CELEPAR- Informatics Company Visit

I spent a day visiting CELEPAR with my Rotary club president Isis and another Rotarian, Andretta. This is a private informatics company that takes care of  most of the IT and informatics of the state government and also is working on expanding to work with local municipal government. Since I am living in the largest city and capital of the state (Parana) I am lucky to have a lot of cool opportunities such as this one.

Me and Andretta

The company develops the different web interfaces used in all the state government agencies. They also have a huge data center that stores all the information needed for the government. I got to go in and see all the servers and other technology equipment.  It is in a conditioned room with incredible security. The room it is all in is a sort of safe that is bulletproof and should withstand explosions. It has also been tested and was surrounded in fire for half an hour and everything inside was fine. I don’t know all that much about this sort of technology, but it seemed quite modern and advanced technology-- see some photos below.

largest fire extinguisher ever

Andretta, Isis and me in the data center

CELEPAR also managed a hi-tech teleconference conference room for the government. It is a room where the governor and state delegates can meet and is in the beautiful state government palace.  I got to sit in the governor’s chair :]

In the governor's seat

Isis, me and Andretta in the state executive government building- just a little bit of marble

I also got to see how they do the programming, their support call center, their fingerprint analysis center and where the print and distribute tickets (when you get a ticket you don’t get pulled over, the police officer just notes the infraction and your license plate and the ticket is mailed to your house).

All in all, it was a really cool visit. I guess it was sort of a big deal for them too. They sent a woman with us for about half the day taking pictures and wrote up a press release/ article that they posted on their website and in their news letter. I’m famous! You can see the article here-

http://www.celepar.pr.gov.br/modules/noticias/article.php?storyid=1563&tit=Intercambista-norte-americana-do-Rotary-Club-visita-a-Celepar

Back in Brazil

Now that I am back in Brazil, I spent several more days at FIEP and learned about several other initiatives the NGO has including:

Small Business Consulting and Funding

FIEP offers consulting services for small and micro businesses at little or no cost to the businesses. This is possible through funding by the inter-american development bank. This is a really great service to small businesses that cannot afford consulting normally to help them to stay competitive in an ever more globalized market.


Cancer Screening

As Leticía shared with me, FIEP has a mobile cancer screening program. The program runs out of a truck with three screening rooms. The truck travels throughout the state, coordinating with companies to have employees screened, performing almost 10,000 screens last year.  

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Outside of my job shadowing things have been going well in general. My family here is great! They are very open and patient with me when I do not understand. The other day they told me they were really enjoying my company and having me there on exchange which was really sweet.

Me with my family with my host father's family using our homemade selfie pole made with a window cleaning tool

My language skills are coming along. I am pretty good at understanding what people say to me and can generally get across the idea of what I would like to say. I went to the market to get some souvenirs and one of the women there said my Portuguese was really really good for only having been here for two months. It made me feel really great and that my hard work is apparent!

The one part of the exchange that is a little difficult is not really having friends. I have quite a bit of free time but few friends to spend that time with. Since I spend the majority of my time with my family, Rotarians, and job shadowing, I don't spend much time with people my age in order to make good friends with them. Additionally the people  have made friends with are pretty busy working or studying during the time I am free. I do have a good friend from my exchange in Chile (who is Brazilian) that studies here so I have gotten to hang out with him again for the first time in about five years which is really nice.

Although it is hard not spending much time with people my age, since I am used to doing almost exclusively this at university where I lived, studied, worked and competed with other university students, I think it is good to learn to spend more time with people of other generations which I will be doing in my work when I return.

Time at Home

I was really lucky to be able to go home for my grandfather's funeral. I think it meant a lot to my family to be there during all the different things related with the funeral. http://www.smithfamilyfuneralhome.com/View.aspx?id=14079

For those of you not from the US, our ceremonies are a little different than other places

Almost two weeks after his death, we had a visitation at a funeral home. The family is there all day with pictures and things and the body is there if it wasn't cremated. People who know the family or the person who passed away come by to share their condolences and share their memories. It is nice, but very tiring for the family. It is difficult to hear so many stories about your loved one and how sad it is and how much others will miss him. After a while I just didn't know what to say anymore. Although it is hard it is important for everyone to be able to share their difficulties with losing this person, and being able to cope with it. My grand father was a Free Mason and at the end of the visitation about 30 of the men from his lodge came and held a ceremony for him. It was moving and amazing to see so many people that day that loved my grandfather.

The following day was the funeral in the church I grew up going to. All the grandchildren took part in the service carrying things in remembrance of him, the ashes from cremation, the cross and other religious items. I carried the division flag that was on my grandfather's boat when he won the Port Huron the Mackinac sailboat race since I am quite involved in sailing and it was very important in his life as well.

