Indiana Partners received a $500 grant from Rotary International to help prepare a group from Rotary District 6560 who took part in a one-month Group Study Exchange in Brazil. For details, see www.bsu.edu/partners.
The first Indiana Partners/4-H exchange program took place this past summer when four young men traveled from Rio Grande do Sul to Indiana. This exchange was the result of long discussions during my trip to Brazil (1999), many e-mails, and hours of planning. The goal of the exchange program is to provide an opportunity for rural youth from Indiana and Rio Grande do Sul to learn about a different culture. In addition, youth acquire and exchange new experiences which will contribute to their personal development in order better to apply their knowledge and aptitudes, for the benefit of their communities.
The overall itinerary was designed to provide the exchangees with an overview of our country and state--its people, agriculture, economy, geography, natural resources, history, and cultural heritage. The participants of the program were expected to live and work with a host family on their farm for one month. If the host family did not live on a working farm, the family was to provide agriculture-related experiences.
The exchange agreement allowed us to accept up to six youth from Brazil and we were fortunate our first year to have four very qualified young men participate. These young men ranged in age from 16-18 years and were all from a community agriculture school, Escola Tecnica Cinecista BOM PASTOR in Nova Petropolis. This school accepts students from all over the state of Rio Grande do Sul; providing hands on learning for girls and boys who live and work on family farms and want to learn or further develop a specific skill.
Our four participants came into Indiana on the morning of July 24. Martin Limbird met me at the Indianapolis airport and we waited patiently for their arrival. Once they arrived I learned quickly that only one of the young men could speak a little English, the remaining three had no language skills in speaking or writing English. Within the first three hours of their arrival we established a means of communication that only the four of us could understand. It was a simple thumbs up for "ok" and thumbs down for "no".
As soon as we established a means of communicating, the young men let me know right away that they wanted to go shopping for electronics, i.e., cameras, CD players, games, etc., before they met their families. These items cost twice as much in Brazil. They shopped until I forced them to stop. We met the families for lunch and orientation at Arni's in Indianapolis and from there they embarked on a new adventure.
Before the participants arrived they had already been placed in homes according to their expressed interest. Josue Noer was hosted by William and Janet Bohling in Porter county because of his interest in working with animals. Iuri Lopes was placed with Vaughn and Pam Collins who have a beekeeping farm in Gibson County. Augusto Soares was hosted by Phil and Pat Greenburg in Grant County to work with field activities, animals, and local or state fair activities. Abrahao Martins had an extremely enriching experience because he lived with three families during his stay. The following families provided him with an experience of working with pigs and corn: David and Inga Randle, George and Nancy Morton, and Bob and Nancy Guernsey all located in Boone County. Abrahao was really fortunate to have a chance of working with the Millennium Corn Maze which is in its second year of operation on the Guernsey farm.
Final Comments
All families involved this year with the program stated that they really appreciated the opportunity to host a Brazilian student and share common interests. One family
said of their exchangee, "We felt he was an exceptional exchange student, and went home with a positive attitude toward our country." Two of the families are eager
to host again next summer and one plans to send their son to Brazil next summer through our program. A very nice article highlighting Augusto and our exchange
program was published in the Chronicle--Tribune, a daily newspaper serving Grant and Marion Counties.
The four young men left Indianapolis to return home on August 22. A formal evaluation of their experience has not been completed, but upon their return we received an e-mail which reflected the following comments:
We learned a lot for both our professional and personal lives. We learned to cope with and overcome difficulties like a foreign language, different culture, other people and habits. It is important to highlight the big professional step we have been given, due to the USA technology we could learn about, which is more advanced than Brazil.
I learned how to love Brazil and my family more than I had ever before!
The collaboration of the Partners of the Americas and BOM PASTOR school was very important because it made me feel safer.
Concerning soybeans, there isn't much difference!