South African Children Get Rare Treat At Brazil Exhibition
- Brazil experience
By Novell Zwangendaba – Over 600 South African school children received a sensational world treat at the Brazillion pavilion in Sandton yesterday. The Casa Brazil Experience taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre, in conjunction with a proudly South Africa initiative Conquest for Life as well as the Gauteng Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture have invited youths from various parts of the Gauteng Province to take part at the exhibition which continues to attract visitors from across the world.
The exhibition which runs till 11 July is offering guided tours to groups of school going children where they can enjoy Brazilian culture, music, multimedia presentations, literature, robotic games, new sensorial 3D 4K films, as well as the exotic South American cuisine.
The children learnt about the various cities to host the FIFA World Cup 2014 games in Brazil. The cities exhibiting include Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Cuimba, Rio De Janeiro, and Recipe.
“How do you call Brazillian currency,” asked Nkosinathi Manana, a grade 12 pupil from Riverside School in Vereeniging.
“How does the Brazilian University system work,” he kept enquiring.
The excitement grew bigger as the children toured various cubes hosting different Brazilian cities. “Is the Amazon in this city Cuimba?” asked one. ” How big is the cocoa fruit?” asked another kid.
Creative industries, design and fashion, extensive infrastructures, eco-tourism, adventure, sustainable energy and farming were some of the key lesson the youths learnt from the Brazillian exhibitions.
Apart from grasping a few Portuguese words, admiring the ethnic arts and crafts they were further enthralled by the historic exhibition of Brazil’s stories of the World Cup which showcased various football replicas and accolades, and valuable antiques including the original FIFA World Cup 1958 Camisa Vava shirt, the original 2002 Ronaldo number 9 jersey, as well as the original Brazil World Cup trophy, the only one ever given to a winning team by the football governing body FIFA.
“We have got kids from various schools in the townships. This is truly a very captivating experience, the kids have learnt so much today. And maybe from Learning more about the Brazil culture, maybe this might change their mindsets as the grow,” said Mr Kaizer Msimanga a teacher from Esokwazi High School.
The Casa Brazil Space was developed by partners of the Federal Government and the private initiative, the is a project aimed at introducing to the world during the South Africa World Cup – a new concept of Brazil. The idea is to show the enormity of Brazil a country of continental dimensions and huge tourism diversity.
Director of Projects, Valeria Dias, said that the initiative seeks to build a bridge between World Cup 2010 and the 2014 edition to be held in Brazil. “Basically its a cultural exchange and we are this opportunity to the children. This is basically our social project together with the province of Gauteng.”
“The relationship between Brazil and South Africa is growing stronger, and we would like to give something from us a chance,” she said.
“We are on the 14th day and we have received all the people from around the world are visiting.”
Located at the Sandton Convention Centre – the biggest trading centre in the city of Johannesburg, in South Africa, the Casa Brasil Space is open everyday to the public from 14:00 to 18:00 – except for days of Brazil’s matches – and from 19:00 to 24:00 to events exclusive to guests.
