Friday 5 December 2014

Just hold on we're going home...

Hold on we're going home was released by Drake in September 2013, around the time Michael and I were still raising funds to volunteer for Lionsraw in Curitiba for 2014. As I write this today we have been in Brasil for 357,120 minutes, 5952 hours, 248 days or 35 weeks and 3 days. In this time we have managed to meet hundreds of people and make new friendships as well as develop projects from the initial meet to how we can progress them just before we leave.

Legacy can be defined as an amount of money, property left to someone or something handed down by a predecessor. This year with Lionsraw has been a culmination of that definition.

The EMC2 football education centre that volunteers have worked on will hopefully be watertight by the time we leave in a few weeks and home to Futebol de Rua from January. It has been interesting to see the progress since we arrived in April and now it has reached the stage that we are painting the building that will host English lesson and football classes for thousands of children for the future is incredible.

We had our last day in the schools yesterday as we spent time with Doutel de Andrade and Romario Martins saying goodbye to the staff and children. When we held our Brazil Days in 2013 we could never have imagined that the outcome would have been English lessons in public schools delivered by volunteers and an exchange project between schools in England and Brazil. This had been a potential idea, but for two lads to deliver this from their homes in Newcastle seemed totally far fetched and unrealistic.Today we can say that we were part of 30 weeks of lessons to over 400 children. The outcome has been to trigger an interest in English and learning a new language, but ultimately it has been breaking down barriers and creating new friendships that have proved to be the most valuable lesson. Its difficult to learn about circumstances that children have been growing up or deal with at a young age, but sometimes the reality is they are not totally different from the UK. Children with separated parents would like them to get back together, children would like to know who their father is and they want make as best a life as they can. To be part of this is very touching as maybe we have been able to influence or become role models simply by turning up!

The football projects came to a close last week and its been a learning curve getting to know the young people, learning a new language and dealing with the environment in which these communities live. The outcomes for some young people is a life of crime or drugs and sometimes without a family to support them. For others they have reached the age to leave school without any opportunity or aspirations because there is a lack of direction. We have looked into young people volunteering with their local project to gain experience and maybe create new aspirations, but this is something that will take time. It has been humbling to be accepted into these communities and allowed to deliver football sessions to thousands of children.

We reflect on the year that it has been, but really when we arrive back home will be how we can look on what we have achieved this year. We have a list of what we have done, but sometimes its not the numbers or the words, but the experiences in Curitiba which we will remember fondly.

Its hard to predict the future, but maybe the changes for change that we have been part of this year can enable the future to be a little brighter for the children, but also for us. Its difficult to not be effected by the experience whether you spent four days, two weeks, two months, ten months or two years. Its not the chance to use that experience you have gained and look to the future.

Thanks for all the support the last two years, its exciting to be coming back home and also sad to be leaving a city we have been welcomed into. Keep and eye in The Independent this Monday as we will feature in Kevin Garside's column due to his continued support. A top man!










Wednesday 24 September 2014

Nos temos um VISTO

September is here and almost gone as we tick off 6 months in Curitiba and thanks to a trip to Uruguay we can now extend that time until December as we collected our visa. However the trip wasn't as smooth as we liked...

We arrived at the airport to be greeted by meteorological delays as fog grounded all flights, however if we had "Internet Brains" this would not be a problem (credit to Michael Gardner when this idea gets off the ground...word play). We eventually got our flight to Porto Alegre only for BQB to have cancelled our flights three weeks previous, however they did promise us accommodation and transport in Buenos Aires for the inconvenience before sending us to Montevideo. We arrived in Buenos Aires to nothing, apart from some very helpful information services girls who talked about the World Cup and England with us. We got to Montevideo extremely tired and embarked on a two day tour that pretty much covered all of Uruguay. We saw everything we needed to, Diego Forlan's house, Diego Forlan's former team and where the national teams train. We saw a lot of fields, but fear not "No problem, Uruguay". On the way home we had the same problem as our flight home had been cancelled, but this time BQB came through so we got a night in Argentina which was not on the list, but we took it anyway. In among all of this we collected a visa which secures us in Curitiba until September 2015.

