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March 11th, 2009

   

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Iran: No Cake for Iranian Women on their Day

aliyeh-cart Although the Iranian government does not recognize the International Women's Day and has banned women activists from organizing gatherings and demonstrations to commemorate the day for the previous 30 years, Iranian bloggers and women activists remembered the 8th of March, honouring women in Iran and the rest of the world.

Several blogs and sites such as we-change and feminist school paid tribute to Aliyeh Eghdam Doust, a jailed woman activist.

Aliyeh Eghdam Doust is among those who were arrested on June 12, 2006, during a peaceful assembly in Tehran and handed a three year prison sentence. Women movement activists are working hard to ensure her release.

Rahavard Association, an Iranian cultural centre in Germany, has published the postcard above for Aliyeh which reads: Happy Women's Day to you and all the Iranian imprisoned women.

Siprisk, an Iranian blogger, says[fa] we should take into consideration several “facts” about women in his country. He says Iranian women are oppressed by the “state, their family, schools and universities, religion and tradition.”

We-change informs[fa] us that security forces did not allow Iranian women hold a meeting in Tehran on March 8 and even seized the cake seen below that women had prepared to celebrate the International Women's Day.

cake

Daeemohsen published [fa] a post which he claims was written by a group of bloggers. This post says that women in Iran have been marginalised by the Iranian state, which he urges to respect women's rights in accordance to the international conventions that Iran had signed.

Eshterak has published a poster for 8th of March that invites women to talk about their issues because silence=death!

Dominican Republic: Upset at World Baseball Classic by Dutch Team

The 2nd edition of the World Baseball Classic is underway in 4 sites across the globe. This international baseball tournament features Major League baseball players representing traditional baseball powers like the United States, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. This year, the team from the Dominican Republic was one of the favorites to take home the championship and whose roster was filled with professional All-Star talent.

Photo of Dominican slugger David Ortiz taken by James W Carras and used with permission. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsnlaud/

Photo of Dominican slugger David Ortiz taken by James W Carras and used with permission. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsnlaud/

The tournament also features countries with less tradition playing this sport, such as the Netherlands. Tapping into other territories like Aruba, Netherlands Antilles and Curaçao, the squad featured only one current Major Leaguer, several others who are no longer playing, and other younger players with little experience.

It had all the makings of a lopsided mismatch. However, the Dutch team pulled off a 3-2 upset in their first meeting. In a game that was crucial for the Dominican team to remain alive in the tournament, the Dutch team squeaked out a come-from-behind victory to eliminate the Dominican team from the tournament and leaving their fans stunned in the process. Twitter user Trompeta sums up the mood across the country:

Me imagino que toa la bandera dominicana tan a medio palo hoy…

I imagine that they'll have the Dominican flag at half-staff…

Joan Guerrero of Duarte 101 [es] reported on the scene on the street during the highly anticipated game:

Perdimos. No somos dignos de decir comentarios sobre este Clásico Mundial que, desde el principio, se encontraron todas las debilidades del mundo para que nuestro equipo pasara al menos, su tercer y último juego, en una derrota que le está doliendo a más de 10 millones de dominicanos en estos momentos. Sin embargo, los colmadones —sin importar la crisis— estuvieron repletos de fanáticos a la espera de que el equipo dominicano hiciera su mejor esfuerzo.

We lost. We're not worthy of commenting on this World Classic where, from the beginning, all of our team's weaknesses were shown in the third and final game, a loss that is hurting more than 10 million Dominicans right now. However, the bars and restaurants - no importance to the (economic) crisis - were filled with fans hoping that the Dominican team would put forth their best effort.

However, the result was the least expected by the Dominican fans and they are left to wait for the next edition of the World Baseball Classic or even try another sport altogether.

Como decía una amistad, durante la noche de hoy: «mejor nos pongamos a jugar fútbol, de ahora en adelante. A ver si les ganamos a los holandeses»

Like a friend said to me tonight: «it's best that we start to play football, from now on. Let's see if we can beat the Dutch»

Some bloggers and baseball fans also analyzed why their team lost in this fashion. Luis Corcino of Dominicana en el Mundo [es] sees a big difference in the motivation of the two sides:

Para un jugador dominicano, jugar en este encuentro no les aporta nada en terminos económicos, excepto el amor a la patria, encima de eso se consideraron superiores; los holandeses por su lado, querian demostrar que podian con un rival como el domincano, se armaron de valor y ahi esta el resultado.

