Womblekisses's travel blogs:
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Calm and Storm
Entry 28 of 33 | show all | print this entry |
Life is full of surprises. Having escaped Rio for the comparative calm of Foz de Iguacu, famed for those massive falls shown on all the websites, we find we are in the midst of a gun culture once again. When we mentioned hearing gun shots to Javier, who works behind the bar here, he nodded. ´It´s normal.´ It seems our house is just a few blocks from the Parana River which marks the Paruguay/Brazil border and ´incidents´ occur all the time. It is disconcerting to wonder how many of these shots are aimed at human targets realising that some must hit the mark.
Strange, then, that the tension we all felt in Rio is not present here. You get the feel of a quiet country town, relatively calm, shops closing Saturday around midday and not re-opening until Monday morning. Pavements are the usual mix of difficult and downright dangerous as tree roots lift the paving stones; drivers are as ever crazy and it seems an arbitrary decision as to whether they actually stop when the light is red; never bank on it. (Although they do officially have to stop ... in Rio it is considered unsafe to obey a red light after 10pm). Bars are open until the early hours and people generally friendly and helpful. Perhaps we will never quite come to terms with these two facts, Brazilians are the most friendly and hospitable people on earth, they are genuine in their welcome, care deeply for our safety; but underlying this there is this gun/drug culture which, hopefully, I will not actually see.
The simmering aggression we felt in the Rio classroom is also missing despite the fact that according to Ana (Traveller´s Coordinator here) many of the children have very disrupted lives, broken homes and poor conditions.
The work was described as ´creche´ but in our language they are a mix between a creche and a primary school, because whilst some of the children have an afternoon nap, they are also sat behind desks to receive lessons. The age range I am with is from around four to seven, mostly very boistrous and happy to join in calling out the English words we teach them, with brains like sponges at this age hopefully our lessons will help. Most of all we are told our presence shows there are people from another country far away who care for them.
There are apparently three types of school ... private, state funded and ´charity´run. It is in the latter, who receive no funding other than donations, where we work and, as ever the teachers who show such patience and work so hard themselves are exceptionally grateful to us.
Between the volunteers, eight in number, we cover ages from four to fifteen mostly teaching English, but Steve teaches sport and Guy is here to learn about some of the unique music of Brazil. Our ages range from 18 ... to me, the grannie.
That´s all for this time. My first week here has been interesting and busy and I am looking forward to learning more about the children in our care and getting to know them.
Take care wherever you are and spare a thought for the children of the world who have such disrupted lives.
love to one and all
xxx
Latest Comments (2)
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of course (reply)
Mar 11, 2007 16:30 EST by womblekisses
Thanks, of course we will be careful. Thanks and lots of love to the eternal traveller.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Foz, Rio or just South America? (reply)
Mar 11, 2007 12:08 EST by womblepeter
You tell us to take care, guess who is worried about you. YOU take care of yourself and Lisa and remember that the streets of all the cities have a wrong side where it is dangerous for outsiders to wander.The poorer the place the more care is needed, desperation drives ordinary people to take extreme measures.YOU BE CAREFUL
Peter
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