Fellow Stories

A Part of Something Bigger

Antonio Peluso

2011-07-05

My name is Tonino Peluso and I am an 18 year old high school graduate who has found the need to be a part of something bigger. I have grown up in Southwest Santa Rosa, California, my entire life, where there are opportunities to help and become involved with the community around every corner. Not...

com raiva

2011-05-10

The last two weeks in my homestay Tom’ s mother, Colange and 5 year old nephew, Samwell, came to stay with us in Sao Bento. In the evenings we sat in front of the TV watching the novelas with café and Samwell would hit his head into the walls and run around the coffee table...

The Tip of the Iceberg

Michael Stivers

2011-04-25

I have about a week left in Brazil. But instead of talking about all the feelings pounding on my chest, demanding that they be shot up my esophagus, out from my mouth and conveyed, I will talk about one. I came to Brazil wanting to teach. Whatever I would be doing in this country I...

Bagunçaço Book Opening

Meg Healy

2011-04-18

Several months ago, Joselito Crispim, the director of Bagunçaço (and Mike’s host dad) finished writing a book about the after-school program he founded nineteen years ago. Last week was the official book opening, held at an artsy bookstore within an upscale movie theater. Joselito hired a bus to transport some of the kids to the...

More Than a Stove

Mariela Garcia

2011-04-15

It’s not exactly a Kenmore, but it provides just as much as any brand name could to those who receive it. To qualify to be a part of the project, the family must already be cooking with wood and prove their commitment to using the stove, by providing 45 Reais worth of material to build...

Highlights from the mid-year retreat

Meg Healy

2011-03-28

Every month the Fellows get together for a two or three day meeting in which we talk about our living situations, apprenticeship progress, and various cultural, historical and social issues.  I’ve found that the most important aspect of the monthly meetings is the opportunity to spend time with the GCY-Brazil team, and that’s exactly what we...

Two Sides of Death

Karyn Miller

2011-03-20

At the last GCY Brazil monthly meeting, we commenced as we always do: went around and told a high point and a low point of the last month in our homestays. Somewhat overly emotional, I couldn’t keep the tears from falling as I said that my high and low point were probably wrapped up in...

Farinha

Karyn Miller

2011-03-19

I now know the full process of making farinha, and have participated in almost all of it. It all begins with a field, a tractor, a plow, and some manioc seeds. The plantation process  I have not witnessed or been part of yet, but word has it that I will get the opportunity before I...

Antigamente

Karyn Miller

2011-03-18

On January 15, I think I learned more about Nova Suica in one day than I did over the course of the two months prior. It began when I arrived at the settlement school to greet a group of Brazilian university students who were arriving for a 10-day program. I found the school empty but...

Ocupação

Karyn Miller

2011-03-17

I looked out over the fields of Nova Suica, empty but for the occasional bull, the lights of the houses glowing in the distance. The night chill had already set in, but I resisted putting on my jacket for fear that when it got colder, I’d be out of options. And it would almost certainly...

Azeite de Dende

Karyn Miller

2011-03-17

We were at the health post, handing out bottles to those who were interested in buying. “10 reais for one liter? Really?” “You kidding? Smell it. Flavored, washed with spring water, mashed by hand—and with an American helper? How often does that happen?” This was the basic negotiation going on—I was being used as part...

To Internalize, or Not to Internalize…?

Adam Horowitz

2011-03-15

My grandmother’s advice for my time to be spent in Brazilian urban poverty—“don’t internalize suffering, intellectualize it.” Don’t let the sadness I see overcome me, maintain perspective and emerge from my Global Citizen Year with the experience and drive to change what I will but not resentment towards this unfair world. I have sat on...