Annual Meeting on November 11
 
The Indiana Partners of the Americas Annual Meeting will be held on November 11, 2006 at the Farm Bureau (225 S East St, Indianapolis, IN 46202). The event will begin at 11 a.m. with a carry-in lunch, so please bring a dish to share. The meeting itself will take place from noon to 1:30. Highlights of the meeting will include presentations from people who have traveled to our Partner state, Rio Grande do Sul, in 2006 and current Partners on Partnership visits from RS, as well as from Philip Wagner of Rhythm of Hope. Please join us!

Note that this year's Annual Meeting is the week after the International Festival in Indianapolis. We hope that you will join us both weekends. Our booth at the International Festival will be open Nov. 2-5, and it will feature demonstrations of Brazilian music, chimarrao preparation, and other activities. If you would like to volunteer to help at our booth, contact Andres LeLong. Anyone who volunteers for a four-hour shift will receive a complimentary ticket to the Festival.

Teacher in Residence Exchange Update: October 2006 
By Jim Nulty, Indiana Partners Board Member,
President & C.E.O.of VSA arts of Indiana

It has been less than one year since Nielsen Pereira's initial arrival in Indiana (Jan 29, 2006) as part of the Indiana Partners of the Americas "Teacher in Residence Exchange Program". I am thrilled to announce that we will see him back in the Hoosier state as a student at Purdue University. Exactly one year later, on Jan 29, 2007, I will once again meet this young Brazilian educator up at the Indianapolis Airport.

Update – Northbound Travelers 
 
Indiana Partners has been fortunate this fall to have Partners friends visiting while they are in the U.S. on other trips. In September, RS Partners member, Moacir Costa de Araújo Lima, a physicist and author of the Brazilian best seller The Era of Spirit, made a brief stop in Indianapolis to give workshops following his keynote presentation to an international conference in Miami. He and his wife, Lucia Helena Ferriera de Araújo Lima, who is a Past President of RS Partners, stayed with Indianapolis Partners Carol Tharp Perrin and Larry Gindhart. Lucia Helena and Moacir's children, Priscila and Andrei, are both former Youth Ambassadors.
 
At the beginning of October, RS Partners member Manuel Barretto, son of RS Board member Lisete Barretto, visited Indiana before leaving the U.S. for London. Manuel visited Shirley and Matthew Mattlocks' farm on Tuesday afternoon and then traveled to Vincennes visiting a turkey operation and looking at some fields as well as visiting Vincennes University to meet with students. Manuel was hosted by Carol Tharp-Perrin and Larry Gindhart. Chris Fenner arranged the agricultural activities.

Update – Indiana and RS Partners Receive Travel Grants 
 
Indiana Partner Jane Gehlhaussen, and RS Partner Luciana Beirao de Almeida have received travel grants under the Education and Culture Program of Partners of the Americas. Jane will participate in the Partners of the Americas Convention from November 15 through November 18, 2006 and then fly to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil from November 20 through November 29, 2006 for a Partnership visit. Jane will travel to Belize and to Porto Alegre with Luciana, who will be in Indiana for a Partnership visit November 4 through November 15. Luciana's visit will have activities related to several areas: She will interpret for Valeria Lamb Corbellini, a nurse on the faculty at PUCRS, a university in Porto Alegre, who will be continuing the nursing exchange by working with nurses in Anderson and Terre Haute. Luciana will also be also continue the RS examination of how Character Counts works in Indiana. Finally, Luciana will be able to make a brief visit to the annual Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other languages conference and visit several English classes in Terre Haute. As part of her nursing exchange, Valeria will visit the Madison County Health Clinic, Anderson University, St. John's Hospital, and the Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology. She will also attend the Sigma Theta Tau nursing honor society induction at Anderson University.

Update – Board News 
 
Indiana Partners Board Member Jane McCaslin has been elected Vice President of the International Center of Indianapolis.

Update – RS Partners On the Web 
 
To keep up with projects and news from our Partner state, Rio Grande do Sul, visit their Web site at partners.org.br/index.html.

Indiana Farmers in Brazil 
 
Shirley and Matt Matlock visited farms in RS, Brazil in September on a joint project of the Farm Bureau and Indiana Partners of the Americas. In Santo Augusto, they stayed on the farm of the Sperotto family, who grow corn, soybeans, and hay. They also went to Camaqua, where they stayed on a cattle farm. In Capivari they learned about rice and Bradford cattle. Even in Porto Alegre, they made farming connections at the Angus Cattle Farmers' Association. You can read about their trip on the RS-Partners website at: partners.org.br/farmbureau/farmbureau2006.html.

