taking a closer look at other members of the class it seemed many had totally different aspirations and hopes for their futures. One little boy had written that he wanted to be a biologist for animals! there were also drawings of teachers and vets.

For us this class was an eye opener on our journey to the january river and it made us more aware that a this age these children have so much ahead of them, and while the road may be filled with blockades and barriers its not all doom and gloom for them  'no futuro' .


Olivia Jackman
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk

English Role Play - Voluntourist Post

We went with Ben to his advanced adult class to help out and learn the ropes as we will be leading his sessions next week while he is away. This class is not held at the usual school but further up the winding hill into the favela. They use a classroom here which belongs to another NGO company that teaches residents about computer programs and has loads of old computers, monitors and keyboards and runs classes in how they are put together. The session today started with a writing exercise to demonstrate when to use the verb ‘do’ or when to use ‘make’ as in Portuguese the same word is used for both. Ben is very eager for the group to have a good mix of writing, reading, speaking and listening but is most keen to be able to relate these things to real life experiences so that they can have proper conversations consequently, the rest of the session was based in drama and role plays which suited us fine. There was a scenario with 3 parts – a celebrity couple (the husband was a footballer and his wife a pop star) and a journalist trying to find out more about the husbands alleged affair. 

The class was split into groups and we were able to join in taking the role of the journalist which was fun because it meant that we could ask questions and tailor them to the level of each student. It also meant that we could get into role and encourage the drama to follow. Setting the English lesson up as a fake, gossip television show was really fun and the students came up with wildly funny and clever answers punctuated with the ‘girl was photo shopped’ throughout. Everyone got into their roles which seemed to help the conversation flow as they were putting themselves into a different situation, for example two of the participants pretending to be husband and wife even started to have little arguments with each other, this helped to bring the words and grammar to life and give them a meaning off the page. It was great class all round and I look forward to coming back again and exploring other role play scenarios. 

I love Rio because... Voluntourist Post

After spending the last couple of days getting to know the school and the kids we were able to run a full session with 11 participants aged between 11 and 13 years old. The lovely Erin translated for us which we were extremely appreciative of. However, as this was also a scheduled English class the group had to share their answers in English. We began the session by asking the group to move all the desks and chairs to one side, an activity which always causes excitement in groups while they anticipate what is going to happen in a classroom with no desks. We asked the group to come into a circle and started the first game to help put everyone at ease and inject some energy into the room. The game was very simple and required the participants to introduce themselves with an action which brings in the first elements of performance without the group really knowing and can gently break down confidence barriers because the group has to replay each others’ actions back to them. This game demonstrated the many personalities that were in the group with one participant strutting into the middle when saying their name and another pretending to punch the person next to them. There were big, loud gestures, some smaller, understated ones and some downright silly ones but for this game, anything goes and they all have the chance for it to be repeated back to them which they seemed to find pleasantly amusing.

This session was all about them and where they lived. Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control, the lesson had to be slightly shorter than planned so we could not do all the exercise we had originally intended but it served as a great taster to show the group what else there is to come and what they can expect from us. We wanted to focus this session on where they lived as we believe it is a great way for us to see their neighbourhoods and their city through their eyes and engage in Freire’s notion of ‘cultural synthesis’ which allows the participants to be ‘co-authors of the action’ 
(Freire 2007: 180).

We carried this out by asking the group to get into pairs and draw pictures of what they like about where they live, their favourite places to go, what they enjoy doing etc and to write a sentence in English underneath to give more detail. Our research into the development and regeneration taking place in response to the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 explained that a lot of changes are going on all over the city but the favelas are seen as the most disposable areas to move, rebuild or knock down completely therefore, we wanted this session to highlight positively their experiences and demonstrate to us their views of what makes them happy about where they live.

At the end of the session, after sharing everyone’s work and discussing some of what Rio and Rocinha have to offer (which as an added bonus gave us some insightful tourist tips!) we departed company with the group smiling and hopeful that they would return for our next session. 

Sophie Wakeford
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk

Cinema Trip at Fashion Mall - Voluntourist Post

Today we went with Erin, a lovely voluntary English teacher and Rocinha resident, to take some of her students to the cinema. Erin had organised the trip as a treat because most of the group had never been to the cinema before and also because it was a fun way to help the class with their English listening skills. The group are aged roughly between 12 and 14 years old and most have a fairly good level of English. We met everyone outside of their school in Rocinha and walked the ten minutes out of the favela and up the road to the cinema located in the new fashion mall. The short ten-minute walk demonstrated a huge range in wealth as the street stalls turned into high-rise flats, which then turned into large glasshouses nestled into the mountain. This path led us to the spacious mall itself, which was dripping with glamour and overpriced goods and was in huge contrast with where we had just come from but by no means better.

