Photo Credit: Reinaldo Marques/Terra

During his last week in South Africa, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended numerous events promoting my home country. Lula is a great character and one of the most charismatic personalities that Brazil will ever have in the presidential seat at Palácio do Planalto. However, Lula is also known for not following scripts and speaking his mind during public announcements. Every time that I try to imagine my worst PR nightmare, an event where I need to manage Mr. Lula da Silva always comes to mind.

During the release of Tourism Brazil’s (Embratur) marketing campaign last week in Johannesburg, Lula went on and on in a  last minute speech that managed to contradict much of the soon to be unveiled program. After announcing that he would not follow any script prepared by his communications specialists, Lula proceeded with his own off-the-cuff version which included a number of unfavourable stereotypes in his narrative. In an attempt to convince his audience that Brazil is a multicultural country, he goes against the highlight of Embratur’s campaign, a promotional video entitled “Brazil is Calling You – Celebrate Life Here.”

Produced by Fernando Meirelles‘ O2 Filmes, “Brazil is Calling You – Celebrate Life Here” portrays a country that I barely know as a person born and raised in Brazil. Apparently, Brazil’s president was equally unaware of the video’s content as the majority of his speech was based on describing his people as multicultural; a mix between first nations, afro-Brazilians and Europeans. I don’t know about you, but I can count on one hand the scenes starring non-Caucasian people in the video.

For years, Brazil has been trying to avoid the image of an unprofessional country with small urban centres surrounded by jungle.  Embratur’s promotional video addresses this need, however, Lula said that the tourists who decide to visit Brazil in 2014 should also be careful while exploring the Amazon because if they take the wrong shortcut, they might get swallowed by a sucuri. It was an unsuccessful attempt to joke about Brazilian natural diversity.

So how did Embratur deal with the international backlash? Thankfully, the President’s speech was delivered entirely in Portuguese, so the majority of the reaction to Lula’s unscripted speech ended up coming from the Brazilian media and expats who saw a very pretentious president on stage.

How would I handle this situation? Well… once your representative is on stage, it’s virtually impossible to drag them away from the microphone (remember Kayne West?). However, as a communications professional, I would create an opportunity during the same event to address the international media and explain my spokesperson’s jokes. I would also recommend that Lula take a more serious approach while clarifying his message in his next press conference in Johannesburg.

What about you?

This article was written based on information provided by the following Brazilian articles:

Lula comete gafes futebolísticas em discurso sobre a Copa de 2014

Com gafes, Lula faz público gargalhar durante discurso

Discurso de Lula diverte a plateia na África do Sul

Happy Birthday, Canada!

After being fully blessed by our Queen Elizabeth and having acknowledged our most important and recent victory, the Olympic Gold Medal for hockey, I felt extremely motivated to finish editing my interview with Nick Noorani. I know… it’s a gift from a late guest, but I made sure that I kept the most important clips from my conversation with Nick. It’s also a double gift; since most of Nick’s Canadian milestones were conquered on past Canada Days.

Enjoy!

I am having the busiest week of my life, but it feels really gooooood! I recorded this videolog last Saturday and spent the whole weekend trying to make my 2006 Dell laptop talk to my new 2010 Canon Rebel T2i camera. As you can guess, things didn’t go as smoothly as I expected.

Last Saturday I interviewed the founder and publisher of The Canadian Immigrant Magazine Nick Noorani. I’ve known Nick for a year now and his passion for helping immigrants and making Canada a better country for everyone is a real inspiration to me. I am still trying to befriend my new camera with my old laptop and even although Adobe Premiere is completely installed, it might take a while to edit my talk with Nick. Be patient with me and stay tuned!

I also talked about my participation in the Women in Leadership Foundation (WIL) mentorship program in this video. I am extremely excited about the program and only 2.5 hours away from the official launch of this year’s program.

