|
The studies center and Arabic laboratory at the University of São Paulo (USP), which are part of the oriental languages department at the School of Philosophy, Languages and Human Sciences (FFLCH), caused an impression on a group of 18 Saudi college students.
They are visiting Brazil on an exchange experience, organized by the Saudi Science Club. The school was presented to the students Monday, August 15, by the professor Helmi Mohammed Ibraim Nasr, former head of the department and director at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB). The professor welcomed each one of the youngsters.
"I thought it was very nice to see that there is an Arabic course in Brazil, as it is a culture that is very distant from here," stated the medicine student, Saud H. Aldobyan.
Professor Helmi Nast explained that the Arabic laboratory, which has equipments for the students to learn the language, is the result of a donation of US$ 40,000 made by the Saudi royal family in 1980.
The laboratory takes the name of the king Abdul Aziz Al Saud, founder of the dynasty that governs Saudi Arabia. The students were surprised to find out about the homage. "I believe this visit will yield good results," said Nasr.
According to Abdulhafeez M. Ameen, executive director at the Science Club, the entity would like to support the course.
"When I get back to Saudi Arabia I will see with the universities what can be done to cooperate. I plan to send books of history, geography, and other areas for the course," he stated.
He also said he would like to make more partnerships. "We are here to make a cultural bridge between Brazil and Saudi Arabia," he added.
During the presentation of the school of languages, Nasr and Ameen also talked about the possibility of bringing teachers from the Arab country to Brazil. According to Nasr, there are only a few teachers who are capable of teaching the Arab language at the university. "They promised to do everything to help us," he said.
More Visits
In the morning, the students visited the Institute for Technological Research (IPT) of the State of São Paulo, also related to USP, where they saw many laboratories, such as for flowing and measuring liquids, gases, fuels and lubricants and for combustion and gasification, as well as a test tank, where the technicians test ship models and the stability of oil platforms, and a wind tunnel.
Lastly, the group visited the television station TV Bandeirantes, where they saw the television and radio studios. For network's presidency advisor, Ricardo Ares, the Saudi's visit is reason for pride and joy for the Bandeirantes group, as the network's founders, the Saad family, are Arab descendants. "This visit adds value to Band," he said.
During the visits the youngsters did not miss observing the habits of their country and religion, Islamism. After the visit to FFLCH, professor Helmi Nasr made available an empty classroom where the students could pray.
They also had the opportunity of getting to know some of the Brazilian flavors. At the university restaurant in USP, the youngsters had rice, beef, chicken stroganoff, potato fries and salad for lunch, oranges and watermelon for desert.
The day's evaluation was positive. "We could not imagine people here would be so friendly and polite to foreigners. Even not knowing our language, everybody is nice and tries to help," stated Shdi A Tamur, medicine student.
University Students
The 18 Saudi pupils are the best students of medicine, electric, electronic and aeronautic engineering from seven universities in Saudi Arabia. According to Tamur, the exchange experience to Brazil is sponsored by private companies in the country, and at their return the students must present a report on what they saw.
According to him, all universities in Saudi Arabia are state owned and the students also receive a monthly allowance of US$ 200 to help with costs. The youngsters arrived in Brazil on Friday, August 12.
Anba - www.anba.com.br
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.
Thank you the peace be with all of us!!!