Los holandeses estaban mas motivados!!

For a Dominican player, to play in this tournament does not provide anything in economic terms, except for their love of country, on top of that they thought they were superior; the Dutch, wanted to show that they can play against a rival like the Dominican team, they were armed with courage and you see the result.

The Dutch were more motivated!!

The next round of the World Baseball Classic continues with 8 teams that have qualified from their group.

Pakistan: Live Coverage Of The Long March

A section of the Pakistani Lawyers and political activists have finished all their preparations for the scheduled Long March and sit in protest to reinstate the deposed judges. The Long March will begin simultaneously from different cities on March 12 and reach capital Islamabad on March 16. Tensions are running high in Pakistan because the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and chief of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have supported this and his party will actively participate in the protests. Recently a Supreme Court verdict had disqualified Mr. Sharif and his brothers from contesting the general elections that had already elected them. The verdict is alleged as part of a power game by the President Asif Ali Zardari to keep Mr. Sharif under pressure.

CHUP! - Changing Up Pakistan reports that ahead of the long march, crackdown on opposition activists and lawyers have started:

Media outlets reported that Pakistani police launched a crackdown on Wednesday, arresting dozens of opposition activists and lawyers and forbidding demonstrations on the eve of the Long March. [..]

Section 144, banning protests and marches, was imposed in Punjab and Sindh for three days and 15 days effectively.

Last Monday, Zardari issued a decree to establish mobile courts that could adjudicate on minor offenses on the spot. [..] Opposition parties, not surprisingly, promptly condemned the decree, saying the mobile courts would instead be used to target activists and lawyers during the Long March.

Given today’s developments, expect to see a lot more support for the opposition and the Long March, not just from lawyers and opposition activists, but from people who are unhappy with the country’s direction under Zardari and the deteriorating economic, political and security situations.

Ali Yar Khan at The Pakistani spectator writes:

No matter how much lies, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari of People’s Party tell us and no matter how much atrocities are showered on the lawyers, political workers, and civil society, the Long March is to happen and it is going to happen. Caravans are ready to depart for Islamabad. People from every walk of the life are in this long march and they all are ready to perform Dharna on the constitution avenue.

Punjab Home Secretary Rao Iftikhar Ahmed has said that rangers have been called in from various cities of Punjab. However, army could also be called in if need arises. Rehman Malik is also threatening the people about the terrorism during the long march, but already who is safe from terrorist and these political terrorists who are holding the whole nation hostage and who are dancing to the tunes of forces of darkness.

Long March 2009 live updates can be monitored here via Teeth Maestro:

Live Coverage - http://cli.gs/LongMarch

Monitor on your GPRS enabled cell phone - http://cli.gs/LongMarchCell

Blog - March For Justice!

Pictures / SMS / MMS / Emails displayed in - http://longmarch.seenreport.com

For live pictures and videos through mobiles MMS it to longmarch@seenreport.com or longmarch.cityname@seenreport.com

SMS UPDATES to 0332-4797546 in the format “longmarch your message”

Twitter: - http://twitter.com/LongMarch or Follow twitter Hashtag at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=LongMarch

Madagascar: Is military rule next?

News of a mutiny at one of Antananarivo's most important barracks stunned Madagascar yesterday. The mutiny has since spread to other barracks and Madagascar's Defence Minister, Vice-Admiral Mamy Ranaivoniarivo, has resigned.

Ranaivoniarivo was appointed to the post only a few weeks ago, after Cecile Manorohanta resigned following the bloodshed of February 7th, when opposition protesters led by Andry TGV Rajoelina attempted to march on a Presidential palace, and were fired upon by the Presidential Guard. (more…)

International Women's Day in Tunisian Blogs

Tunisia celebrates its National Day for Women on August 13. Calls are now being echoed in the blogosphere to join international women in their celebration and mark the day with the rest of the world on March 8.