I am also planning on uploading my videos from Tuesday’s Brazilian craziness on Commercial Drive very soon. I must confess that it’s very hard to be Canadian during the World Cup, but since this country is about diversity, I might get a passing grade this month!

Talk to you soon,

Veronica

HHZNEDGTQ8CQ

Written by Dianne Russell

‘What are you planning  to do in South Africa?’

‘I’m going to volunteer as an ESL teacher in a centre that helps African refugees.’

‘For no pay?’

‘Yes.’

[Silence]

‘Why would you work for no pay?!’

This is one of the first conversations I had in South Africa.  It took me by surprise and made me realize that I certainly wasn’t in Canada anymore.  I had never heard of anyone challenging the idea of working as a volunteer, and it made me very curious.

Since then, I have been asked the same question a few times, always in the same, bewildered tone.  I’m exploring my personal theories about what leads to this question in South Africa, and I do know what to say now as I’ve rehearsed and perfected my answer.

1- Volunteering is Stimulating

Since I do not yet have a work visa, I am unable to get pay for my work here in South Africa.  I know… it is a terrific reason to sit on my butt and eat bon bons all day, however, that  kind of life is simply not for me.  Yes, I love my partner like crazy, but I need to interact with more than one person.  I need stimulation (we ADHDers can’t live without it lest we die of boredom), which for me involves interacting with a wide variety of people.  People’s energy is infectious, and I thrive in bustling environments where energy flows freely. Volunteering in a large organization provides me the constant energy bursts that keep me afloat.

The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town (where I now volunteer) is a busy place staffed mainly with volunteers from across Europe and the US.  It is alive with people seeking help with language instruction, career-planning, medical treatment, counselling and job training. It is an intersection of people who love to give and people who desperately need to receive.  The energy is palpable, and it is here where I feel most alive. The day I taught my first class here was so memorable – I bounded out of the school Tiggeresque-style, and my partner asked me if I had been injected with some kind of stimulant.   I certainly had.

2 – Volunteering is Educational

Conversations with people from other countries, linguistic and ethnic groups, socio-economic, religious and cultural backgrounds, allow me to intimately explore sides of life and culture that one normally would not see.  It expands my mind, giving me alternate perspectives, and challenges my sometimes rigid take on the world.

Volunteering in Cape Town is teaching me about the peoples of Africa; I am exposed to their food, clothing, music, and customs.  I learn new languages, political ideologies, social theories and ways of perceiving current affairs. Yes, one can read about other cultures in books or by watching Discovery TV, but volunteering has given me the best up-close and personal education about Africa that money simply cannot buy.

3 – Volunteering is Inspiring

My jobs (teacher, immigration & customs officer/auto claims adjuster) have all required me to interact with a large number of people on a daily basis.  I have met celebrities (Jack Nicholson was my favourite), criminals, immigrants, psychopaths, and everything in between. However, the people who have touched my heart the most are the people I meet through volunteering.

My students amaze me every day with their motivation, drive, passion, energy, positivity and   faith.  Here in South Africa, my classroom is full of refugees from other African countries.      Although they bring with them skills, talent and experience, they are not being welcomed to this country – xenophobic attacks on migrants is a serious issue here –, and my students deal with threats on a daily basis.  However, that does not prevent them from coming to school.

My students also face challenges in supporting themselves and their families.  Many of them     work through the night as car-park guards (a thriving informal industry created by immigrants) yet arrive at school with smiles on their faces and songs in their hearts.  Whenever I feel that life is difficult, whenever I have moment of feeling hard done by, I look at their shining faces and know that I am blessed beyond their wildest imaginations.

Volunteering gives me so much more that I can possibly give myself.  I feel privileged to be in the classroom, making friends with people unafraid of life and the challenges it brings.  They have experienced every hardship, every pain, every frustration and every disappointment.  Yet they remain.  Their spirits remain intact.  They don’t complain, whine, moan or groan.  They make astute observations about the problems in this country, and frankly, I think they bring much needed wisdom and insight. South Africans can learn a lot from these people, and the deep relationships and cultural bridges being developed between the refugees and expats who help them could potentially shift the direction of this country.

