Hello!

As many of you know, Brazil is currently uprising to the turmoil it has been engrossed in for decades. With the raise of bus prices in Sao Paulo, cities across Brazil revolted. The issue is not about the bus prices per say, it is the fact that prices are raising ABOVE standard inflation, and thus will cause a change in salary rates. In addition, as a response to the protests on corruption in this country, police brutality is rampant. I believe this factor was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, and encouraged all citizens, young and old, to “go to the streets”. (unfortunately, many of them are breaking out into violent and dangerous protests)

My coworkers and I converse a lot about what is happening in Brazil- both in present and past terms. Perhaps in my next blog post, I will go more into detail about our conversations. They relate to the economy (mostly trading and inflation), government, and traditional customs. All of the conversations I have with my coworkers are stimulating and even enlightening.  In the office of CIFAL where I am interning at, there are only three people that make up the team!

One is Rafael, who coordinates technical projects and travels with FIEP a lot. He is well informed and practiced about architecture and history. The other is Vinicyus, who creates and gives a lot of CIFAL’s presentations. He is a graduate of international relations and I believe, one of the youngest managers on the team in FIEP. Then there is Patrizia, who is similar to a topic/events manager; she condones a large portion of the research and is well versed in French and interested in a variety of cultures across the globe. I love that each one of my coworkers bring something different, yet important to the table. Their characteristics and interests vary, yet when brought together they truly make an extraordinary team.

http://www.cifalcuritiba.org.br/english/

Currently, we are still working on the main project of “Anticorruption in Latin America”. The program brochure and structure of events are still being revised. For this event, over 800 people will attend and Singapore officials will be the main panelists (as I mentioned in my last blog, Singapore is the epitome of a non-corrupt society). Our main objective with this anticorruption project is to promote good business ethics and to demonstrate ways in which combatting corruption results in success.

As we work on minor projects around the major project, I have been assigned the task of translation and cleaning up both websites (Portuguese and English), as many things on the sites were outdated and or incorrect. Most of the translation I do is from Portuguese to English, and requires detailed attention to what the main message of the text is. Essentially, I write articles, programs, and summaries in English. I also revise/edit work that my coworkers write in English.

I am happy to report that my coworkers have adamantly expressed their excitement about the work that I do, and go on to say that they enjoy my writing style in English (as well as the on point translation- the only mistakes made are business terms I am not familiar with. As you can imagine, translating terms you are unfamiliar with or phrases that are common in a particular culture is tricky!). I am very grateful that they are open and honest about the work that I accomplish, and hope to do as much as I possibly can while I am still here- who knows, maybe even after I leave!

Internship: First day & New Experiences

                             

This is only a tiny portion of the building!

The name of the overarching company I will be interning at is “FIEP”- Federation of industries of the State of Parana (the state in which the city of Curitiba is located). FIEP has subdivisions- SESI, CIFAL, IEP, and SENAI. Each one of these branches holds a specific mission and responsibility to uphold FIEP, in conjunction with UNITAR (training sessions provided by the United Nations itself!).

What is interesting about the structure of FIEP, is that not only does the building itself hold valuable qualities (such as some of the largest auditoriums in Curitiba), but this organization is the starting point towards innovation, sustainability, and even education.

What exactly do I mean, you ask? Before I entered the FIEP building today, I had no idea organizations such as this existed. I am aware that there are organizations in the United States the focus on individual goals, meaning there is an organization made for just one population.

But not in FIEP’s case; FIEP is a center that provides education through SESI (meaning high school classes)- to the children of those that work in the industrial service sector (children of mechanics for example).  FIEP also has a staff for design (of logos, furniture, etc), a staff/school of fashion, a research team, a team dedicated to supporting and starting out small businesses/entrepreneurs, and something I thought was very interesting and creative within itself, a “creativity Lab”-which is exactly what it sounds like; you sit in the lab to be creative and come up with ideas to bounce off of the company for specific goals/projects or even on a large scale.  As we were walking around the building, my manager pointed out that every company needs a creativity lab- how else would google or apple be invented?

My office location, is in the FIEP building under the name CIFAL.

 

the office door & view from the center of the building.

The office room is comprised of 5 people that work for the branch, and luckily, I get my own desk! All of my work colleagues were very helpful in making me feel welcome and gave me a substantial amount of information about the company/work expectations.

My branch, CIFAL, is located in 9 different countries around the world (U.S, Brazil, 2 in Africa, Poland, Scotland, South Korea, China, and Malaysia) and focuses on sustainable urbanization. This can include transportation, the environment, the economy, government structure, and overall development. CIFAL provides training sessions and classes, as well as panel events, aimed towards specific audiences (depending on the project and goals). These audiences are mainly comprised of local actors such as political officials, diplomats, mayors, public and private sectors, and now even students! (as students are the “fresh young minds” of today which will enrich our future).   

Currently, CIFAL’s main project is focused on Anti-Corruption in Latin America. This massive event will be held in November and will have at least 400 members attending this panel discussion and business meetings. Panelists from Singapore will be attending and presenting, as Singapore is the prime epitome of a country sans corruption.

One of Brazil’s biggest problems is corruption itself. The entire public of Brazil is aware of this fact- even though Brazil’s economy increased exponentially; corruption has remained in its structure and government. CIFAL’s main objectives are to promote the detraction of corruption through awareness and education (they will have advertisements throughout the city, mainly in bus terminals where the public is most likely to see it on a day to day basis). My organization will also be promoting the concept of “business ethics” to workers in higher level positions in the business world, and will be asking them to present to target audiences.

As of right now for this grand project, my task will be to translate the program pamphlet and objectives into English- once it is completely revised by the management staff (statistics and finances are still being worked on). In addition to this project and translations, daily, I will be researching for the company and analyzing statistics based on my research.

This will pose a challenge for me, as I am a person that usually requires detailed instruction on how to do a job- which I would then pick up quickly and be very proficient in whatever task was required or necessary. However, simply researching daily, seems somewhat vague to me.

My question is… What am I researching?? Therefore, I must be proactive and establish this by tomorrow.

Last but not least, even though it was my first day at this internship and commencing an internship in general, I was finally able to comprehend how an office environment works as well as the hierarchy in the work environment. As an outsider, hierarchy in professions seems complicated and even vague. Though now, I realize that in order to achieve goals and overcome obstacles, you truly need everyone to work in their respective section- for this is what makes up an entire organization and success.

Additionally, Jonathan and I went to our second class at FAE (the university in the center of the city). Luckily we figured out a schedule that worked for everyone,

And will be attending classes that are for those majoring in linguistics. The class we are attending is called “Portuguese Language” and focuses on the variety of style that the language is written, read, and spoken; all three are different. In addition, we are learning persuasive, emotional, and poetic ways of speech/literature, and the influences that are changing the traditional language (even way of writing), such as technology and different tones.

An interesting point that the professor pointed out, was the fact that there are times when someone is “wrong” for speaking too correctly- as perhaps it intimidates people. She used the professor vs student model as an example.