Ken went to Brazil to volunteer at one of our centres for two weeks. He tells us about his experiences:

 I had a super time in Rio. I loved working at Centreo Interativo de Desenvolimento….CIEP. Seeing the children’s smiling faces every day was refreshing. I really miss these children and wanted to take them all back to Canada with me!!!

One special experience I had was with one little girl who kept herself to herself. She did not speak or play with the other children. She had a bad rash and sores all over her and was scratching all the time. I bought some medication and she got better and better! I spent more time with her and she started talking. I encouraged her to interact with the other children and play games together. Soon she was just one of the group and fitted in with the rest.

I will never forget her and she made the experience special for me. I really would recommend anyone to take time ot be a volunteer with Travellers.

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in Brazil, click HERE

Ludvik went to Florianopolis, in Brazil, to teach English at an Orphanage for 3 months. Little did he know he would get asked to work for a modelling agency and end up staying in Brazil for 6 months! He tells us his story:

After finishing high school in Norway, I decided that I wanted some time off from the Norwegian everyday life and experience something new and exotic. After having corresponded with Travellers for some time, I decided to go to Brazil and to teach English at an orphange. After having spent some weeks in Florianópolis I got more comfortable with portuguese and the local customs and culture. It was now time to start doing what I really came to do – to teach English. The beginning was both rough and difficult, but after having gotten over those intial barriers I grew into it and enjoyed it a lot. Standing in a classroom in Brazil trying to communicate with twenty five kids of six years of age staring you up and down and not being able to communicate verbally with each other was probably the hardest challenge in my life yet, but it’s amazing how fast you adapt and overcome big challenges if you just want to. I taught at the orphange for three months and when I was finished I was both relieved and sad. Spending that much time with the kids, I had started to care for them and enjoy their company, however, I was also ready to start my other job in Brazil. In the first weeks in Brazil I was approached by a scout of a model agency and it turned out that they were quite interested in representing me if I was cut out for the business.

I agreed to try it and not having any expectations I was blown away when Ford Models actually said that I was now represented by them. The only problem was that my visa and flight ticket were putting an end to my stay, and this just after I had gotten my big deal with Ford. After much research and a trip to Argentine (to extend my visa) I was allowed to stay for some additional three months. So I found an apartment (right on the beach!) and I started what would turn out to a very long vacation! I did some jobs with the agency at a fashion show and made some much needed money to fund my extra three months. All in all, I had a wonderful stay in Brazil and I left with a enrichment in friends, life purpose, languages and confident. I highly recommend spending time in this crazy, weird, wonderful, majestic country where you might have your dreams come true!

 As for the aftermath of my journey I realized much about myself. I, mentally, grew a lot and I became more confident in what I really desire in life. That being said, I’m sure I’m not going to become a teacher nor a proffesional model, however I have a pretty good idea of what to do. To all fellow volunteers and soon-to-become volunteers, I wish you a good trip and enjoy, cherish and seize every opportunity you stumble over as they may leave a big influence on your life.

 Obrigado, divirte-se no Brasil!

 Ludvik

If you’d like to learn more about our programmes in Brazil, click HERE

Our volunteers on their programmes in Florianopolis, Brazil have been enjoying the festivities of Festa Junina.

Festa Junina means ‘June Festival’ in Portuguese, and is celebrated annually during a period that starts one week before St John’s Day and ends one week after. The festival was brought to Brazil during colonial times and has it’s origins in the northeast of the country, but now it’s celerated all over the country. THe locals give thanks to Saint John for the rain (as it’s midwinter in Brazil in June!) The festival is also a celebration of rural life and features traditional dress, food and dance…..not forgetting all the wonderful fireworkds and bonfires that light up the skies as well!

It was a fantastic experience for our volunteers, who were able to join in the party at their projects! They had amazing fun playing with the children and also learnt the traditional dance ‘quadrilha’ (which is a lot like square dancing!) One of our volunteers was also very popular with the girls……as they thought he looked like Justin Bieber! What do you think……………..???

If you’d like to find out any more about our projects in Brazil, click HERE

Last year, a Scout group went to Brazil with Travellers, where they had a fantastic time! Not only did they make a huge difference on their volunteering project, they also had a great expedition in which they camped in the jungle and cruised down the Amazon!  A year later, they’re still in contact with Travellers, here is the latest email that Fabio (the Travellers Brazil Manager) received:

Hiya Fabio,

 How are you? How is everything going in Brazil? I hope the weather is nice! I think we have had our 2 days of sunshine here for the summer… nothing compared to the summer we had in Brazil’s winter last year! I was just remembering the good times we had last year and thought I would email you to see how you are. Everyone is fine here, all send their regards. All of my friends at university always still ask me about my time in Brazil and I have to tell them its the best coz that is the truth! Even all my family are so interested to know of all the experiences we got in Brazil and I go through the thousands of pictures we took and they always bring a smile on my face!

 I was also wondering how things are at the school at which we helped? How is the garden we helped put together coming along? If possible I would love to get some pictures of it growing…

 We are all getting ready for our trip to Switzerland this summer now, it will be nowhere near as good as Brazil last year, it will be pretty difficult to find anything to top last summer.

 Hope you are well. I will speak to you soon!

 Snoop & the Scouts from London.

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in Brazil, click HERE

If you have a group who would like to volunteer with Travellers Worldwide, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can tailor make your experience: info@travellersworldwide.com

Cheyenne, who volunteered in Florianopolis in Brazil, shares her experiences about her time there:

If you’d like to find out more information on our projects in Brazil, click HERE

Our Brazil Country Manager, Fabio, is obsessed with Capoeira! If you volunteer in Brazil you have the option of taking an exciting Capoeira course….but what exactly is it?!

Capoeira combines elements of martial arts, music and dance to create a spectacular display. It was created in Brazil by slaves brought from Africa. It’s debated when it was actually developed but widely agreed it was sometime after the sixteenth century. For a long period it was criminalised and prohibited in Brazil, as it was thought dangerous for slaves to be expressing themselves so freely. Finally in the 1930’s Manuel dos Reis Machado (who is considered ‘The Father of Modern Capoeira’) convinced the authorities that it held important cultural values and the ban was officially ended. Since then it has continually grown in popularity.

Still can’t quite visualise it? This video should demonstrates Capoeira and gives you an insight into what a Capoeira course would involve:

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in Brazil, click HERE