Beginning the Final Week

Last weekend we spent two days at the northern town of Salinopolis, which is a beach resort community for the residents of Belem. The shore community is located about 100 miles northeast of Belem and about a three-hour drive away. The beautiful white sandy Atlantic Ocean beaches and dunes are bathed by the diluted Amazon River waters. This phenomenon of reduced salinity is influenced by the annual variation of water flow from the Amazon River, which reaches its peak in June and ebbs to its lowest level in November. During the lowest period of river effluence the increased salinity results in a large fish kill when the fish from the Amazon reach the Atlantic waters.

The GSE Team members enjoyed the opportunity to relax, swim and hunt for shells on the beach. The vacation home of our host family was a delightful retreat and the home-cooked food was delicious.

After our return to Belem we began our week with a tour on Monday of the local island of Mosqueiro. It rained very hard on Monday evening knocking out the electricity in parts of the city.

Last week we also visited the campus of the Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA) the regional equivalent of our land-grant universities, such as K-State. This university offers programs in forestry, land management, fishery, veterinary medicine, agricultural engineering, botany, animal husbandry, and ecological sciences. Yesterday we visited the state historical museum and a famous flora and fauna research institute, founded by a Swiss scientist for which it is named, Emilio Goeldi.

Today and tomorrow the team members will be conducting individual professional visits to various organizations, including the emergency management agencies, universities, tropical disease institute Evandro Chagas, the theater, churches and art centers. The week will conclude with the annual district conference and a special presentation by the GSE Team to the district membership of 1,100 Rotarians.

The team will depart via Rio de Janeiro for the US on Monday, May 3rd and arrive in Kansas City on Tuesday, May 4th.

Belem Experiences

During the first few days in Belem we have met with four of the six Rotary clubs, making brief presentations and getting to know their membership. The largest club is North Belem with nearly 40 members. The remaining club memberships are numbered in the teens. All Belem clubs meet in the same location, which is on the 12th floor of a building, which is owned by Rotary. Their staff prepare all Rotary meals and their office secretary keeps every club's attendance records.

Belem is a large city with nearly 2 million population and serves as a port of entry to the Amazon region. The city was established in 1617 as a Portuguese settlement at the mouth of the Amazon River. The Jesuits had an early presence in the education and religious catecism of the Brazilian natives. The early settlement was comprised of a fluvial defensive fort, church and administrative center, which later served as a hospital. The city center is located on a small river penninsula, the older buildings are located on the waterfront, while as the city developed it migrated inland. The metropolitan area now expands well beyond this initial penninsula.

We have spent the first days exploring the city, touring their beautiful cathedral, basilica, fort and waterfront park, which includes an aviary, naval museum and live butterfly exhibit. We also toured a museum of sacred art, jewelry and native artisan centers. Pottery from the Marajo Island, similar to Navajo art, is prevalent in this community.

We also toured the Federal Rural University of Para, which has several programs in forestry, agriculture, environmental sciences, fishery, land conservation, botany, veterinary medicine and life sciences.

The upcoming weekend will include a trip to the Atlantic coastal city of Salinopolis, where the GSE team will stay overnight at the vacation home of a Rotarian family.

Week 3 Begins in Belem

Our flight from Santarem to Belem was spectacular and allowed us to experience the vast beauty of the Amazon basin. The river is still in it's rising phase, which will culminate at the end of June. There are areas where it appears to be a flood zone with no defined river, while other times the river is more defined with banks, as it meanders gently toward the Atlantic Ocean. As we approached Belem the river was joined by a number of tributaries and widened to an expanse, where one cannot discern the sea from the river. Fluvial islands and forest are laced with channels of water.

Our team was greeted at the airport in Belem by the District 4720 Governor, Lourenco, Governor-elect Geraldo and representatives from the six Rotary clubs in the city. After a group picture each team member was assigned to a host, who took the GSE Team members to their respective homes. We convened at 7:00 p.m. at the downtown Rotary meeting place, which is shared by all clubs, to meet with the East Belem Rotary Club. Our team made its presentation and then dispersed back to their respective host locations.

The schedule for the week is still being finalized and some confusion remains about the next day's gathering. I'm certain we will work everything out in the end. This experience will be the team's first challenge for individual survival within the Brazilian culture, without ready access to their personal translator.

