Helping Others Has No Boundaries & Speaks All Languages

120 Hours?  Thinking back on my blogs, I believe that was the title of my Monday (9/30) blog entry.  Looking back on the week, these “120 hours” flew by as if they were just 12 hours.  Given how quickly the first 3 weeks flew by, I wasn’t surprised to see Friday morning (10/4) arrive so soon.

The entire 19 person CSC Team met in the hotel lobby at 9AM to take a bus to the mayor’s office.  Our final presentations were scheduled for 9:30 – 11:30.  There was a calmness across all members of the team, but I think inside, we held in some anxiety, angst, and feelings that we didn’t want this day (or this assignment) to end.

For me, I walked through the doors of City Hall and it seemed like just yesterday that we were meeting the mayor, and his secretariats, on Monday, 9/9.  Today was a culmination of thousands of man hours of work across 19 people from 13 countries. 

When we arrived in the waiting area of the 2^nd floor, we peered through the glass doors and saw the Secretaria de DEs. Economino e Turismo DSM System team presenting to the mayor and his staff.  (They were asked to present solo from 8AM – 9:30AM.)  Radhesh had a smirk on his face, when he looked at me through the door, as if he were saying, “Man, was this fun.  We had a blast!”

       

The doors opened at about 9:30 and everyone assembled quickly.  The mayor, his team, and all special guests were very interested in hearing what the 7 teams reported.  The  Ação Moradia Financial System  team was the first to present, and they were immediately followed by the Ação Moradia Brick  Process team; who was a sister team on the same NGO.   The  Ipê Business Plan team presented next, but for some reason, my Ipê HR Processes team (Joel / Hajira) didn’t follow them.  Oh well, “Brazilian flow.”  No worries.  I was confident we’d get called up eventually.  Olaf did a wonderful job of presenting a recap of his team’s efforts & deliverables for  Politriz Communication.  As was usually the case during the past month, Olaf’s dry sense of humor and quick wit generated several laughs within the audience. 

    

My team (Ipê HR Processes) was unexpectedly called up as the next presenter.  The 10+ minutes of presentation time flew by.  At the end of my presentation I shared some unscripted, heart-felt words to my Ipê “family”.  It was tough to hold it all together, but I managed. The ONG CASA Business Plan/Model team was the 6^th presenter.  And lastly, but certainly not least, Radhesh presented for the Secretaria de DEs. Economino e Turismo DSM System  team. 

         

To close out the meeting, a representative of the mayor’s office shared some heart-felt words of his own.  (Earlier in the meeting, the mayor left with a secretariat member because of a commitment in a nearby town; which was about 100km away.)  It was a very emotional way to end the meeting.   

   
       

Immediately upon the meeting’s adjournment, the energy in the room ratcheted up about 500%.  People were hugging, crying, laughing, talking, and in general, trying to cram 30 days of feelings, emotions, and experiences into a 15 - 30 minute window.  Everyone knew that in about 12 hours, we might never see each other again and our paths may never cross again.   Hundreds of pictures were taken and even more hugs were shared.  The interns quickly began signing the Brazilian flags that were given to us by Larissa. (All 19 CSC Team members agreed this was a wonderful idea and a very special memento of our time in Uberlandia.) 

I’ll never forget one of Daniella’s comments immediately after the meeting ended.  She told me, “Look, there are many people crying inside City Hall.  And outside, it is rainy and Uberlandia is crying too!”  I looked out the window and saw that it was raining.  (Actually, it was one of only about 4 or 5 days of rain we’ve had while in Brazil.)

 

At about noon, the room had emptied and everyone scattered like seeds of the ipê blown by the ventos (winds) across the planícies (plains) of the cerrado.  My immediate plan was to “kidnap” Aline, (1 of 2 interns assigned to Ipê), so she could help me do some last minute shopping.   We went to the local market, and while Aline kept me focused on my immediate tasks, I finished buying some last minute items to take back with me.

              

The interns had a 1PM – 3PM meeting and the 19 CSC Team members had a 3PM – 6PM meeting at the Executive Inn Hotel.  After buying her lunch, I told Aline that I would walk back to the San Diego Hotel because (a.) it was in the opposite direction from the Executive Inn Hotel and (b.) it was lunch / rush hour, and she couldn’t make it to her meeting on time if she took me to our hotel.

Fortunately for me, the rains slacked off and I was able to briskly walk back to the S.D. Hotel without getting rained on in my suit and tie.  About 1:30PM BST, I had a decision to make.  Did I have enough time to walk to Ipê, stay for an hour & visit one last time, and then walk to the 3PM meeting?  I decided to march on because I really couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Uberlandia & Brazil without seeing the staff at Ipê one last time.

I put on my backpack and then my rain jacket over it, and headed off to Ipê.  It was a fitting end to my 30 days in Uberlandia.  We visited, took final pictures, hugged each other, and shed some more tears.  By far, it was the best way to spend 75 minutes on a chuvosa Sexta-feira (rainy Friday). 

        

At our 3PM meeting, there was a debrief, many different analyses of our pre-work and time in Uberlandia, one last “lifeline” exercise with Bruno, and a lot of flag signing.  There was a lot of honest and candid dialogue with Bruno & Larissa.  By 6:30, the room was clear with the exception of 3 people.  At that time, I said my final good-byes to Larissa & Bruno.

Miscellaneous Pictures from Our Final Debriefing:

         

              

Everyone got together at 8:30 at local restaurant.  (Some of us heard it makes some of the best caiphirinas in town.)  Our table of 25+ (? !) people racked up a large bill, and Larissa helped us get our hands around who owed what.  (Larissa has been an amazing host, help, and ambassador for her city.)  New Zealand Mike and I headed back to the hotel via cab, while many others went on to a club, near the hotel, and enjoyed their last couple of hours together.

After packing for 2 hours, I finally retired at about 1:30AM BST.  Saturday at 2PM, (which is when our taxi is scheduled to pick us up), would be here very soon…  

 #ibmcsc brazil