Studying at PRECE

Studying at PRECE
Students from PRECE study together under the juazeiro tree in small groups using cooperative learning

Friday, March 9, 2012

Saudades

Over the past 10 days I have put 2,000 miles on my car and I still have at least another 1,000 to drive before returning to Fortaleza, Brazil. The miles have taken me around town to dinners with best friends, across states to visit family members, and to new churches/schools and familiar landmarks in order to speak about PRECE.

In Atlanta, as I met my friends for dinner we frequented some of our favorite coffee houses and restaurants as well as new places so that I was able to completely erase the taste of rice and beans from my palate. Conversations picked up where they left off in July and I felt surrounded by the love and warmth of friends who are as close as family. As my father and I drove 15 hours overnight from Wabash, Indiana to Middlebury, Vermont I remembered 18 years of overnight car rides that my family made as we travelled from our small community in Indiana to the farthest reaches of the United States- road trips to the southwest ending on the Arizona/California border, yearly Spring Break trips to Vermont to visit my grandparents, yearly summer vacations to our timeshare in Sarasota, Florida, road trips down the east coast of the USA where my father gave historical lectures every 15 miles as he pointed out the historic significance of each flag pole and old plantation home. They are memories filled with love, joy and a deep sense of happiness. As I drove from the south of the USA to the mid-west I passed the same milestones that I passed as I made the familiar drive over the 6 years I lived in Atlanta. Memories of dinners and long conversations I had with college friends who had moved to Louisville, Cincinnati and Indianapolis flooded my memory. And, as, I drove past the exit to Hanover College I was reminded of the 4 formative years I spent there, opening not only my eyes to new and different ideas but also my mind and heart.

My father, mother, sister, grandparents, friends from college and best friends from Atlanta are all a part of my story. They are all a part of me and have helped to mold me in to who I am today. But, being a product of the American culture I never realized how intricately interlaced their stories are with my story. In the United States we are often urged to value independence, individual successes and one’s own gains. We take pride in the advances we apparently make on our own sometimes without giving credit to the community of support that has helped us reach various goals and overcome obstacles.

In Brasil I have learned thousands of new words… all in Portuguese… and one of the most profound words I have learned is the word SAUDADES. The word does not translate accurately in to English but is close to “I miss you”. However, the Portugues word “saudades” carries a weight that is much deeper and more profound. Saudades is a longing for something that is a part of you but missing from you; it is a realization that you are not fully complete without the piece that is currently away from you; it is the recollection of experiences, memories and feelings that brings joy and life amidst the feeling of emptiness. Saudades touches at the core of ones being and the sense that alone, as an individual, we are not whole, we need others to complete us.

When working with the PRECE students and the students the at the High School/Professional School in Pentecoste we refer to this as Interdependence and we stress that they are interdependent upon one another in order to reach their goals. Successes are not achieved by the individual but rather they are intertwined successes in which everyone reaches together. If one student fails, the entire community fails, but when one student succeeds the entire community succeeds. With this mindset and this recognition of interdependence there is a much greater chance of success and less of a chance of failure.

When I am in Brasil I miss my friends and I long to be close to my family in the USA. But, when I am in the USA I feel a sense of “saudades” for the community for PRECE, the part of me that is not complete without the community I have come to know, love and call family.