Wendy Mawson - Care in Brazil

Until my plane landed in Rio and I went to collect my bag it hadn’t quite sunk in that it was actually happening, that I had arrived in Brazil and would be living there for 3 months. I was tired, nervous, excited, apprehensive and a whole host of other feelings but ready to get stuck in. I was glad to be met by the friendly face of Heloisa, the country director and then taken on a very fast and bumpy bus journey (something typical of Brazilian public transport!) to meet my host family across the bay in Niteroi.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better home away from home. I was living in a beautiful bungalow with a wonderful host mum. Although there was just the two of us the house was never free of people, my host mum’s son and brothers were frequent visitors as well as many of her friends. I appreciated being made to feel so at home. My room was spacious and I had my own bathroom. My host mum did her very best to cater for my fussy eating habits, although the typical rice and beans diet was available I opted for pizza! One thing I loved was the variety of fresh fruit available – pineapple, mango, papaya, strawberries, banana, melon the list is endless… But being from a tin can generation I had no idea how to prepare most of it, I had never cut up a fresh pineapple or papaya before!

I had recently graduated in Occupational Therapy before I undertook my trip to Brazil. I had wanted to visit a different country, experience another culture and do something worthwhile so was delighted when I found out Projects Abroad could also incorporate my newly learnt graduate skills and future career interests into my work placement. I was given a placement at Pestalozzi, a rehabilitation centre for disabled people, school and university of health courses combined. During my first week there I was given the opportunity to visit the different departments the centre had to offer and meet some of the local occupational therapists working there. This was extremely useful as it enabled me to get a feel for the place, meet many members of staff, familiarize myself with the day-to-day functions and most importantly work out who spoke English.

Not knowing any Portuguese before I went to Brazil I was apprehensive as to how I would get on working in an environment with a language barrier present. However I was enamored by how people took to me, those who spoke English made great efforts to help me and explain when I couldn’t understand and those whose English wasn’t so great made huge efforts to try communicate with me through any means possible! We all became very good at talking through my phrase book, drawing pictures, pointing to things and if all else failed waving arms around and over gesturing until we finally understood each other. Having previous knowledge of disability, illness and various clinical conditions as well as the occupational therapy process helped greatly as it minimized the amount of explanation I needed.

During my time at Pestalozzi I worked with adults and children broadening my experience. I was able to observe a different way of working and able to compare and contrast it to what I had learned at university and seen in hospitals in England. I even learned some basic Portuguese from the children such as counting to 10, different foods and colors. I would have liked to have got a bit more stuck in practicing my clinical skills but due to not being able to speak to the patients I was restricted as to what I could do.

Free time in Brazil can be spent in numerous different ways. Living in Niteroi I was close enough to travel to Rio by various means – bus, ferry, van and taxi if you can afford it! There are many touristy things to do and see in Rio, visiting the famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, travelling up the cable car of the Sugar Loaf Mountain, visiting the statue of Christ the Redeemer, seeing a soccer game in the Maracana Stadium to name a few. I did some of these things with the other volunteers and made many Brazilian friends who were more than happy to show me the sights of the city. We would also go to bars and local clubs in Niteroi to sample the Brazilian nightlife. I even went to a fancy dress party dressed as Alice in Wonderland! Something I never anticipated I would have been doing!

Brazilian people are so friendly and easy to talk to so I found it easy to make friends. People who spoke English made themselves known to me and I was quickly welcomed into their homes and made to feel part of the family, a really nice feeling when I was missing home or having a bad day. I was very sad when it was time to leave and felt like 3 months was not long enough. I had an amazing time, was very grateful to have been given the opportunity to experience Brazilian culture and I learnt a great deal about myself in the process! I think my 3 months in Brazil was everything I had wanted it to be. I feel more confident after undertaking my project and would jump at the chance to do something similar in the future. I used to think that people like me didn’t do things like this but I’m so glad I proved myself wrong!

Wendy Mawson

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