Intro:

My name is Greg Reeve, 28 from London, and I have come to Brazil to volunteer as a Rugby development officer in a disadvantaged community in Sao Paolo. I have previously worked as a community coach for Harlequins, and in various schools and clubs around the world and have come to realise that Rugby can offer so much to individuals on a personal and emotional level. It can help teach invaluable life lessons and skills that hold great importance throughout our lives.With this in mind, considering all the social and economic challenges they are presented with, I feel that young people in Brazil could really benefit from the values associated with rugby.

 

I am based in Eldorado, Diadema, in Sao Paolo. It is a very disadvantaged area and by all accounts pretty dangerous. Despite this though, I have found the people here among the friendliest I have ever encountered; Particularly the staff at Acer Brasil. Acer is the organisation who are sponsoring me being here. They work with the most ‘at risk’ young people in the community, and do some incredible work in the poorest areas. The staff here have really helped me settle in to making my transition as smooth as possible.

 

The project:

Our primary focus is to use rugby as a tool to support the social inclusion of ‘at risk’ or disadvantaged young people in Brazil and the development of valuable skills such as leadership. Furthermore the project aims to share knowledge and best practice in rugby with teachers, coaches and young volunteers creating a sustainable workforce, and ensure longevity in the sport. I am a firm believer that the future of rugby lies with the rugby clubs, both new and established. School delivery is important to introduce young people to rugby, but I feel longevity lies in getting links established between rugby clubs and young people living in the surrounding Communidades (favelas).

 

The players here have incredible passion, and demonstrate rugby’s core values better than most clubs I have encountered in England. There is a real sense of comradeship, both on and off the pitch, and between both women’s and men’s teams. These players/coaches will be invaluable in inspiring the next generation of rugby players and imparting their understanding of the core values to those young people who will benefit from them the most.

Unfortunately though, there are numerous obstacles to overcome. One major one is a lack of anywhere to actually practice rugby properly. Sao Paolo in particular is incredibly densely populated, and often the only option available is a concrete court. To put this in to some perspective, Watford, where I am from in the UK has a population of about 120,000 people, in approximately 22km². I have always felt that Watford is quite densely populated. Diadema on the other hand covers an area of 30.7 km², with around 390,000 people living there. There’s just no space. The other option of travelling over 10km to train is also almost impossible, as the cost of a bus ticket there and back could be the same cost as a few day’s or a week’s worth of food.

 

Secondly is the sheer lack of knowledge about what rugby actually is. Football is obviously the main sport here, but rugby has so much potential. In order to grow as a sport, people need to understand what it’s about, and really buy in to it. Education and training about rugby is particularly difficult due to the education system here in Brazil. Different age groups study at different times of the day, not 9-5 like in the UK. As a result, the vast majority of young adults work all day (to pay for university) and then study at night. It is thus difficult to find people with much free time to spare.

 

In Summary:

I have only been here a month, and I am sure I have a lot of lessons to learn, but at the moment I feel I have a vision and a plan to work towards. I am incredibly excited about what the next 8 months will bring, and am ready to put 100% in to everything I do. It is such a different environment to live in, and gives a massive sense of excitement just looking out the window every morning.

Hi, my name is Danny Pollard and I am currently volunteering for Everything is Possible (EiP) in Diadema, Sao Paulo Brazil. My receiving organisation and partner of EiP is ACER, who have a strong mission statement: “To rescue the dignity of children and young people promoting the transformation of the social environment. Serving our community using strategies for social transformation that correspond to their needs, sharing them actively with organisations and the public power at national and international level”.

I am a professional sports coach from Bradford, Yorkshire, 26 years old and always looking for a new experience. I was on a coaching course back in August when i met a fellow RFU employee who mentioned he had coached in Brazil. I felt an immediate sense of adventure, a thirst to help and a hunger to seize this opportunity. Who wouldn’t want to see the heart of Brazil, the true reality of the world for these kids and experience it for personal development and to help as much as possible?

My day to day activities include coaching rugby and football. There are 4 different locations for this, 2 “quadros” – indoor 5 a side pitches, a field and an astro turf facility a bus ride away. Initially i thought i was here to coach, to use my 9 years of experience across different countries and to help build the participation levels as well as ability. It took a week for me to realise i was wrong. It’s true i am here to coach, but thats my second job. My first is to help these kids, to bring them together, to rescue their dignity. Although these children have the basics of life, a roof over their heads, clothes and food (sometimes) it is the social and psychological area of their development which needs help. The roof over their heads is not pretty, the clothes they wear aren’t the best and the cruel reality is a lot of them will never experience life outside the urban jungle of sao paulo. ACER provides experiences, it has taken kids to Australia and to Hungary, soon they will host a trip to England. ACER provides volunteers like me to coach sports, teach art and music with the ultimate goal of showing these children an environment in which they are safe, no matter what they are experiencing at home, an environment they can feel confident, where they can thrive, where they can develop socially and learn that talking helps much better than physical reactions. My second job is the host for the first, a cover story, a disguise. Although i will continue to deliver the best coaching i can, i plan my sessions on enjoyment and on social dependency, encouraging them to feel as a family so they know in hard times and it feels they are on their own, they always have each other.