The August 13 date marks the day the Code of Personal Status was enacted by former President Habib Bourguiba in 1956 - a milestone piece of legislation which abolished polygamy, instituted legal divorce and set the minimum age for marriage at 17 for women. To see this, we think that Tunisian women are privileged and benefit fully from her rights and freedom. However, everyday life is different. Some bloggers talked about this fact on the International Women’s Day.

Blogger Abu Nadhem proposed to combine the two days in one day and thus integrate the women’s movement in Tunisia with the international one. Indeed, he says in the blog Ya tounes :

واليوم على مشارف القرن 21 و تونس تعتبر سباقة عربيا في الاعتراف بحقوق المراة بوضع مجلة الاحوال الشخصية فإن الزعيم بورقيبة اختار مع ذلك يوم 13 اوت يوما وطنيا للمراة ولا نعلم مع ذلك سبب تجاهل 8 مارس ؟؟؟ فهل ان الاوان للاعتراف ب 8 مارس يوما وطنيا ودوليا للمراة ؟؟بجعل المراة التونسية جزءا من الحركة النسوية العالمية ؟؟؟؟؟؟

Today, in the 21st century, Tunisia is considered as the pioneering Arab country in the recognition of the women’s rights through its Code of Personal Status. The former president Bourguiba chose August 13 as the national day of women, however, we do not know the reason for ignoring the March 8th International Women’s Day??? When will we recognize March 8th as both a national and international day so that Tunisian women will be part of the global women's movement ??????

As this year's International Day of Women's coincided with Prophet Mohammed's birthday, a popular celebration in the Tunisian calendar, some bloggers linked two occasions in their posts. Neji khachnaoui, for instance, wrote the following:

مرحى لنا بالقيروان عاصمة اسلامية وليست عاصمة للثقافة الاسلامية
مرحى لنا بشيخ يفتي ان المرأة سنة 2009 تُطلق بلسان رجلها
مرحى لنا بمجلة الأحول الشخصية تتقهقر أرضا
مرحى لنا ببلاد نصفها رجال والنصف الآخر ذكور
مرحى لنا بنساء يحتفلن بيوم حريتهن بالعصيدة والزقوقو
مرحى لنا بهذه الشيزوفرينا المؤسسة لجمهورية الغد
Let’s congratulate ourselves now that Kairouan has been announced as an Islamic capital instead of a capital for Islamic culture.
Let’s be happy with a Sheikh [clergyman] has annpunced in 2009 that a man can divorce his wife just by telling her: “I divorce you.”
Let’s be happy with the Code of Personal Status further disintegrating, day after day.
Let’s be happy with a country whose population is half male, and the remaining half is also male.
Let’s be happy with women celebrating their freedom day by preparing Assida [Tunisians celebrate Prophet's birthday by cooking Assida zgougou, a local delicacy].
Let’s be happy with this schizophrenia that we will use to establish tomorrow’s republic.

As usual, blogger Tunisian debate http://debatunisie.canalblog.com/ choose caricatures to express his opinions and he linked this occasion to both Ammar 404, the symbol of censorship in Tunisia and the prophet’s birthday, and here are the pictures:

Caricature 1

Caricature 2

عمار ايجى ذوق العصيدة
Ammar come taste the Assida

What is striking is that the majority of bloggers who blogged about women’s day are men, with only two women blogging about this occasion. l’As Number One wrote in Tunisian dialect saying:

نبهت في التناقض الكبير بين افكار مواليد الاربعينات و الخمسينات و بين أفكار جيلي. اذا كانو الاولانين يعتبرو اللي عمل و دراسة المرأة حاجات اساسيّة يضمنو كرامةالمرا.
نحب نقول اللي الاكثريّة متاع شبابنا (ذكور و اناث)، ماهوش واعي بقيمة مجلة الاحوال الشخصية. و فمّا حتّى شكون يستنكرها ويطالب بالرجوع للوراء (الرجوع للأصل فضيلة)
الغريبة الكبيرة كيف تجيك ملاحظة كيف هاذي من عند فتاة و فتاة قارية الي أكبر طموحها تاخو راجل لاباس عليه باش اتشد الدار و هو يصرف عليها

