São Paulo – There are many foreigners in Qatar. Of the 1.4 million inhabitants of the country, less than 300,000 are Qatari. The others are foreigners of several nationalities, being most Indian, Nepali, Afghani and Pakistani, a group that is mostly erecting the buildings that are transforming the landscape of Doha.
Others are Europeans, Americans, Africans and Asians, in the most varied of areas of operation. "Qataris either have their own business or own several houses and live off the rent. Others are civil servants, including Qatari women. Women also have great academic activities, composing the largest part of university students," added Nahes.
The Brazilian community in Doha is relatively expressive. It is currently basically composed of four groups: sports, aviation and oil and gas service professionals. Each professional has his family with him, which results in 600 Brazilians living in Qatar. "Today, the Embassy of Brazil in Doha has great chances of becoming a voting precinct as so many people are enlisting and transferring their voting cards to our jurisdiction," observed Nahes.
The Brazilian community in Doha is accompanying the transformation and the development of the city. "For those who have just arrived the impression is that the city is a true construction site, where bridges and buildings are erected from night to day," stated Giuliana Del Bel, tariff manager at the Information and Communications Technology Authority of Qatar, who has lived in Doha for a year and a half.
According to Giuliana, Doha is a dynamic city in the economic and social point of view. "There is always much business, trade, investment and development activity. This economic dynamism has very positive reflexes on the society, or on a privileged group of foreigners benefited by work contracts for medium or high specialisation. The impression we have is that there is a constant economic good mood," she pointed out.
The feeling of safety in the city is another positive factor pointed out by the Brazilian company. "I have been living here with my two Labradors who came from Brazil with me for a year and I constantly leave the door of my kitchen open so that they may have access to the garden and escape the heat inside the house. I have never had any problem with things being stolen or robberies," she said. "I also take them to swim in the sea in isolated beaches and to run in the desert every weekend and I have never been bothered by a stranger or been threatened in any way for being a woman walking alone in remote areas," she added.
Enio Garcia is a B777 pilot for Qatar Airways and has been living in Doha with his wife and family for three and a half years. "In this period I noticed absurd growth in construction and the traffic in the city is now always jammed. I recently read an article in a local newspaper saying that around 200 cars are licensed a day in Doha," explained Garcia.
The captain only found the work dynamics a little different. "Adaptation to the work was a little hard as the company has a training system that is slightly different from what I knew. Adaptation to the city was simplified by the arrival of many foreigners at the same time. One ends up helping the other," explained the captain.
According to Garcia, his adolescent kids Karen, aged 14, and Caio, aged 13, found the change in school, to one in which only English is spoken, hard. "But that was just in the beginning. Now they are very well adapted," he pointed out.
Caio, who played football for Vasco, in Rio de Janeiro, is already playing for a Qatari team. The fun of youths is basically going to the shopping mall, movies or even to chat with his friends who live in the same condominium as my family, where there are mainly Europeans and South Americans from countries like Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica, and also immigrants from South Africa.
On weekends the family usually participates in barbecues and parties at the homes of friends. "The Arabs love being invited to barbecues," explained Garcia. Car outings on the dunes of the desert are also common.
In Garcia’s evaluation, the effects of the crisis have not yet reached Doha. "I feel the same accelerated rhythm in the building sites and the same intense traffic of the streets," he says.
Another Brazilian who lives with his family in Doha is football coach Flávio de Oliveira, who has a privileged vision of the transformations that took place in recent years. Oliveira lived in Doha from 1989 to 1993, a time in which Valdemar Lemos de Oliveira was a coach in Qatar. At the age of 16 he returned to Brazil where he worked for Flamengo, Fluminense and Santos as a physical preparation assistant, physical preparator and technical assistant. In 2006 came the opportunity of returning to Doha, with his wife Marceli.
"Where I live now there was nothing, it was desert. There was no structure. The ground was earth. The city has grown now. There was just a tiny shopping centre in the place of the shops. Today the city houses five large shopping centres. Everything is very modern and dynamic here," he says.
Oliveira works for Aspire, academy of excellence, in the identification of talent. "I am part of a team that goes to the schools to identify good players from the age of seven. The stars of the academy leave straight to the National Team of Qatar, from the age of 15," he says.
Since his arrival in Doha, his family has grown. In December 2008, Daniel, his first son, was born. "He was born on the seventh and we made use of the opportunity to spend a whole month with the family in Brazil," said the coach. According to Oliveira, his family spends much time with the Brazilian community and promotes meetings every Friday, to play football. "We also go on outings in the desert, go to shopping centres and to restaurants, a very normal life. With Internet and cable TV, it all gets closer and easier," he pointed out.
*Translated by Mark Ament