Departure from Santarem and End of Week 2

Our short stay in Santarem has been quite enjoyable. We have had a restful and leisurely visit in this historic city. It is historic from the point of view of the US in that a number of confederate families emmigrated to this region after the civil war, because Brazil remained a slave country until 1888. Many descendents of these confederate families are still in this region, with American names, such as "Jennings, Wallace, Riker, Harrington,Pits, and Franklyn." A few historians have written about this exodus of the "Confederados" from the southern US States of Mississippi, Texas and Carolinas. This is also the origin of some of the protestant churches in Brazil. During the Brazilian empire, following the declaration of independence from Portugal in 1822, the Roman Catholic church remain the state denomination and no other religions could be observed. It wasn't until after the establishment of the Federal Republic of Brazil in 1889 that other churches could exist openly. The emmigrant confederates brought their Baptist religion and established it in this region in the late 1800's. The confederate families also formed an American colony near Sao Paulo in the South of Brazil, named "Americana."

A number of Americans from the Franciscan Order have also influenced the creation of the Foundation of Hope (Fundacao Esperanca), which is where we have stayed while in Santarem. This combined college and health center has been supported by Rotary International, both from US as well as European clubs.

During our stay here we visited one of two planned communities, which were established in 1927 and 1934 respectively by the Ford Motor Company. This was a source of rubber for the automobiles that Ford was producing during this pre-World War - II period.

We also had a very relaxing weekend on the Tapajos river, which we traveled by boat from a Rotarian's home to a beautiful recreational area up river.

We leave by plane for Belem this afternoon.

Arrival in Santarem

Our team arrived at 3:00 a.m. in Santarem and reached our destination at the Hope Foundation at 4:00 a.m. This is a college dormitory setting in Santarem, which is linked to the Catholic Church. We had to wake the staff in order to gain access at this ungodly hour of the morning. Even the security guard was asleep at his post. We rested until 11:30 a.m. before gathering with the Rotary leadership. We visited two agencies, one similar to a Head Start program and another a children's rehabilitation program. Santarem is a city of about 300,000 population that is located at the confluence of the Tapajos and Amazon Rivers. This is a very large fluvial port and a large agricultural center for Cargill, which exports soy and rice. This is also a regional educational and health center. Recently, the Brazilian government decided to subdivide the state of Para and create a new state of Tapajos. Santarem will become this new state's capital. Belem will remain the capital of the other half of Para.

Pictures of Manaus & the Amazon

Many of you have stated you want to see more pictures so since I am in the hotel room resting and trying to regain some strength, I thought I'd share a few of the pictures I've taken since being in Brazil. -Eric

The Manaus Theatre or The Opera House

The common coffee served throughout the day. The cup is very small but a strong coffee.

The Secretary of Health for Manaus

One of the Rotary clubs that we met with.

Ken & Krystee getting ready to board the boat ambulance (SAMU) that serves the Amazon river.

A year ago this was the ambulance that was used for SAMU.

Now these are the ambulances.

This is SAMU's motorcycle first-responder since it is quicker for him to maneuver in and out of traffic compared to the large ambulance.

Gaelynn with some kids at a local school.

Common homes on the Amazon embankment.

The meeting of the waters. Rio Negro (black) & Salimone (brown) converge but do not mix for miles.

Amanda & Gaelynn

Eric

Krystee

Our fearless leader, Ken

A family going back home on the river carrying a full-size refrigerator.

A boat with stairs in the embankment leading up to one of the villages along the Amazon.

A family on the Amazon.

The giant lilly pads (Victoria Regias)...this picture does not do justice to how big the lilly pads are.

A Snowy Egret along the shores of the Amazon.

Week 2 Begins with a Change of Plans

Sometimes the best laid plans require re-evaluation... this is where we find ourselves today!

Contrary to our ealier entry, we have remained in Manaus for an additional three days, in order to attend to the health of one of our team members. Eric's heat stroke has led our team to re-eveluate our initial plan of taking the "African Queen" adventure down the Amazon River. A 33-hour excursion without access to medical attention seemed imprudent in light of our team-member's health status. His medical consultant said that we could travel after he has had a two to three-day recovery. Proceeding with our original plan would have cramped the time available for the visit to Santarem, due to the departure from Santarem to Belem on Monday, April 19.

