Sunday, December 13, 2009

They Do Care About Them!




I just returned from a 12 day vacation in Brazil 11/19/09 -12/1/09. To date this was the longest time I was in one city ( Rio De Janerio). The temperature was anywhere between mid 80's to low 90's ( perfect beach weather)!

One reason, I travel to Brazil is to learn more about the culture in-order to establish My Youth Exchange Program which will be a collaboration of both the American and Brazillian cultures.Each time i visit Brazil , I have a different experience and meet new contacts.

While in Miami waiting on my flight to Manus, Brazil (had a 12 hour layover there), I met a gentleman who was a resident of Rio and was in the toursim business. His name is Andre, he took me to several unique places in Rio. The most memorable one was a cafeteria in Niteroi, Rio De Janerio ( an hour drive from the city of Rio). This cafeteria is called, Restaurante Popular and is funded by the government for the citizens ( and some tourist) can eat a full course meal for $1R(.70 US ) a person.There are 11 restaurants like this in Rio. The cafeteria starts serving at 11:00 and closes when all the food is gone!

My meal consisted of: beans and rice, chopped liver, mashed potatoes, bread, salad , a choice fruit , dessert, tea and coffee. The meal was very tasty. I was not able take pictures , so I used ,the one above from Decision Magazine( Billy Graham Ministries). Just to set the tone of this article. Brazil has a lot work to do as far as setting up programs to help the poor but this program at the cafeteria was very effective. Hopefully, they will have more cafeterias like this all over Brazil.I was deeply touched from this experience.

No comments: