A ‘water’ virtual exchange between Armenia and Brazil

Israel-Scaled-unicollaboration
Israel-Scaled-unicollaboration

Brazilian student, Israel Nascimento de Oliveira is from the Centro Paula Souza, where Osvaldo Succi heads up the COIL/Virtual Exchange programme.

This week, he gives us a student perspective on a virtual exchange he undertook on the topic of water.

Israel is 21 years old and studies Mechanisation of Precision Agriculture in an area of Sao Paulo called Pompeia. (Precision agriculture uses satellite position data, remote sensing devices and proximal data gathering technologies. It enables an information-based decision-making approach to farm management, to optimise returns on inputs).

“Pompeia is very small place here in San Paulo,’ he smiles, ‘and not very well known.”

An Exchange on the topic of water – with Armenia!

“Our virtual exchange focused on the lack of water in the northeast region of Brazil, explains Israel. With the Armenian students, we decided our final piece of work would be a presentation on this topic offering some possible solutions to this very serious problem that affects the northeast areas of my country.

To kick start our exchange, we also met with our group and talked about our culture and our languages, traditions and habits. Then, we got down to work to talk about the issue of water and came up with our final presentation by collaborating together.”

Interacting with another culture

Israel admits that before embarking on his virtual exchange he knew basically nothing about Armenia. “I mean, I’d heard of it,’ he smiles, ‘but I had no idea where it was or anything! I didn’t know about the culture, the language, the location, nothing at all!”

Prior to collaborating, the students had a week to get to know each other. “We introduced ourselves and talked about our hobbies, food and culture as well as what we enjoyed doing in our spare time. And we tried to find similarities.

What we found out was that despite our geographical differences, we aren’t so different!

We had a lot in common at the end of the day. Ways to have fun, parties, music, sport. What the Armenian students enjoyed is not so different from here in Brazil including their hobbies.

Even some foods that we like were close……we spoke a lot about this and we found much in common.”

Choosing a topic for the virtual exchange

The Armenian and Brazilian students ended up choosing water as a topic for their exchange. But only in a particular area of Brazil, the northeast of the country.

“Water was not such an issue for the students in Armenia, but we presented our problem to them and they helped us to think about ways to solve it. We suggested solutions by working together so it was really nice for us to be able to tell them about it.  We presented the history of the region and how and why it got to this point.  In this way, we taught them and showed them our side of the issue.

So, they learned about our country and our problem and were happy to be on board to discuss it and help us to find solutions.”

Best bits of the exchange experience

Israel says he really liked the experience of talking in English to students outside of Brazil.

“We are all learning the language, which is another thing we had in common. And so this interaction was the most interesting thing for me…..we could speak and learn and improve our English. We all struggled with explaining ourselves in another language, and for me, interacting with them about our culture and sharing this was really nice.

It was an opportunity to gain confidence in our language ability. In the beginning, I must say, it was a challenge. But as we progressed, it became more enjoyable and I gained confidence in my ability to converse in English. I am much happier about it now and I know I can do it!

Israel explains he had an American friend visiting him in Brazil ahead of this VE, so he was able to practice with him before the exchange took off.

“It really helped lay the groundwork. I was able to talk without fear and embrace the opportunity. Moreover, it prepared me for the virtual exchange.

I say to others thinking about doing a virtual exchange: you will have lovely moments to share experiences, to make new friends, so I say go for it! It’s amazing and you’ll enjoy it for sure. In addition to practicing your language skills, you can also gain knowledge in a new topic. It’s worth it!