After holding a team conference and discussing options with the Brazillian host leaders, we jointly decided to switch to air travel to Santarem... the Indiana Jones adventure in the Amazon will to have to wait for another time. Instead, we will leave Manaus early on Thursday morning (1:00 a.m.) and arrive in Santarem at 3:00 a.m. in Santarem.

Everyone is pleased with our decision, as it reduces the risk for the teamm and allows for the full programming to proceed in Santarem. Today we will visit some local museums. The delay also allowed the team to make a presentation yesterday to the fourth and largest Rotary Club in Manaus' industrial district.

Yesterday we attended the Amazon Theater opera company's practice session for the upcoming annual opera festival. What a magnificent musical presentation!!

Stay tuned for more later.

Day 6: Last Full Day in Manaus

We have been going, going, and going. The Manaus Rotarians have been excellent hosts the entire time we have been here. They have scheduled several meetings with various people in our fields of study/profession. The Brazilians have been so kind and gracious to our team. It will be difficult for us to leave such a great group of people in Manaus.

A few highlights from the past several days:

• We visited SAMU (the equivalent of our 911 medical service in the US) a couple of days. They have been able to go from a run-down system to an elite system within one year. They have some great things happening in the medical services including very cool first-responding motorcyclist and a boat ambulance that serves several riverside villages on the Amazon.
• We visited with the Secretary of Health for Manaus, who has really helped expand medical services and pushed to revamp the SAMU system as well.
• We witnessed an incredible program that serves over 300 children to adults with disabilities that was started by a Rotarian several years ago, designed to provide adaptive mobility for people with physical and mental deficits.
• We also visited the integrated central military security communications center that oversees the police & fire departments. They monitor hundreds of cameras around the city of Manaus and we were able to observe their activities in action around the city.
• We also took a boat tour and saw the "Meeting of the Waters" where the Rio Negro (black water) & Solimoes (brown water) rivers converge. These waters do not mix for several miles, an incredible sight to see as the waters flow side-by-side as far as the eye can see. Also went on the tour of the channels (igarapes) where we we saw giant lilly pads (Victoria Regias) and several river villages where many people have their homes on the river and live their lives everyday on the river.

A couple of us have experienced the universal health care program in Brazil with unforseen visits to their urgent care center... everyone is doing fine. Gaelynn had a really bad cough and Eric had heat stroke but the Brazilian hosts wanted to make sure everything was okay, so both Gaelynn & Eric now have a Brazilian medical record.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Santarem by river boat (33-hour journey). We will be on the boat until late Tuesday night so we will not be able to update the blog until Wednesday or later. Thanks for sharing in our adventure by reading our blog!!

Day 2 - GSE Activities in Manaus

Today our GSE team visited the Emergency Medical System (EMS) center of Manaus and visited with the Municipal Secretary of Health.  We will follow-up with a visit on Friday of their speed boat ambulance, which is used for the emergency response and tranport from outlying communities along the Amazon River (range of 4 hours each way - out and back).  We also learned about the motorcycle emergency responders, who are able to maneuver through the city with greater agility than the other emergency vehicles... a unique approach to emergency response.

We made another Rotary Club presentation today at lunch to the Rio Negro Club.  Later in the day we visited the famous Amazon Theater (opera house) built for rubber barons during the rubber boom of the late 19th century (1896).

From GSE Trip

Arrived in Manaus, Brazil

After nearly 20 hours of air travel and 6000 miles we arrived in Manaus, Brazil at Noon.  Our trip took us from Kansas City to Atlanta, then to Brasilia with a connecting flight back north to Manaus.  We crossed the equator 2.5 hours prior to landing in Brasilia.  We are just a few degrees south of the equator.  It's 86 degrees and humid (like a sauna).  We were met at the airport by two wonderful Rotarians (Gerson and Maxwell), who took us to lunch and helped us get settled into a hotel near the famously beautiful Opera Theater Building (circa 1890).  We will visit the four Rotary clubs in Manaus before leaving by boat next Monday to Santarem.  The river trip on the Amazon will take 2 days.  Happy Birthday, Gaelynn!!