For information about volunteering at Scalabrini, please contact Daniela (a passionate returning South African who does amazing work in this community!):  Daniela [at] scalabrini.org.za

I recently invited my friend Dianne Russell to write a series of blog posts about her South African experiences in Cape Town. Dianne has been taking her role as a blogger seriously and her adventures at Yeah, but… are one of the best reads available online. She has also stepped up on her photography and has a very interesting page at JPEGmag.com. I am really happy that Dianne said yes to MadameHeringer.com and will write a series of posts direct from Cape Town for us. Enjoy!

I’m a Canadian English teacher with over 10 years experience, currently living and volunteering in Cape Town, South Africa.  I teach English to African refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan, etc.  I also have an African heart.

Yesterday my class was given a survey that asked them to report any known threats of xenophobic violence against refugees in South Africa after World Cup 2010 ends.   After completing the survey, a female student looked at me carefully and said, “You like to work with refugees, don’t you?”  “Yes”, I replied.  She then said, “I know you. You came to Africa because of your heart.”

I couldn’t have said it any more clearly than that myself.

For years I had been dreaming and scheming of a way to come to Africa.  Perhaps this yearning was prompted by the endless National Geographic specials that I watched on TV as a kid or maybe the infomercials for Foster Parents Plan that made me cry every Saturday afternoon.  Whatever it was, my heart has been facing Africa for a long time.

Even a fortune teller knew about my heart’s African dream.  Not long ago, she predicted that I would live in Africa with “a house like the United Nations” – meaning I would adopt a number of foreign children and live happily ever after.  Just like Angelina Jolie, I suppose.

Two years ago I tutored a Kenyan student in Vancouver whose father runs an aid distribution company in Kenya.  The family travels back and forth, and as my relationship grew with the family, we started planning a month-long Kenyan dream trip for me in December 2008. I was to stay with family and friends across the county and in Tanzania and have opportunities to volunteer in the refugee camps, but alas, the political situation grew tense due to elections.  Sadly, the trip fell through – my heart wept.

Long Way Back Home

Then I met Adam, the man later to be known as the ‘life partner’ on my South African Life Partner Temporary Residence Permit.

When I found out that Adam is a South African citizen with dual Canadian citizenship, my stomach flipped.  So did my heart.  But determined not to throw myself unwittingly into anymore unsuccessful relationships, I played it cool and revealed nothing of my African heart.

A couple of months had passed when Adam looked at me and asked, “Do you want to go to South Africa with me for a few months this winter?”  “Are you serious?!” I shot back almost defensively, ready to protect my heart from another disappointment.  “Yes, I’m serious”, he replied. My heart passed out.

I approached the planning of our trip with trepidation, knowing that the bottom could fall out at any time.  But it didn’t.  We researched apartments, car, flights, jobs, day trips, etc.  My heart was experiencing the double whammy of being in love AND knowing it was finally going to Africa.  The excitement grew.

Unfortunately, the road to South Africa was a bit bumpy.

One of the potential obstacles was my job. I am always wearing too many hats at work and as a result, I’m a bit hard to replace.  I am lucky that my organization granted four months unpaid leave to live this dream.

We also had to sell property and move at the same time. Our life was frantic.  As we couldn’t afford movers because of our trip, we moved ourselves in the middle of winter. “It’s ok”, we chanted as we balanced the couches on our heads and humped box after box down the stairs on Christmas Eve, “we’re going to be in Africa soon”.

We booked our flight for January 27, 2010.  In our panic to prepare the house for rental before leaving, we made it to the airport with five minutes to spare.  After almost collapsing at the ticket counter, my African heart was finally on her way home.

Photo credit: Dianne Russell on JPEGmag.com

Author’s Note: “Águas de Março” is this blog post’s official soundtrack. Please press play and enjoy!