The church was more full than on Christmas. It is amazing how many people cared for him. Afterwards there was a military salute since my grandfather was a veteran of World War 2 in the battle of the bulge. My cousin was in the marines and took part in the ceremony. Although I am quite the pacifist and am not the most supportive of my countries military engagements, it was beautiful and I appreciate the importance that this holds to other people. This is when I finally cried. I thought I was okay and could be strong, but it is okay not to be all the time.

There was then a luncheon at the yacht club catered by the people who have done most of the open houses and other events for our family. It was quite appropriate and allowed people to talk without feeling so solemn.

The next morning we buried his ashes and the children and grandchildren each got to but a shovel of dirt in the grave. It made it quite final.

It was a difficult time  and a lot of traveling for just three days, but I am glad that I was there with my family and am still able to finish my exchange in Brasil.

Starting my Internship with the Federation of Industries of Paraná (FIEP)

My first internship/job shadowing is with FIEP the Federation of Industries of the state (Paraná). This is a really interesting entity and I don't think we have anything like it in the US. It is an NGO that receives its funding from a tax that is obligatory to all industrial companies in the state. This tax is not used by the government, but goes directly to this NGO. FIEP works to serve the industrial companies through three different entities SESI, SINAI, and IEL each focusing on a different part of support.

They have two offices in the city, the headquarters in the downtown business sector and an Industrial Campus that is closer to industries, and also next to a favela, Vila Torres that I visited a few weeks ago.

Industrial Campus building

View from the Industrial Campus

Some of the many projects and departments that exist in FIEP are:


Social Responsibility Consulting

Speaking with Renata, When companies want to get involved in the community they can contract this group to analyze the best way for them to get involved, be it building a library for a local school in need or supporting  local NGO. They also can help design volunteering programs for the employees of the companies. They have a specific approach they use that is very systematic and the work they do is really neat. Because companies support FIEP through their tax, this service is offered below market rate. I am told that Deloitte is one of their biggest competitors so it was neat to see the way a competitor of my firm works. Once I start in August I'll understand better the differences a little better.


UN Millennium Development Goals

There is a department dedicated to promoting and evaluating progress toward the UN Millennium Development Goals. This group including Aline and Marcela, leads a group called Nos Podemos Paraná- a group of leaders in the state of organizations that promote the development goals through their work. It is a way to share ideas and create partnerships. They also have a group that measures the progress towards each development goal in each city. It is an amazing amount of data that is collected and analyzed by this group.

It was quite surprising to see that generally outside the city only about 60% of children finish through 8th grade. Additionally it is interesting to know that significantly more girls go through school then boys. The explication they gave me was that boys are more often required to work at a younger age, get involved in "the violence", and girls are more focussed and attentive.


Education at a Distance

There is a big initiative with online courses as Rafaeal who leads the program shared with me. There are many courses offered for free, but they try to have people pay a little for them, as they see a higher completion rate when people pay. Many courses are offered to help provide a better life for industrial workers, in turn better work force for the industrial companies. Classes range from how to eat healthy, financial management, alcohol and drug education, technical degrees and even bachelors degrees with some in person segments at centers that are near by. It is a really great program for those who can't afford to move to the city or go to school full time, and to learn basic skills that can help in there careers.


Cozinha Brasil

FIEP saw that there was a serious problem with people in Brazil, especially industrial workers, not being properly alimented and not having enough money to buy healthy food. Because of this they launched a program call Cozinha Brasil (Brazilian kitchen/Cook Brazil). Nutricionist did loads of research and found ways to use parts of food they are usually thrown away in a nutritional valuable way. For example using the banana peels, and leaves of cauliflower, and rinds of watermelon. They have a truck with a classroom for 50 people that travels around the state teaching people about nutrition and how to cook these recipes. It has had a huge impact and helped the population to be better fed and more healthy. It has been so successful that tey have helped develop a similar pogram for Uruguay,

Handicap Accessibility Consulting

Agnaldo showed me his work on helping companies make their industrial production and other areas handicap accessible from the road to the work station. There is a quota requiring companies with more than 100 employees to hire 2%-5% handicapped employees so this is an important service helping industries to understand what jobs can be adapted to fill this quota. It is really interesting this way of inclusion considering as I learned in Ponta Grossa, many handicapped people are segregated in a separate school, that they then are required to be included in the general work force. They also offer training to managers and coworkers of how to interact and include the handicapped coworkers. It seems like a very great service in order to include everyone in the society and give opportunities to those who are often excluded.


