São Paulo – Although they are many miles away from their country of origin, Brazilian children living in Lebanon also had a June Party. Alecrim, a group whose aim is to pass Brazilian culture on to children living overseas, organized two June parties in the Arab country, one in Baalbeck, in the Bekaa Valley, on June 25th, and the other in the city of Bar Elias, on July 2nd. In the latter, the party took place alongside with the inauguration of the Alecrim group’s branch in the municipality, which will be coordinated by the Brazilian Jeane Saite Ogushi Abou Nimry, married to the Lebanese Mohamad Abou Nimry.
In the June Parties, it was possible to see a combination of Arab and Brazilian culture, in little girls wearing veils and flowers in their hair, as well as little dots on their cheeks (a Brazilian tradition), for example. Boys with moustaches painted on their face and straw hats spoke to ladies wearing scarves on their heads as they tried to win prizes at the fishing booth.
The party in Bar Elias was held at the Nasser Club and was attended by some 200 people, mostly children. According to the coordinator of the Alecrim group in Lebanon, Roberto Khatlab, the attractions included mock wedding parties, quadrille dance, typical food, little flags and games such as egg-and-spoon race, hoop games, one-legged race, among others. In Baalbeck, the party was also very merry, according to Khatlab. No alcoholic beverages were served, because of the country’s religious customs. “But we had guaraná to make the kids happy,” he said.
The inauguration of the Alecrim group’s branch in Bar Elias was presided over by the Brazilian joint consul general to Beirut, minister Luiz Eduardo Pedroso. Also in attendance were the representative Ahmad El-Wais, representing the mayor of the city, Nagi El-Mais. The representative praised the initiative and claimed that the city is expected to have a football stadium soon as well, considering the large community of Brazilians living there. Children from Alecrim Baalbeck also participated in the party in Bar Elias, brought by the group’s coordinator in the city, Marcela Maria Marques Zein, who was born in the Brazilian state of Piauí and is married to Hassan Zein.
According to Khatlab, aside from Alecrim’s two existing branches in Lebanon, a third should be established soon in the south of the country. “This type of activity is important, because the children keep Brazilian traditions and the Portuguese language, all the while becoming integrated to the society that they live in, because they are enrolled in regular schools in the country,” says Khatlab, highlighting that once or twice a week, the group enables them to meet with the universe of Brazilian children, together with other Brazilian children in the community.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