We had a busy spell on the build site as top work from the volunteers, Steve and Colin especially, means the block work is completed. It has been tough, but we did it and now the EMC Education Centre is taking shape.

Football projects continue to be delivered, even though we have lost a lot of great volunteers, but we keep going and the reason why is children like Pedro. He is 9 years old, loves football and school. His back story...he has six brothers, his mother looks after them as best she can as his father was murdered. We were able to give him new football boots, t shirt and a jacket thanks to donations from Lionsraw volunteers on the legacy tour and he was over the moon. He ran over and gave each of us a big hug and its a really great feeling to be in the position we are.

Its great to see Emerson (14 years old, comes from a poor family) helping us deliver the sessions as well as he was 'juiz' for the youngest age group showing responsibility and maturity.

The English lessons continue to keep going at the schools and the local Prefeitura de Curitiba printed some banners that show off the school partnership with Newcastle schools. They were designed by local designers who saw the project on national TV.

Inevitably life turns towards the end of our time in Curitiba and we think of some ideas we can implement before we leave. More on that as it develops in our "Internet Brain"...









Monday 4 August 2014

A little bit of...Everything

The World Cup is over and Germany are the champions. However we continue the Lionsraw work in Curitiba delivering English lessons, delivering football coaching sessions and learning how to lay blocks on the build site in Cajuru for the education facility.

I guess the World Cup continues for us, but with a different focus about leaving a lasting legacy in Curitiba. Our English lessons are starting to utilize the resource given to us by Premier Skills, which follows the story of Josh Jones and his quest to play for Big City United. The first chapters are focused on dreams and goals so as part of the lesson at Maria Augusta Jouve we asked the children what their's were. It's hard to take in everything, especially in another language, but among the football player and musician we had some heartbreaking responses like wanting to know their father or for their parents to be back together. Some of the young people's goal is to teach their family English so they can help at home and for employment. We are not just teaching English at the school, but it seems like we are becoming an example of something positive for them to look up to. We explained our dreams were to be football players when younger and although that didn't happen it hasn't turned out to bad for us!

The football project at Pinhais is on a two week break as they have some much needed work done on the premises which has been a bit of a risk. We are also starting the donations that will help supply each child with a gift this Christmas as £100 has been raised so far to help to project deliver this year. Almirante and Cajuru are continuing steadily with an increased number of young people attending totalling around 100 young people involved each week.

We visited two of the local professional teams stadiums and training facilities (Atletico PR and Coritiba). They have been superb with us allowing us to see how they operate here in Brazil and learn from some of their coaching staff for personal development. We were taken on tours of the stadiums, including the Arena da Baixada and a little pit stop on the pitch which had been used only a few weeks before for the big event. A massive thank you to all those involved in supporting us and allowing us the privilege to visit.

I also visited a local hospital in Curitiba as I picked up an infection in my leg. I hadn't noticed until prior to a football session and after the session my leg had swollen to almost twice the size. It was an experience and slightly worrying as although the doctor tried to communicate in English it was mainly in Portuguese. I'm not sure what caused the infection, but after 5 days of medication and rest I can return to school tomorrow. The rest has coincided with some unbelievable weather here so I can't complain too much!

Along with my return the Brasileiro has returned and we watched Coritiba play against Corinthians yesterday. The game finished 0-0, but we did get a sun tan as we watched both teams cancel each other out. It is very difficult to judge Brazilian football as before we came it was assumed it would be amazing. The atmosphere is breath taking, at times during the game we will just watch the crowd and prior to kick off they do a fantastic show of banners. However when the football starts you almost wish the teams could deliver for the supporters as the game is drawn out by poor passing, long balls, needless free kicks, yellow cards and very little continued possession. The game is slow and you will rarely see a quick counter attack or a team break away. There are some individually talented players who can perform in spells, but general team play has left a lot to be desired. We want the teams to be brilliant and maybe they have hit a rough patch, but the Premier League is leading for us at the moment.