Innovation Laboratory

They have a lab of engineers and chemists that can be contracted to develop new technologies for companies. I don't know all that much about labs but it seems that it is very well equipped and advanced. They have them all over the country with different specialties and work in a network. The engineer I spoke with, Henrique, said that not a lot of companies have their own labs and R&D so this is how they develop new projects. It seems like a really great resource of companies, but I can't help but think there must be some issues when the same people are developing technologies for competitors.

Goodbye to a great man

My grandfather passed away last week and I will be returning to Michigan later this week to be with my family for a few days during this difficult time for the funeral ceremonies. My grampa was a great man and it is sad to see him go, but I am glad he does not have to suffer anymore. He made an impact on a lot of people and was very important to me. Although I will grieve his death, it is also important to celebrate his life and impact on us that he left behind. 

His obituary is below for those who knew him and haven't seen it yet. It is quite nice.

http://www.smithfamilyfuneralhome.com/View.aspx?id=14079

It is hard that I am away when this happened, but my grandpa and I did make a sort of peace with the possibility before I left. I wish I could be there at home for my family as I know this is a difficult time for them, especially my mother, but I am lucky to be able to return for at least a few days and still return to Brazil to finish up my exchange. This is one of the downsides to travel and living far from home- missing out on being there with family in both good and bad times.  

Thank you grampa for all of the laughs, lessons, and sharing your love for sailing. Always one of my favorite lunch dates and sources of advice. I hope I can continue to make you proud. 

Visit to Ponta Grossa

The German NGE students and I went to a city about two hours away, Ponta Grossa, for several days. It is a smaller city, of about 350,000 people. We stayed with host families and activities were organized by several Rotary Clubs in the city. The activities included:

With my Ponta Grossa host family! Juliana, me, Ana and Carlos

Visit to Tetra-Pak headquarters in Brazil

Tetra Pak is a producer of food packaging, with a special type of packaging that allows food to be stored without refrigeration until it is opened, mainly used for milk. Think the types of packaging for most soy, rice and almond milk. It is very wildly used here in Brasil and Eva, Alex, and Lisa said it is very widely used in Germany as well. It makes sense, so I am not sure why we do not used it in the US for our milk and juice packaging. 

We got to learn about the activities of the company in Brazil and also visit the manufacturing floor. This was really neat as we got to see the machines and robots and things in actions. It looked like it could be a lot more efficient and we watched one of the robots crashed into a forklift. It makes me wonder if this type of disorganization is also seen in manufacturing in the US.

Vila Velha

We got to visit a really neat state park that had these really interesting natural formations. I haven't ever seen anything like it so I really enjoyed the trip. It looks like its almost from another planet.

Mennonite Colony

We visited a colony of less than 2,000 Mennonites. It is interesting because the speak low german and practice the traditional Mennonite religion, but unlike the Mennonites near where I am from in Michigan, they use electricity and lead a generally typical life. It is interesting that because part of their religion is that they do not believe in killing people, they have some sort of accord with the Brazilian government that they do not have to register for the military (obligatory for all Brazilian men) and do social projects instead.

Important historical events for the religious/cultural group

Diaper Production

One of the big projects of Rotary in Ponta Grossa is producing adult diapers. They partner with the Masons of the city and own a machine that helps produce the fabric. They get together every week and make diapers quite manually and donate or sell them at cost to public hospitals and people in need in the city. One evening we all went and helped with this project. We worked alongside Rotarians, Roteracters, and their families for several hours, then had a pot luck dinner. It i a really great project and was great to get involved! 

Machine that makes the diaper fabric

Cutting the fabric to diaper shape

Adding sticky tabs to secure the briefs

We made almost 1000 adult diapers in one night!

Rotaract

We had the pleasure of meeting two different Rotaract Clubs. It was really great to spend time with people my age and get to see the things they are involved in. One of the groups took us to a typical Brazilian bar as a going away party from Ponta Grossa. It was really sweet and fun to get to know them. I hope to see them again. 

With Rotaracters at their University

With Rotaracters at typical Brazilian bar

APAE- school for the mentally handicapped

Visiting this school was a great experience. They have almost 400 students that participate in the school where there are small classes organized by age, and also other handiwork and job training opportunities. They have a band that performed for us and we got to dance and play instruments with them. They have traveled internationally to perform and it was really great. They also have a bakery, kitchen, and wood workshop where they learn other skills that can help them find work in the future. 

This is very different than the system I have seen in the US where I remember students with mental disabilities in the same school and some of the same classes with me tat tries to integrate students. It seems like a great community for the students and they have a lot of great opportunities to learn new skills, and are allowed to stay in APAE as long as they need, until the pass away if that is the case. The negative aspect the the US system addresses is that they are secluded and may not have the opportunity to interact with the rest of society and other children do not have contact with them, which could make it difficult later in life when they do come into contact with them. It is hard to know which way is better, but the students at this institution seemed to be much happier and confident than the mentally disabled students I know from my childhood. 

