Summary

Join me as I recall the events of July 5, 2024, during which our group attended lectures on collective health and Portuguese as well as exploring Salvador via a bus tour.

Olá a todos! During the second day of our trip in Salvador we had a very busy day. During this time of year, the sun begins shining through the janelas (windows) around 6 A.M and not long after our students begin preparing for new activities.At 8:30 we arrived at the Instituto De Saúde Coletiva, the federal university of Bahia. At this institute we met multiple members of the faculty. 

The reitor (dean), Joao Carlos Salles Pires da Silva, presented information about their school and its accomplishments. The Universidade Federal de Bahia is committed to building academic excellence along with a commitment to social justice. Their postgraduate program, established in 1973, is one of the oldest in Brazil. Having graduated around 500 students in their graduate, masters, and PhD programs, it is clear that the instructors of the university strive to promote the success of their students. During this outing, we also listened to a lecture regarding public health from Eduardo Mota. This lecture described the difference between collective health and public health and defined the mission of the university, “Saude igual para todos,” meaning Equal health for all. We learned about the Unified Health System (SUS) and the efforts being taken in order to democratize health and recenter health as a guaranteed social right. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After class and a quick lunch with our host moms. Our students attended a short and sweet Portuguese lesson where, rather than learning vocabulary, we were taught proper pronunciation of certain vowel and consonant sounds in Portuguese. Many words in Portuguese contain accents which alter the way in which the words are spoken. This crash course was very helpful for our communication with others in the community and especially at home with our host families. 

Our last activity of the day was a bus tour of Salvador. We visited multiple different places on this tour for example: the Museu Náutico da Bahia, at the edge of both the bay and the Atlantic Ocean, a Candomblé house of prayer, along with a fresh fish market, the house of Prentice, a talented artist that makes iconic art using tile canvas, and multiple churches where the Brazilian community gather to worship and practice their religion. In addition, we got to observe the less developed area of Salvador. In this area, we passed the favela de Liberdade which is a community of around 400,000 people living in close proximity to one another. Those living in these communities struggle with access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, security, healthcare and education. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this eye-opening view of the community in Salvador, it was time for dinner. Tonight, we visited Boi Preto, a churrascaria. We each had our fill of different meats including beef, chicken, pork, and salmon. This restaurant provided us with attentive service and high quality food. To end the day sweetly, our final course was sobremesa (dessert). Once finished with all the delicious options we were offered at the restaurant, our day was over, and we returned back to our host families to rest up for a new adventure tomorrow. 

Obrigada por ler (Thank you for reading).