It may sound wrong to you, but in my mind, the year only starts after my birthday! I grew up in Brazil with the idea that everything starts after Carnival, which usually happen 40 days before Easter. School, new projects, jobs, all serious things are kept (unofficially) on hold from Christmas to March. Coincidentally, March is also when the rainy season starts in Rio de Janeiro, bringing with it the end of the Summer. My birthday falls in the second week of March, so it always made sense to me that the year starts after my personal solar revolution.

But, what if you are an immigrant in a country where Carnival is only a warm and intriguing BBC TV segment? What if your internal clock doesn’t make sense to your Canadian family and coworkers? Well… I am still going through some adaptation, although 2010 was the first year that I completely forgot about Carnival and summer in Brazil . The Olympics and an overwhelming start to 2010 kept me busy enough during this first quarter.

I still like the idea that the year starts after March 11th though. 2010 could have started without a stressful identity theft episode (blog post to come) and a really exhausting trip to Brazil and back (another blog post). I am sorry that I am taking a little bit longer to catch up, but you won’t regret it if you stay tuned. Happy 2010!

Torch relay, day #106, bearer #43: Howe and Robson Street. Photo Credit: Vida Portatil on Flickr

It’s on! The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games have officially started, and what a great day the Heringer-Ames family had yesterday. We woke up early to see the last day of the torch relay and had lots of fun watching the Olympic flame passing by us.

Photo Credit: Vida Portatil on Flickr

It’s Carnival week in Rio de Janeiro, but apparently the Province of British Columbia has the best party happening in the word. My city is wearing red and white, people are having fun on the streets and an interesting cultural program is a temptation to whoever is in Vancouver right now. Check out the Cultural Olympiad program and visit CityCaucus.com to find some free stuff to do in Vancouver.

Mr. Ames and I tried really hard to find a place in Downtown Vancouver to watch the opening ceremony, but all the restaurants and venues that were showing it were either packed or had a 3 hour wait list. Our home with Megabite Pizza ended up being the best option, but the crowd effect was still missing, so we decided to log in to Twitter.  And yes… that was the best idea ever!

I wish I had created an event, so I could share the comments here with you. I can assure you that they were brilliant and funny! If you’re interesting in reading what Vancouverites and visitors are saying about the Olympic games, the most popular hash tags are #van2010 and #Vancouver2010.

Shane Koyczan stole my heart during the opening ceremony. I’ve watched a lot of people interpreting poetry, but this guy is so far the best that I’ve ever seen!

(I tried to get the official video of Koyczan through CTV’s website but it’s just impossible. I promise to post it here when it gets to youtube!)

Mr.Ames and I are heading down to Robson Street, between Bute and Thurlow, to watch the Dancing in the Street flashmob at 3:30pm. See you there!

My class at SFU has been the most exciting thing about my life. I am only taking one class, one communication class, and my world has changed a lot in only two weeks. I have a crush on academia! The idea that I can create, feed and motivate my thoughts in different directions just turns me on (and yes… I would write it even if I was writing in Portuguese!). And because I am taking a communication course, my world has turned around!

The class is Communication and Intervention, my professor is a rocket scientist and the theory fluctuates around power struggles and intervention techniques. I am still disagreeing with everything, I am still thinking that people get into situations of conflict because human beings are driven by power. It’s part of our nature! However, what made me happy today was a semantic clarification.

I discovered that I misunderstood the English concept behind the word “accent”. Usually, when we use the equivalent word to accent in Portuguese – sotaque – to define one’s way of speaking the language, we are commonly drawing attention to the lack of familiarity the person has with the language. However, I learned today that “accent” is related to the way that you emphasize your ideas and thoughts, but not to your proficiency in English.

From now on, I’ll assume that my accent makes me unique, a better professional, and it really shows off my personality. With this new concept, I became  proud of my accent. I always loved the French attitude of learning a language, I always thought that by trying to be fluent in Canadian English I would be killing a past that is strongly related to my identity.

(To be continued…)