Letters

An Appeal for
the Northeast

I enjoy your magazine very much and would appreciate it immensely if you published this letter in your next issue. You have a large circulation and my appeal would reach a great number of people who care about Brazil.

I am a member of the Southern California Brazilian Club. I am a Brazilian from the state of Pernambuco and have lived in the USA for many years now. My husband was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Pernambuco and we both continue to have many ties to that area. Lately the news from the Northeast of Brazil has not been good and I'm not talking about losing the World Cup. A new drought has hit the Northeast and is causing people to lose their crops and is threatening their lives. According to a SUDENE (agency in charge of development of the Northeast of Brazil) report issued in May, 4.8 million people are facing hunger because of the drought. The World Bank in a recent article calculates the number to be more like 10 million. In a United Nations on-line site (www.fao.org) to Global Watch and look for the article headed by "Ten Million People in Brazil Suffering from El Niño Related Drought" posted June 1.

I decided it was time to do something to help. When I was a young girl I lived in rural Pernambuco. I remember the people who lived there as open, humble, honest, and big-hearted. I just don't believe they deserve all of this suffering. But I know I can't help all of the people in the sertão, so I decided to try and help one of the communities where I lived, Sertania. I lived there for three years as a teenager and many of the families I knew then are still there.

I got in touch with the mayor of Sertania, Mr. Ângelo Ferreira, in June. He told me that there are 14,000 families in the rural parts of Sertania who are in need of help. He also told me that an Italian priest, Father Reginaldo, has been doing a lot of work to help relieve their suffering. Father Reginaldo is also part of the Comissão de Enfrentamento à Seca (Commission to Fight the Drought), which was formed with approval of the government of Pernambuco to help drought-stricken families. If you would like to help the people of Sertania, one way you can do so is to donate to this Comissão. You can send any amount you would like by check made out to:

CE SECA / PO Box 9200-108, Fountain Valley, CA 92728, USA

This is a PO Box I have set up for this purpose. I will collect the checks and forward them to the Bank of Brazil in Sertania. Only Father Reginaldo and other organizers of the Comissão are allowed to withdraw the funds from this account. The money will be used to provide food to the most needy families. If you'd rather send money directly to the Comissão itself in Brazil, a money transfer from any bank in the USA can be forwarded to:

Comissão de Enfrentamento à Seca
Banco do Brasil _ código #1146-0, account number 5.008-3 Sertania, PE, Brazil

Thank you very much. As Father Reginaldo says: "Those who help the poor are doing God's work." Or as the saying in the Northeast goes: "Only God can pay you for the help you give to this cause."

Iris Shearer
Fountain Valley, California

Making
a point

Again, your August 1998 edition deserves quality and taste. Ms. Veronica Hunt in the August 1998 Letters column could not be more correct. After living in the United States for almost ten years, I decided to have a subscription of Brazzil and I am wondering if I made a mistake. It is hard for any Brazilian male or female to see this kind of `advertising' in any publication. Brazil is more than naked women. Why not add pictures of naked men, poverty, crime scene, Brazilian corruption and other things that Brazil is proud of showing internationally? I think I made my point.

Cafruni Family
Van Nuys, California

The Horse
and
the Cross

Believing that you know what you are writing about I found it tremendously sad to read your short-short comment on the film O Pagador de Promessas, a brilliant film that I have seen myself. But you write that there was a man wanting to take his horse into a church!! There was no horse but a cross—a copy of the cross on which Jesus was crucified! If you are capable of writing things as wrong as this, how can I trust other `important' things you write about? I deeply regret this.

Ellen Stokland
Department of Media and Communication
University of Oslo, Norway

Aussie
Charm

Thanks for publishing excerpts from my book Brazilian Booty in the June 1998 issue of Brazzil. I've had orders for it from America, Australia and Brazil as a result and was sent very nice feedback.

Michael X Savvas
Australia
msavvas@usa.net 

Thanks
for Bruce

I just wanted to thank Bruce Gilman for the fantastic article on Daniela Mercury. Wonderfully written and very informative. I do a weekly radio show up in Washington state and I feature two hours of Brazilian music each week, and this week I'm featuring Daniela's music, in honor of her birthday last Tuesday. So I'll be giving Bruce credit for any information that I impart to my listeners.

Joel Litwin
KZAZ-FM/"do Brasil"

More
Bruce

I want to congratulate Bruce Gilman for the good job he has done at Brazzil magazine. His reporting is really clear and concise. I love them all. It's impressive his familiarity with the Brazilian culture. As a Brazilian myself, I can say with no doubt that he is very well informed about my country. Thanks for keeping us updated. I'm a 32 year old Paulista, teacher of History and International Affairs, who has lived in Los Angeles for the past two years in order to understand well the English language and the American society. Hoping I will be reading more by Bruce soon.

Venceslau DeSouza
Los Angeles, California

Adding
Perspective

Thank you for publishing "The Wild and the Tamed" by Jerine Watson. Ms. Watson's perspectives have opened my abilities to appreciate my past and future Brazilian experiences.

Steve Stanley
Via Internet

Information,
Please

I have been looking for months the Brazilian soap opera soundtrack of "Mulheres de Arena" and "Renascer", the one whose songs are in Portuguese. Please tell me if you have it or any information that will help me to find it. I understand Spanish and English, thanks for your help. You could answer me to megwinoff@yahoo.com .

Teresa
Via Internet

Painting
Kids

My name is Alexandra, For my major artwork at school, I am doing street kids. I want to perceive the need for something to be done in this area. I was wondering if you have any images on street kids that would be of help. I would appreciate it greatly.