The band

The school's bakery

Craft workshop

Although it was sad for me to see children that had to overcome such challenges it was a very good experience. At the end of our time there, I asked the woman who was showing us around the school if she knew why there were so many children with these conditions and she told me they that there were issues with girls having babies very very young such as 12 years old, women taken drugs and drinking during pregnancy, and incest between siblings, cousins, fathers and daughters. This is very hard to process as they are things that are problems in a lot of places here in Brazil and in many other countries and I am lucky not to have experienced these things in my life. I hope in the future these things can be reduced and phased out so that children can have better opportunities to succeed.

Morretes and the Atlantic Forest

We went with Luis, a Rotarian, for a hike through the amazing Atlantic Forest that is near Morretes. This is the only place that this type of biome exists in the world so it is full of unique flora and fauna.

Ready to hike in the Atlantic Forest 

Luis, a Rotarian that took us on the hike 

Typical place for a typical Brazilian barbeque

Mãe Catira River

Once we arrived in Morretes, a city of 16,000,  we got to see the historic downtown which is beautiful.

Downtown Morretes

We also went to a river and swam in it and saw a neat draw bridge. We also came across a passion fruit field which looks a lot like a vineyard and also a starfruit tree! It's neat to see where the fruits come from.

River in Morretes

Passion fruit field

Star fruit tree

We also went to a cachacaria, a place where cachaca is produced. Cachaca is a typical liquor here made from sugar cane that is used for typical drink- caipirinha (mashed fruit, sugar, cachaca and ice). The cachacaria was in an old Castell pencil factory which was quite neat. It was interesting to learn the process and be able to try the different types of cachaca they produce

Tree farm for pencils

Cachacaria

Cachaca and sugar cane liquor being aged

We took a touristic train ride back to Curitiba through the Atlantic forest. What would normally take one hour in bus was three and a half hours in train, but was well worth it. It was astonishing the beauty of the forest.  Then also eye opening to see the poorer areas that we went past between the forest and the city.

NGOs and Governmental Agencies

Taking part in some of the activities with the German NGE group I got to visit several NGOs and governmental agencies in the area including:


NGOs

Associacão Benificiente Sao Roque http://www.associacaosaoroque.org.br/

This was a really interesting NGO that collects donations like goodwill and they sort through everything and sell it in a bazaar or donate it to needy families. The money they make in the bazaar is used to support the social programs they have. They have a community center in a poor area where they distribute food packages once a month to families that have someone with a mental or physical illness. For example on of the families we met was two children that are mentally challenged who live with their great grandmother because their parents and grandparents were killed due to drug related violence. They also have a library and arts programs for children in the community to keep them out of the streets and away from drugs. It was really amazing to see the difference they were making in the community.

They even have a choir and band that can be seen in a promotional video made by the government  here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZqIpu-NaJ8

Food distribution

Performance area for children's programs in construction

Library at São Roque

Computer lab for technology courses

Associacão Borda Vida https://www.facebook.com/BordaViva

This NGO has a program in a different poor area where they make lunch and serve it to children in the area for free. They also sell it to others in order to raise funds for their programs. They also have a program to help women find jobs and teach them market able skills. They have partnered with Renault and have a production of a special fabric used to protect cars in production centers. Also an amazing project making an amazing impact on the community.

With children taking part in activities at Borda Viva

Government Agencies

Civil Defense Agency

We got to visit a government agency that handles all natural disasters in the state. We learned a bit about the process. There are a lot of floods in the area and people often build homes along the riverside against government policy.

Mayor of São José dos Pinhais

We got to meet the Mayor of neighboring city São José dos Pinhais. It was really neat to get an understanding of the politics of the city and its role as an industrial center of the southern region of Brazil.

Public Clinic in Vila Torres

We went to a public clinic in a favela called Vila Torres. We were told this is the most dangerous area in the state of Paraná. The major issues they deal with are issues with drugs and violence. two groups on each side of a river that splits the area are sort of gangs. If someone from one side dies, someone from the other side will die too. The clinic itself is quite safe though since the community protects it because it helps and doctors in white are safe to walk around the area so we went with them and saw the names painted on walls of people who had been murdered, walked on the most dangerous street as well. It was pretty calm since there had been a police raid in the morning. It was difficult to see, but really not quite as bad as I thought it might be. I thought it may be more similar to the parts of San Salvador I visited on a research trip with a professor from my university a few years ago.

The Germans and me with doctors and dentists at the clinic