These are our Finnish exchange students, which arrived in Brazil three weeks ago.

During our arrival orientation on March 2nd we were talking about Coronavirus and some precautions, but we could not predict how the facts would evolve so rapidly after that.

Now sadly all of them have already left. They anticipated their return, afraid of border closures in Europe as well as the actual scenario of preventive social distancing in Brazil. 

I still remember the day I heard the story about Cultural Exchange. How it became popular after the Second World War, when the Red Cross used to assist the wounded regardless of nationality. At that time, they realized that all of them had the same goal, they wanted the war to be over. They wanted to return to their families and live in peace. 

By the time the war was over, multiple organizations around the world started to work to promote youth exchanges.

The main goal of Cultural exchange is to promote world peace. To bring together people from different cultures, languages, habits and religions. To give them the opportunity to live and understand that we do have a lot of differences, but we do have so much in common.

We all seek for happiness, each one using its own strategy. We all want to avoid suffering, each one dealing with its own reality.

This has been our mission for the past 10 years. At Brazilian Experience we believe that by experiencing these differences we can co-create a better world. A world with more respect, understanding, compassion. We pride ourselves for building meaningful connections for people and organizations around the world.

And then Covid-19 suddenly arrived. At a speed that has been challenging us all. To preserve peoples’ health, the distances that we work so hard to diminish had to be increased again. The moment requires interrupting international mobility and promoting social distance. 

And I found myself reflecting: how can we continue to do what we believe? How can we experience how much we have in common?

This is a moment when, around the world, many of us are isolated, avoiding contact with others to flatten the pandemic curve.

Have you realized how much we have in common NOW with people from all over the world? 

How are you dealing with it? How are you feeling about it? How can we support each other? What do we need to overcome this moment?

We want to hear from you. We want to share experiences.

We want to continue to do what we love: Exchange cultural differences and find out our similarities.

Let’s chat about it?

Rafaela Rolim

Brazilian Experience CEO

If you are interested in joining us 

Thursday, March 26, 4:00 PM BRT (GMT-3)

Connect on Zoom through this link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/375637642

Or using the Meeting ID:

375 637 642

Share with your friends, let’s activate our Global Community!