Indiana YAE Students Summer in Brazil 
 
Youth Agricultural Exchange participants were Southbound from July 14 - August 6, 2006. The students and teacher participating are:
Tristan Schaefer - Hauser High School, Jami Bailey - Central Nine Career Center, Aaron Birge - Hamilton Heights High School, Katie Beck - Eastbrook High School, Amanda Herndon - White River Valley High School, Andrea Pickett - White River Valley High School, Justin Thomas - Switzerland County High School, and advisor Sam Zuckschwerdt - White River Valley High School.
Partners Board Member Bob Book secured funding to continue to pay for a teacher from Brazil to travel with the northbound group.

Letters Exchange Re: Nursing Exchange  
  
In March, Kathy Kaiser took a group of nursing students from Anderson University to Porto Alegre. Here is a unique view of that exchange through a series of e-mail exchanges with our Partners in RGS.

Subject: Nursing students arrived!
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 23:44
 
Greetings from Brazil!

I am writing to tell you that the group of nursing students from Anderson University, Indiana USA, arrived in Porto Alegre at 2pm. Everything seems to have run smoothly through the airports and flights. They were received at the airport by local Partners of the Americas members and a representative from the Regional Nursing Council.   The group then had a Welcome Meeting to learn more about the program and cultural aspects of Brazilian culture.   At around 6pm everyone left with their host mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers to well deserved rest.   I am including pictures of the group at the airport (with Luciana Almeida - Nursing Exchange Program 2006 Coordinator and Juliano Nogueira - RS Partners president) and of the just formed new families. All students and the professor are being hosted by nurses. Very special thanks to all host families !!!

The temperature is now 72F, not a hot day, and we have had some showers.

We have also created an email group so you can get daily updates on their adventure in Rio Grande do Sul. If you do not receive an invitation to join the group, please send a message to nep2006-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to join.

If you have questions, please send a message to Luciana Almeida - program coordinator - at lubeirao@hotmail.com or myself.

We are very enthused about the time they will spend with us and we wish to share some of that excitement with you.

To end with a Brazilian (Portuguese) word, Tchau! Juliano Streb Nogueira RS Partners President Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil ----------------------------------- Oi! Tudo bom? After some rest and real sleep the travelers looked quite different from faces we had seen at the airport the day before. Now we can say we have met them!

We all got together at 10am at Redencao park (the largest urban park in the city).

Before visiting the park, the group attended a Catholic service at a nearby church. At least 70% of Brazilians are Catholic and this religion plays a very important role in our culture.

After the service, the group went shopping the traditional flee market on the avenue by the park. Every single Sunday of the year the avenue is closed for cars and about 200 stands are set with native Brazilian crafts, art, food, antique ... Today was special because we are celebrating the city's 234th anniversary.

After lunch we went downtown to see the public market, the modern art museum, the art museum and the old harbor by the lake. The name of the city - Porto Alegre - means "happy harbor" because the first azorian immigrants were very happy to settle here 234 years ago. Today the harbor does not operate anymore.

Porto Alegre developed along Guaiba Lake (very large) that flows into Patos Lake (even larger), which in turn flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
 
The weather was perfect: sunny, but not too hot (around 85F).

Até logo!

Juliano Streb Nogueira
RS Partners President
Porto Alegre, RS Brazil
-----------------------------------
 
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 22:43
 
Boa noite!

The School of Nursing, Nutrition, and Physical Therapy in the Catholic University of rio Grande do Sul was in charge of the program today. The Catholic University, best known as PUC pronounced "poocky" in Portuguese, has more than 30,000 thousand students on its main campus in Porto Alegre. To learn more about PUC you can visit pucrs.br.

The university is widely recognized for majors in health because it keeps a hospital on the main campus. Sao Lucas hospital has 539 beds and around 30,000 patients a year. Its clinical center houses 160 doctors' offices where over 300,000 patients a year. To learn more about Sao Lucas Hospital you can access hospitalsaolucas.pucrs.br.

The morning was dedicated to sharing information. There were three talks this morning: Health and Educational Systems in Brazil, Facts about Nutrition in Brazil and Children's Nutrition in Brazil, and Health and Educational Systems in the US (talk by Professor Kaiser).

In the afternoon the group visited nutrition and nursing labs, classrooms, and Sao Lucas Hospital.

That's it for today!
Até breve,
Juliano Streb Nogueira
RS Partners president
Porto Alegre, RS Brazil

Indiana Partners Feijoada Party A Big Sucess

Having experienced two successful occurrences, it would appear that Indiana Partners' Feijoada is on its way to becoming a tradition. The event was held at the Hamilton County Public Library in Fishers, Indiana, a northeast suburb of Indianapolis from 2PM to 5PM on Sunday, March 5. A important aspect of the timing is that it occurs during the Indianapolis Weekend for the IN/RS Youth Ambassador's Program. Typically, as was the case this year, six Gauchos between the ages of 15 and 18 are in Indiana under this program.