I am alarmed by the great discrepancy between the mentality of people born in the forties and fifties and that of my generation.The first group see women’s education and work as essential components to guarantee women’s dignity. But I want to say that the majority of our youth (men and women alike) are not aware of the value of the Code of the Personal Status. Some of them denounce it and ask us to go backwards (going back to the roots is a virtue). What is flabbergasting is that such calls come from young educated women, whose greatest ambition is marrying a rich man and staying at home, while he spends on her.

Japan, Brazil: Crisis puts an end to the dream of a better lifePhotos post

It is estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 Brazilian immigrants in Japan have made or are planning to make the journey back across the sea. Most of these workers are young Brazilains of Japanese descent who moved to Japan in search of a better life. The majority of them used to be able to find temporary employment working in the auto and electronics factories, which have been deeply affected by the crisis – the worst since the World War II.

According to the Bank of Brazil in Japan, there have been 25,000 change of address requests from Japan to Brazil since October 2008. This shows an inversion of the trend that had started around 30 years ago, when Japan experienced an economic boom and the Brazilian economy, on the other hand, was in recession. As the Japanese economy has been shrinking at its fastest pace in about 35 years, Bah [pt] says, 2008 “was the year that Brazil became the new Japan for many Brazilians”.

Igaum [pt] blog, whose pictures of a protest in Nagoya demanding better working rights, jobs and more support from the Japanese government for foreign workers illustrate this piece, witnesses the end of the dream of getting a better life for a whole generation:

Muitos dos trabalhadores demitidos conquistaram bens aqui, pois não planejavam voltar tão cedo, porém, com a atual situação muitos estão deixando tudo para trás e voltando para a terra natal, o que se vê é a frustração de muitos que vieram em busca de um sonho que obrigatóriamente foi interrompido, não só os que estão desempregados até mesmo os que ainda estão trabalhando já estão de malas prontas para voltar, para não saírem mais frustrados do Japão.

Many of the dismissed workers had bought goods here, because they didn't plan to return home soon, but with the current situation many of them are leaving everything behind and returning to their homelands. What you see is the frustration of many who came here in search of a dream that has been compulsorily interrupted. Not only those who became unemployed, even those who are still working have their bags ready to return, so that they don't get even more frustrated in Japan.

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According to the organizers, there were 1,500 people protesting in Nagoya on February the 1st. Photo by Igaum, used with permission.

This is exactly what happened to Bah [pt]. After 4 years living in Japan and visiting Brazil for holidays, she and her husband arrived for good in São Paulo this March the 8th, sharing an airplane packed full of Brazilians, all of them laid off recently. Unlike her fellow travellers, they were both still employed but decided to resign because the crisis affected their working conditions: they would have had to accept to work less hours and earn less, with no paid holidays [pt] if they wanted to keep their jobs in a factory. She says she has learnt a lot about life living in Japan, but feels good about going back home:

Se eu estou feliz? Muito.
Nao sei o que vai ser daqui pra frente, temos mil coisas pra resolver agora, mas de uma coisa eu tenho certeza: quando resolvi escutar meu coracao pra saber o que seria melhor fazer, eu escolhi o caminho certo.

If I am happy? A lot.
I don't know what will happen from now on, we have a thousand of issues to sort out right now, but I am sure of one thing: when I decided to listen to my heart to know what was the best thing to do, I chose the right path.

30-year-old Elaine [pt], living in Japan for 14 years, lost her job at the end of February but still hopes to be able to find another one and stay in Japan. On March the 9th, in a post called “Surviving”, she says that there are no signs that the economy is getting any better. She feels lucky to still have a home and food, as she is living with her still employed friends:

A crise não dá sinais de melhora e com isso existem mtos brasileiros que aqui residiam e que já regressaram ao Brasil,os que ficaram,como eu,estamos tentando sobreviver nessa crise brava que afetou o Japão,quase todos os dias eu vejo nas notícias do Japão alguns brasileiros que vivem nas ruas, que não tem nem o que comer e outros que vivem em abrigos públicos,contando com os donativos de pessoas solidárias.