Alexandra Nygard
Via Internet

On Portuguese
and Brazilian

I've read some of your issues and loved them. I am Brazilian. One of the recent articles I enjoyed was the one about the Brazilian Portuguese being a different language than Portugal's Portuguese. I also liked the one on 1968.

Elza Helena Gabriel
Vienna, Virginia

Digging
for Brazil

I am currently working on my master's degree in education. As part of my course work I have been instructed to research Brazil's educational system. I've been searching the Internet and came across your e-mail address. Please advise me as of who I can get in contact with to gather current information on your educational system. I have several questions that I would like to find answers to. Thank you for your time and help.

S. Riehl
Via Internet

Lifelong
Love

I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago. I have been living in the US for many years and have always been very interested in Brazil—its music, peoples, cultures, soccer, beautiful women and much more. Can't pass up this opportunity to read about this wonderful place.

PeterPouchet
Beltsville, Maryland

Helping
Hand

I am already a subscriber. I notice that my subscription ran out as of October. I wanted to subscribe by Internet but I see that you don't have that facility yet. I have been to Brazil only once for 10 days, but I have many Brazilian friends here in Chicago and in other states in the US. If you need any articles or info about Brazilians that happens here I would be glad to write something for you. I was features editor of my college newspaper.

Alvan Brown
Chicago, Illinois

Keeping
Up-to-date

I am a regular tourist of Brazil, and I have been looking for a magazine or periodical e-mail about the latest cultural and political events in Brazil. I hope that you will be that source.

Jason Paul Seaux, Esq.
Crowley, Louisiana

Investing
in Brazil

We are in the process of purchasing a Hotel in Brazil. We appreciate if you can help us to find out the followings: 1- Is there anything we have to watch for in respect to laws and regulations for investment of this type? Where do we check to see if the people who are selling this hotel have the right to sell it. Is there a title company to search the title, etc.? 2- Can we obtain a long-term residency without too much problem? Do we need a Visa to stay in Brazil? 3- Is there any requirement for the amount of capital investment to obtain residency? 4- How does residency apply to children under the age of 16? Than you for your time, I appreciate your help.

Mark Haghighi
Via Internet
E-mail: lettermstr@aol.com 

Text
Book?

I'm interested in receiving a sample issue of your magazine. I will be teaching a Portuguese Language Conversation course next semester and am in need of supplemental material for the students. If appropriate for the course, I will have the college place a subscription order.

Myra D. Pina
Easton, Pennsylvania

Last
Call

I picked up your magazine at the Joao Gilberto concert and enjoyed it, especially the music pieces. And as I am looking for music fans and fanatics to contribute to a new book, I thought of you. Hopefully the following call for submissions will pique your interest, would love to hear from you and/or yours. All the best, saludos,

Mark Freeman here. If you were one of the people who rashly promised to write a piece for the 101 POP! project, here is your reminder. If this is your first mailing, it is not too late and you are hereby invited to be part of a choice list of 100.

One hundred is the number of contributors I am soliciting for a book on music; more specifically, a personal history of one hundred years of pop music in the Americas. Yes, it's true popular music existed before the current century, but until such breakthroughs as phonograph, radio and MTV, it lacked the opportunity for total pop diffusion. The book will cover the transformation from the days when everyone had a piano in the parlor or at least a gut-bucket or uke on the front porch to our own end-century marvels, but technology will not be its focus.

Instead, I want to highlight personal stories: what a particular song meant to someone; how a certain piece of music changed a life; where we were when such-and-such an album came out; or just what life was like when we sang That Song. As the 101st writer, I will contribute an ongoing narrative that traverses the entire century, including stories of my own. Your contribution would be one of 100 that illustrates a moment that was key for you.

Here's all that's needed. A one-page (up to 500 word) recollection from the history of your experience, connected to one particular piece of music. This could be about the first record you ever bought...or a dream concert you actually attended...or a musing on a song you associate with that certain someone. It can be sent by mail or e-mail.

My own experience includes 20 years writing on culture and politics for national publications such as Village Voice, Sierra Magazine, Christopher Street and Spring: A Journal of Jungian Thought. At home in San Francisco I produced the KALW radio show "Healing Tales," and have done cover features for Bay Times, Bay Area Reporter and the pre-corporate-takeover SF Weekly. I've edited several publications, including an anthology of religious sex stories and an anti-censorship group's `zine "Boy With Arms Akimbo: His Story." As an interviewer, editor and reviewer, I have worked with a wide range of people, writers and non-writers, helping to make each of their voices heard. Any editing I do will be checked with you. I can't promise payment, but will at the very least negotiate publisher's copies for each contributor included.

One amazing thing has already happened: seeing this posting, one national publisher has already called ME to ask if his house can publish the book when it is ready. Made me feel great to know that even unsolicited publishers can already spot this as a good idea.

I'd like your contribution before 15 December. I am looking for a range of material on music from the `Teens and `Twenties (the century's!) and the War Years, as well as folk, punk, glitter, rave and the decades of jazz and soul, country, Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian and all the ethnic music that continue to musically miscegenate within our culture. If you would like to suggest someone else as a contributor, pass this on to your own personal e-mail pals, or suggest an appropriate Usenet site for reaching folks of diverse ages into different musical genres please feel free to.

Mark Freeman, 101 POP! mfreeman@wenet.net or PO Box 77271 San Francisco, Ca. 94107

Mark Freeman
San Francisco, California

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