April 19, 2010.
It has been nearly 2 months since my last entry, which saw me returning from Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro in late April. Having recovered from the debacle that is carnaval, I soon settled into my new life in Sao Paulo.
Sao Paulo is a city of skyscrapers, it is basically the only way they can cram so many people into the city. I started my new job at Instituto Akatu pelo consumo consciente. Akatu was born from a larger NGO called ETHOS which dealt with sustainability among local businesses and companies. The idea is that if managers and staff at these corporations, such as WalMart, Pao de Acucar, Carrefour, etc, are trained to change some of their environmentally damaging habits, the results would be grand. Imagine an employer like Walmart adopting new policies that ensure that energy is conserved, waste is reduced…the results would have a trickle effect not only bringing about a new consciousness within the store, but influencing its employees to take those new habits with them to their homes, teaching their families, their friends….serving as multipliers throughout their communities. So Akatu was created as a separate project from ETHOS and soon became its entirely unique NGO. Akatu is fairly well known throughout the region for their efforts, especially since they collaborate with so many corporations and basically everyone within and around the city either work for a corp or know someone who does.
My first two months at Akatu have been completely interesting. I spent the first few weeks orienting myself, reading up on their literature, studies, learning their powerpoints and new vocabulary (which was basically everything from embalagem = packaging to aquecimento global = global warming).
The staff is comprised of about 20 people, separated into different departments including marketing, recruiting and field training. Since this was the first time a foreigner had ever arrived to ’ volunteer’ with them and I could tell at first they were not quite sure what to make of me. I was quickly given my own desk, computer and workstation. I am in the same section as Camila, Sheila, Ricardo, and Fabi. I should mention that the staff is basically 80% women which makes for daily operations to resemble a soap opera at times. The guys cheered my arrived because I instantly boosted their numbers.
The founder/CEO is Helio Mattar, a good friend of Bill Reese (CEO of International Youth Foundation). Through my fundraising efforts with OYE, I came to be good friends with IYF and thanks to Bill’s long time friendship with my parents, helped me secure such a wonderful opportunity at Akatu. Akatu’s office is right on Avenida Paulista (basically like working on Penn Ave) and is located on the 2nd floor of the Conjunto National (kinda like working at Union Station). The first floor is a mall with thousands of people shuttling in and out at any given moment. From top dog executives in fine Italian suits to bike couriers in spandex and dreadlocks. I guess I fall somewhere in between. There is an enormous bookstore called Livraria Cultura full of couches and bean bag chairs where you can sit and read any book for hours. I take my comp and do most of my OYE grant writing there although I always get distracted. I love people watching.
Akatu’s methods for training and reaching their target audience are really quite innovative. They have some fantastic power points, each targeting a different audience. Last week I attended a 9 hour Executive CEO training session that was only for branch managers of the grocery mega chain Pao de Acucar. I think there were more blackberrys than people in that room. Akatu’s goal is for them to return to their stores and integrate a few new methods that would drastically reduce their waste production. Incentives for clients to bring their own grocery bags, exchanging plastic cups for individual mugs, promoting organic foods, supporting environmentally responsible companies such as Native, an organic producer with high standards of sustainability . Surprisingly the leader in environmental conscioussness in the country is WalMart. They have set the standard by reducing packaging in their products and reducing the number of FOOD MILES a product travels to reach the shelves. Virtual water is another interesting theme ive learned about. Did you know there are over 15,000 liters of water in the production of a single kilo of beef??
My project has been with a local university called FGV- Fundacao Getulio Vargas. The equivalent of a Georgetown or George Washington Univ in the city. Probably the most expensive unv in the region. Our pilot program is in conjunction with their Economic/sustainability department. Its called Chef GV. After a month and a half long course, incuding topics like CO2 emissions, organic farming, conscious consumption, evolution, energy and resource consumption, population growth, water scarcity, agriculture trends….students compete in an Iron Chef like contest to see who can make the most environmental friendly/sustainable dish. The univ has it all organized, Akatu simply gives lectures and training sessions. I’m pretty curious to see how it all turns out. Hopefully we get to taste all the dishes ;)
Work days are long, I don’t go in until around 930/10am though which is nice. I have been trying to wake up early and jog through the part nearby. The park, Agua Branca, is full of little ponds with huge goldfish, flocks of ducks and geese, who are pretty aggressive if you get close to any of the females. There are tons of chickens and roosters pecking around, cock fights are a common ocurrence. It is actually pretty funny because they fight as if their life depended on it, then just as suddenly as they started trying to scratch each other’ s eyes out….they stop….look towards the dirt and start pecking through seeds and brush.
Lazy cats are always on the prowl. Oozing with Confidence, they know they own the park. Top of the food chain. They love to practice their hunting skills by stalking unassuming chickens and their chics. They are so well fed they never do anything though, just scare the feathers off the chicken. Peacocks and other birds roam free, happy to pose for pics with families and accustomed to people tossing popcorn their way.
About every 3 days I go to the grocery store and buy 3 reales of ham, cheese and salami….so much so that now when I approach the butcher the women behind the counter is already weighing out my always frugal 3 real portions. If I buy too much it goes bad so I buy little by little. Conscious consumer ;-)
Avenida Paulista is pretty expensive to eat so I try to take food to work to save the little money that I have for travel. I give English classes on the side once in a while for extra cash. I hope to be backpacking throughout june and july. World Cup is all of june which surely means that the country paralyzes every time Brasil plays. Travel plans must be made around the Brasilian national teams schedule. I bet most of the us in the states don’t even know where the world cup is this year. Funny how secondary soccer is in the states and how important it is here. Probably because we are pretty bad, we don’t much like participating in events in which we loose…. I joke that it’s the new religion. People here take it sooo seriously it gets to the point where mentioning which team you like can be a hazard to your health. My team is Corinthians, a Sao Paulo team with tons of history. Corinthians is doing pretty well in the Copa Libertadores, the South American championship cup, and just beat a team from Medellin last week and a team from Uruguay this week. If we go deep into the tournament the city will be on edge, Corinthians (and Flamengo) easily has the most ‘torcidores’ = organized fan base verging on hooligans.
I have become fast friends with all my roomates, there are seven of us now living in one apartment so its either sink or swim. Usually its swim because the bathroom has been flooding lately. Living in a brasilian republica (apt co-op) with 7 brasilians provides its fair share of hijinks and laugh out loud moments.
My last week at Akatu is fast approaching. Over the next month I will be back where i belong, with a backpack stuffed with the essentials and an open road ahead.
Look for more blogging over the next few weeks.
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