It’s not all work over here, i have a reasonable amount of free time which i spend with my fellow volunteer and house mate or at the local rugby club. I was lucky enough to click with Sarah and we get on really well. Which as anyone who has shared a house with someone knows, you can’t put a price on. I have been to the local football stadium to support the team (bought a t-shirt), been into sao paulo, a 2 hour multiple bus ride away, we have been to the beach and to the cinema, not as 2 people but mostly in a group of 5 or more. The people in Brazil are incredibly friendly and i consider myself very lucky to be amongst such genuine people. They have invited us out to family birthday events, down the local on a Friday night, round their house for a sunday bbq with their entire family. The novelty of having a gringo in town is quite a popular notion and everyone is always happy to meet us. I feel as though a lot has happened in the 2 weeks i have been here, a lot has changed for me and when reflecting i realise what a life changing experience this is and how it is helping me to become a more rounded, patient and empathetic person.

Why patient you may ask. Well, in my local area about 8 people speak English out of the 1000s that live here. When i was picked up at the airport Luiza didn’t speak English, my manager doesn’t speak english and nobody at the shop does either. It has been a steep learning curve and i work hard everyday to learn the language. When i coach i have english speakers with me, but they don’t always understand … it’s the most frustrating thing in the world! Trying to get an idea or notion across 3 or 4 times when it’s 30 degrees and you have 15 kids sat waiting to hear what you want to say and you can’t get the message to them! It requires saint like patience, but everyday i improve and learn new words. I have to, and i relish the challenge.

I think different people would react differently to this environment, the cultural shock of the infinite difference between England and this area of Brazil, Diadema – one of the most dangerous cities in Brazil. You could be intimidated, scared to leave the house alone. Never going out when it’s dark and feel isolated. I personally wanted to go out and experience, to make my own judgements and to see the reality first person. At a football game the other day i dropped $25 out of my pocket. A man covered in tattoos, stood in a gang of similar looking men in their 20s or 30s, the kind of men you wouldn’t want to see walking down the street at night towards you. He came over, picked it up, and gave it to me, saying something in Portuguese as he did so. I was so shocked, i think i might still be now! 10 years ago there were bodies in the streets here, crime and poverty at its worst. Today they are the same people, kind and honest at heart but just on the receiving end of a tough environment, when they can’t provide basics for their families or they get into an argument, they resort to what they know. Violence. They experience it at home throughout their life, the kids in the building now will experience domestic violence at home this week. We are all creatures of habit and we adapt to our environment. The Brazillians have adapted to theirs, and this has created a very unfortunate and sad place when you look beneath the surface. But if you give them a chance, if you catch them on the right day and if you are willing to put yourself out, you might just see something beautiful back. A culture of amazing people, friendly, creative and happy. Most of the time.

In the beggining

So…São Paulo, Brasil?

What to make of You…

Having spent the last month or so underneath your palm trees and endless skyscrapers, I’m just beginning to understand your language (and I don’t mean Portuguese; we’ll come to that in a bit).
Your constant warmth and Paulista smiles help to remind you that everyday is a gift and that life is a present to be opened every time you make up in the morning.

The same thoughts are provoked when you see the sheer amount of people here in Eldorado, a small village 45 minutes from the centre of SP (São Paulo), with the majority of people living a very humble lifestyle, just surviving amongst high levels of poverty and crime…

…and yet the wide Paulista smiles persist.

Our new family here at ACER Brasil have welcomed us with open arms, generosity, kindness and a lot of patience! Amongst futebol, percussão and other ‘esportes’ sessions, we have been trying to get to grips with the beautiful language that is Português…Paulista style!

As you may know, I am so lucky to be here I’m Brasil with my best friend in the world, ‘Google Translate!’…kidding!

…my bonita esposa (beautiful wife), Ayesha x

Futsal sessions and staff training week here @acerbrasil
Shout out to @coachesacross @eispossible pic.twitter.com/I60w56Gi8z

— Simon Gilroy (@sigillers) July 2, 2017

It is a difficult language to understand, or maybe it’s just the expressions and exaggerated accents that I’m struggling with. Well, I am from Bradford! My monotonous delivery doesn’t go down too well here. We are getting there though. We’re now past the point where every conversation consists of just ‘bom dia’ and ‘tudo bem’, thanks to our tutor Vitor, who is also improving his ‘Yorkshire’ at the same time.

Futebol seems to be life here

Similar to back home, it’s in the homes, in the workplace, on the shirts and in their blood. The only difference it seems is that their love for the beautiful game lies in the beautiful goal and not the goal itself. Face and reputation is a big thing here and skilling an opponent is cheered as much as a goal, just as being skilled feels like conceding a goal.

Jogos & Brincadeiras (Toy & Games)

We have started delivering small games within the futebol sessions and also leading the ‘toy and games’ sessions, which is a non-competitive group of mixed-aged children. It has been difficult to begin with in terms of explaining and describing new games to the children. We rely heavily on the older kids to get our ideas across. People back home have been really generous and raises money to buy new equipment, such as balls, cones and a classic parachute! (Everyone loves a parachute right?) This has allowed us to add more variety to the sessions as there is very little equipment accessible to us.

 

Percussão

The rest of our week has been filled up by the percussion class. As a keen drummer and percussionist (I try), this class soon became my highlight of the week. This is because, not only do I get to play many of the African drums, for example, the ‘alfaia’, the ‘djembe’, the ‘tumbadora’, as well as my old friends the congas; but I have also learnt how to plan and deliver a music class. Unlike a sports session, each child plays and learns a certain beat individually while the rest of the class watches and they take turns. This is because 15 children banging their own drum at the same time makes things very difficult to teach anybody anything!

All in all, it has been a great start to our journey here in Brasil. We hope to venture out and see the many attractions São Paulo has to offer and also continue to develop our Portuguese.

Ate mais! (See you soon)

European Voluntary Project part of Olympic Legacy, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.