We arrived a little early for the showing of ‘Fast and Furious 6’ (the only English speaking film with Portuguese subtitles) so took a walk around the mall which had many floors filled with an abundance of places to refuel during some serious retail therapy. Each shop was elegantly decorated and boasted huge display windows to compete for custom over the countless other retail stores. None of these shop windows seemed the impress the kids, however, until we reached the Apple store, were we heard a little squeal of delight and looked around to see them all marching in to study the latest technology. Almost everyone here, wherever they come from, has a smart phone.  

After eventually dragging the group away from the latest models we went to take our seats in the cinema laden with our drinks and goodies (we tried Guaraná, a Brazilian fizzy drink I would highly recommend) and shivered in the intense air conditioning. In Brazil, it seems to be more socially acceptable to make noise in the cinema and at times the whole place was united in laughing and talking out loud about specific moments during the film. At the end, when we stepped back outside into the warm air to walk home the group discussed the movie; they all enjoyed it, especially the fast cars and their gadgets! Over all it was an entertaining afternoon everyone and demonstrated the ability to share an experience with people whatever language or level of English they speak. 

Sophie Wakeford
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk

Rocinha Favela = Misunderstood

Waiting anxiously at the end of our street for any bus with the illuminated words 'Rocinha' branded on the top, we felt a sense of both apprehensive and excitement at the same time. Finally a bus approached with our desired destination and we boarded, squashed, close and hot we were whirled down a long concrete tunnel 'Zuzu Angel' which for us felt like the very clear marker of where the affluent Gavea neighbourhood ended and the Rocinha favela began.

 At nighttime all we could see of the vast favela was the sea of lights cascading down the mountain above. Police presence was very apparent as the red and blue lights of about 3 police cars flashed on the street. We walked from the bus stop to the 'Super Sucos' juice bar, where we had been told to wait for two volunteers who would take us to the school. As we sat down and ordered a Manga juice (admittedly that was one of the few fruits we understood) we didn’t feel nervous or unsafe at all, instead we were interested by the constant growl of motor taxis, the chatter and bustle of people, the combination of smells from petrol to fried onions.  It seemed like a place constantly on the go and while we sat, waited and watched the time go by, no one paid any attention to us, and that was something we were not expecting, being that we do seem to give off that tourist English vibe no matter how hard we try. It was a pleasant surprise and an eye opening first insight. 

As Ben and Jess took us on a short tour  (they are both Resident Volunteers who have both been working with 2Bros and living in Rocinha for 6 months) one word came to our minds: Community.  Granted this is a buzz work in the applied theatre world but at times it seems it is misrepresented, as what we witnessed was: a community just simply of people living, working, laughing, playing, talking - going about their lives. It wasn't the shocking, scary, unsafe place depicted in news reports or travel guides. This was something very different.

Walking up a little sloped alley, just a few minutes from the entrance of the favela, we arrived at Escola Moranguinhos 'The school of little strawberries'.

Jess explained that she takes beginners English classes for 8 year olds twice a week, and that evening we would be able to sit in on and help in one of her classes. At around 6.30pm, 12 highly energetic children came bursting through the door, interested to know who we are, why we are there and trying to converse as best they could with us. While the fact that we don’t speak Portuguese seemed a slight issue and at times was a barrier, once we met the kids and started to play some simple English exercises and games which focused on predominantly on numbers, letters and short sentences we seemed to cope well, and anything we didn't understand would be translated for us by one of the Resident Volunteers.

After a whirlwind hour or so, the class was over. We then met Jennifer, who is co-ordinator of the company and has been working with them for around a year.  She was very friendly and welcoming, and she told us exactly what the schedule for our time with 2bros would look like. Aside from our classes we will have the opportunity to help in Erin's class (which is teenagers learning intermediate English) as well as Jess's class. Also there is a field trip which the students are attending in a couple of weeks and Jen asked if we could cover the classes while some of the students go on the trip! After the class, the other volunteers asked if we wanted to grab some sushi before we left (an offer we happily accepted as we have heard that sushi in Rio is the best outside of Japan) and as we sat in a small restaurant, lost somewhere in the streets of the favela, we found the opportunity to get to know the people working with 2bros. Over some delicious sushi what came across most was their sense of happiness and passion living in Rocinha, as well as their admiration for the sense of community spirit generated by the people who live there!

Olivia Jackman
Masters Student from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
2bros Voluntourist 
http://volunteeringwith2bros.blogspot.co.uk