Aside from the Annual Meeting, usually held in November, the Feijoada is the only thing that bring large numbers of our group together for socialization. Members from Indianapolis, Muncie, Terra Haute and Lafayette work with each other year around to provide professional contacts and opportunities for information exchange for visiting volunteers from Rio Grande do Sul, and such programs help keep a face with each name.
 
In Brazil the Feijoada is a typical rural dish, a major ingredient of which is Black Beans. On the farm these are cooked with whatever edible bits of meat are left over into a somewhat soupy mixture which is served over rice and accompanied by collard greens. For more sensitive U.S. palates, the meat is a better cut. Go to any search engine with "Feijoada Completa" for a detailed description of the recipe and the side dishes.
 
Ours was excellently prepared and attractively served by chef Matt Koeller from The Abbey Coffeehouse and Adriana Queiroz a Brazilian cuisine consultant. Glenn Pratt provided the Guarana, which added spice to the meal, and also provided us with the name and location of an excellent source of Brazilian products.
 
The program allowed ample time for social interaction. President Leslie Barratt gave a brief address covering a bit of Partners history and, in particular, the fourteen year history of the Youth Ambassadors Program. Following this the six young gauchos presented some typical songs, concluding with "The Girl From Impanema."
 
Special thanks are due Andres Lelong and Jane Gehlhausen McCaslin; co-chairs of the 2006 Partner's of America Feijoada. Together they designed the program, promoted the event and coordinated and made arrangements with the venue and caterers. Our special thanks to the Fishers Library for providing a wonderful site for event. On the day of the event Betty Cook and Jhani Laupus helped with set-ups and Dolly-Anne Lelong assisted with checking people in.
 
Another Feijoada is being planned for this year. Watch for details. For more pictures of the event go to bsu.edu/web/indparters and click on Partners Pictures.

Youth Ambassadors meet with Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes in Sao Paulo  
 
Renata Bruciano, one of the 2006 Youth Ambassadors to Indiana posted the following report on the Youth Ambassadors website in Portuguese. I have tried to translate her words and thoughts to English, and apologize for any errors.  — Dennis Shaw 3-14-06

I am sending this message to all of you Youth Ambassadors about the meeting of the Paulista (Sao Paulo) Youth Ambassadors with Ms. Karen Hughes yesterday afternoon.
 
We arrived as Consul Christopher McMullen's house and the reporters were already there waiting to talk with some of us Youth Ambassadors, and with Marcia Mizuno. As soon as Mrs. Hughes arrived, she was presented to all of us, and we to her. She wanted to know about our experiences in the United Stated and showed lots of interested in the (YA) Program! After this conversation, Luana (Smeets-YA 06) gave her an "Honorary Youth Ambassador" kit, and she literally "dressed in our clothes" of the Youth Ambassadors. Then, since all of us were then uniformly dressed and wearing the same Youth Ambassador T-shirt, including Mrs. Hughes, we took some photographs for the press. Mayara ((Ferreira- YA 2006) and Alan (Santinele- YA 2005) briefly explained the history of "feijoada" for Mrs. Hughes who really liked our typical plate (food) and also adored our "caipirinha"! During lunch she stayed approximately 15 minutes at each table (there were 3) so that all of the Youth Ambassadors and other invitees could talk with her. Mrs. Hughes talked with everyone, and said that, for the next edition of the Youth Ambassadors, she might try to see if the President of the United States could meet us. (This seems incredible, don't you think?)
 
Afterwards, we went to the theater of SESC, where we saw a marvelous dance presentation and talked with the dancers at the end. Mrs. Hughes congratulated them for their magnificent work, and said that every one of them was also a "Jovem Embaixador "(Youth Ambassador) for their presentations in dance, a universal language. Then we said goodbye to her and returned to the hotel.
 
The day was simply marvelous. We got to know a very important woman who demonstrated humility which left us with our mouths open! We also got to know other Youth Ambassadors from Sao Paulo (Paulistas) which was very good. And as we said yesterday, every time we get together and meet, we feel as if we are "getting lost", and need to wake up (from a dream) , and every time (think more) of how we can help our society.
 
There, I hope I have remembered everything. I am certain that everyone adored the meeting.
 
Bejos (Kisses)
 
Renata Bruciano
2006 Youth Ambassador

For more information about Indiana Partners of the Americas, go to our Web site: bsu.edu/web/indpartners