Friday, 21 November 2014

Why we should care about what happens in Brazil



Why we should care about what happens in Brazil

When I'm asked why we should care about what happens in Brazil, I think about the pupils I had when teaching at primary schools in Belem, North Brazil. I think the United Nations example of a child that goes to school hungry is exactly what I saw there.

It says: Izabelle goes to school hungry.
"Izabelle belongs to the Ribeirinho, one of the people living on the banks of the rivers in the Amazon. Izabelle is 14 years old. She is having a lot of difficulty in completing her final years of primary school. The first lessons start at 7 a.m. She has to get up very early as she has to paddle over the river for 45 minutes to get to school. She does not get much breakfast at home because there is not enough food for all the children. In the classroom, she is sometimes too tired and hungry to pay attention. She therefore thinks it’s a pity that they don’t get any food at school. After school, she has to work. In this way she earns a little money to buy food. Usually she picks fruit high up in the trees, which is then sold."
(http://www.unicef.org/corporate_partners/files/Brazil_general_information.pdf)

It is because of children like that who go to school hungry or do not go to school because they have to work to survive poverty that we persevere with our dream of helping them. How? Our charity group called Child of Brazil is set up and receives donations of second hand clothes, toys, books, etc, to sell at car boot sales or fairs. We send the money to community projects in Belem. We also try our best to participate in any fundraising events.








The Story of the Hummingbird

One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest - a huge woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a raging wild fire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to the edge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire and they were feeling very discouraged and powerless. They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them thought there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for one little hummingbird.
This particular hummingbird decided it would do something. It swooped into the stream and picked up a few drops of water and went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back to the stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and again and again. All the other animals watched in disbelief; some tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, "Don't bother, it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you can't put out this fire."
And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless and forlorn they looked. Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the hummingbird in a mocking voice, "What do you think you are doing?" And the hummingbird, without wasting time or losing a beat, looked back and said, "I am doing what I can."




The Story of the Hummingbird in Portuguese: O Beija-flor e o Incêndio
Havia um grande incêndio na floresta.
As chamas se elevavam a uma enorme altura e as árvores começavam a ser pouco a pouco destruídas pelo fogo.
Os animais, apavorados, corriam em busca de abrigo, fugindo desesperadamente da catástrofe. Enquanto isso, um pequenino beija-flor voava velozmente até o rio, pegava no minúsculo bico uma gota de água e trazia-a até a borda da floresta, deixando-a cair sobre as chamas.
Observando o vai-e-vem da ave, uma coruja velha e ranzinza que ia passando por ali interrogou-o:
- O que você está fazendo, beija-flor?
- Não está vendo? Estou trazendo água do rio para apagar o incêndio antes que ele destrua toda a floresta – respondeu a avezinha.
- Você deve ser maluco – disse a coruja. – Não está vendo que é impossível apagar esse incêndio enorme com essa gotinha de água?
- Sei disso – o beija-flor falou. – Estou apenas fazendo a minha parte.

No comments:

Post a Comment