Back to home base... for a few days

Well, it has been a flurry of activity with little time for rest or updates. After three wonderful days in Venda Nova seeing the beautiful Pedra Azual, giving a Rotary presentation and visiting small family farms (all while expanding our waistlines trying everything from home made cheeses, meats, coffees, and cachaca) we bid our fabulous host family goodbye and made our way back to Vitoria.

It felt like a homecoming of sorts for us to be renunited with our families. We had a busy three days in Vitoria. Our first day back we visited Rotary Club Vitoria Mata da Praia a new club that has only been in existance for 1 year but you would never know it from their warmth and passion for service.

The next day was spend visiting ArcellorMittal steel plant. The company is worldwide and produces the largest percentage of steel in all of Brazil. They have a wonderful company headquarters campus which includes a beautiful green space with ponds and their very own alligator!

After learning the ins and outs of the local steel industry, we headed out to Marca Ambiental, Vitoria´s landfill and recycling center. We saw some very interesting recycling projects including the re-use of plastic bottles into bristles for brooms, clay brick making and the use of shredded coconut shells for soil errosion coverage on hillsides.

The day was topped off with a dinner presentation at the join Rotary Clubs of Praia Jucutuquara and Vitoria-Praia Comprida.

The following day the group had a morning of free time followed by a visit to Acacci - Association Against Child Cancer, a wonderful Non-profit organization that help provides housing and services for familes of children who are recieving cancer treatment at the hospital in Vitoria. Next it was onto Vale Mining company for a informative session on the mining industry.

Friday the team was able to get some sun time on the beach before heading to the Rotary District Conference in Linhares.