A huge group of our volunteers left over the last week so it was a pleasure to meet and get to know you all. Hope you all got back safely and have a blast with your family and friends!

Finally we will visit Uruguay to collect our visa to enable us to stay until December. A very long process, but eventually we look like we will be able to continue the legacy that was set out for us this year.



















Friday 11 July 2014

Where did the World Cup go?

We haven't had an update in a long time due to a variety of reasons.

We were joined by about 300 volunteers from 10 different countries during June to work on the building project and various football projects. They were absolutely incredible and it was a pleasure to have them in Curitiba. I caught up with old friends and I've made new friends. Each one of them made an impact in my life, through personal and private reasons. It has actually changed me as a person as I thought I would be the one to be leading a team, not the one to be led! There are too many to mention, but I hope you get to read this at some point. 

The World Cup final is this weekend and it has flown over. I had the privilege to visit the four games here in Curitiba (in February it was debated of the games would even be held here) and have been following the Brazil roller coaster until the 7-1 defeat by Germany. I'm not going to talk about England, but a disappointing appearance and it does not help us as we try to teach the Brazilians how to play football. I'm taking the jokes in good spirit but progression from the group would have been nice.

The schools work has a short sabbatical as they are on vacation, but English lessons have been going well and we have sent some postcards back home to Newcastle. We held International Days at three schools where classes represented the countries playing in Curitiba. They were great days and made local media here and in Newcastle. We are extremely proud that the two Skype calls we arranged passed without problems and to connect young people 6000 miles away is amazing for us.

We are both on the build site now the volunteers have left so we are learning new skills like mixing cement and laying blocks. I'm not just here to teach English and football, but to develop as a person. I'm enjoying trying new things and now we have a pet on the build site thigs are looking up.

We had the opportunity to meet Kay Murray and Hugh Thompson (both representing the North East). Hugh is riding to Rio for Tackle Africa and Kay is in Brazil reporting on the World Cup for beINsport.

We presented Gustavo Fruet (the mayor of Curitiba) with a Newcastle United shirt. Hopefully they have a better season than last year.

Pinhais has been amazing. I've been given a fresh outlook thanks to a terrific team I had during the legacy tour. I'm excited to go back, try new things and to learn more from the community. It has developed a big place in my heart, so much so that the support during a tough personal time has enabled me to stay in Brazil.

I've had the opportunity to do some traveling after the tour including three countries in three days (Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina). I visited Foz do IguaƧu to see the falls and the Itaipu dam (best trip EVER). I made a short trip to Florianopolis and had the best boat party around the islands with the long term team. I have a trip to Rio de Janeiro to look forward to where Germany will face Argentina...interesting if they win it in Brazil!

Overall it's been a crazy time lately. A lot of different emotions and experiences with some of the best people im going to meet. I can't thank everyone enough and I have a huge amount of respect to those who have been here in Brazil. I look forward to meeting you all again. 

I'm here until December, but now what I thought would be an easy decision to go home has been clouded by an unreal personal experience creating chances for change. Until the next time take it easy and stay mint!

Craig




























Tuesday 6 May 2014

National TV in Brazil

We made it onto Jornal Nacional and TV Band which capped an incredible week for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Y-WTAG_KQ


British Ambassador in Curitiba

We delivered our first English lessons at Maria Augusta Jouve today with three classes with about 70 young people.
We created some lessons plans that used postcards from Holystone Primary School in England to help build vocabulary for the children here. Each child will now have a vocabulary book to add English words as they go to improve the number of words they understand. They watched a short video from the school in England that explained they had seen the video of Craig and Michael in Brazil.
We did a lesson plan based on the countries national anthems, emblems, coat of arms and seal to show differences between the two countries. Finally we arranged for one of the students to "sign" for Newcastle United and held a press conference to engage students in speaking and listening. This showed the differences in the types of English within England and also explained more about our home city.
We also had a visit from the British Ambassador to Brazil, Alex Ellis, who joined us in the afternoon to see one of the schools in action. Its great for the young people to receive recognition from around Brasil! Photos to follow...