The crisis shows no signs of improving and because of this there are many Brazilians who used to live here and have returned to Brazil. The ones who stayed, like me, are trying to survive this mad crisis that affects Japan, almost every day I watch the Japanese news reporting on Brazilians living on the streets, people who have nothing to eat and others who live in public shelters, relying on the donations of kind people.

Renata Shimura [pt] received her notice in December, worked until mid-January and has started the job hunt. She shares her experience in the Employment Service Center for Foreigners, known as Hello Work, to apply for the job seekers allowance. There were around 100 people in the meeting she attended, all of them foreigners, mostly Peruvian and Brazilian. She explains the system:

Existe uma data chamada “Data de Verificação” na qual a pessoa deve comparecer ao Hello Work onde está cadastrado para informar se conseguiu um novo emprego e se está se empenhando na busca do mesmo. Essa data de repete no mínimo uma vez ao mês. Eles enfatizaram que o pagamento do seguro somente é liberado para aqueles que realmente se empenham neste processo. Nesses período de três meses de recebimento do seguro desemprego terei de ir no mínimo mais três vezes na Hello Work e terei de pesquisar/consultar vagas de emprego lá, senão pode ser que não liberem o pagamento do seguro. E essas consultas de vaga de emprego envolvem esperar um tempão pra ser atendido pelo funcionário que faz a consulta no computador, uma vez que os Hello Works do Japão andam lotados de gente devido a crise que passamos aqui. O jeito é rezar para conseguir um novo emprego logo e que também ocorra tudo bem nesse processo do Seguro Desemprego.

There is a day called “Checks Day” in which you must attend the Hello Work in which you are registered to let them know whether you have a new job and to show you have been working diligently at finding one. This day repeats at least once a month. They emphasize that the allowance payment is only released for those who actually engage themselves in this process. In this three months period I will be receiving job seekers allowance, I have to go to Hello Work at least three times and perform a search/view of job vacancies there, otherwise they may not release the payment. And these consultations involve a long wait to be attended to by the official who makes the query on the computer, since the Hello Works in Japan have been crowded with people because of the crisis that we face here. Now it is time to pray to find a new job soon and that everything goes well in this period when I need the allowance.

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Photo by Igaum, used with permission.

Kurati [pt] has been visiting Hello Work offices in different provinces, and has noticed that he didn't see any Brazilians around last time. He wonders if it was because there were no interpreters on that particular day, or if most Brazilians have already given up. He feels there are opportunities, if people look for them – so far he has found some odd jobs. He asks: is it all media sensationalism?

A agência não estava lotada,e fui atendido em 20 minutos.Trabalho em fábrica ainda existe,mas como havia dito antes,não querem nem saber de estrangeiros.Pedi uma verificação em tudo quanto é trabalho que aceita estrangeiros e apareceram 29 vagas para a província inteira, a maioria na área de construção civil e na área de serviços (asilos).Pedi umas fichas e recebi uma listagem de vagas na região ,que estou analisando agora.Se alguma me interessar ,volto lá amanhã e peço uma carta de apresentação.
A mídia japonesa não tem fartura de notícias(diferente do Brasil,onde temos vários homícidios por semana),por isso faz um sensacionalismo danado com a crise.Ficam mostrando um monte de japoneses morando nas ruas,perdendo emprego,chorando ,enquanto isso na agência pública de empregos,existem centenas de vagas sobrando.São vagas que estão ali faz tempo,mas ao que parece os japoneses não estão muito afim de trabalhar,e ainda esnobam,enquanto os estrangeiros imploram por uma chance.A tv mostra uma coisa e o mundo real mostra outra.This sucks!!!!!

The office was not crowded, and I was seen within 20 minutes. There are still factory jobs, but like I said before, they do not to want foreigners at all. I asked for a search on all jobs open to foreigners and there were 29 vacancies for the whole province, most of them in the building and services (homes) fields. I asked some for forms and got a list of jobs in the area, I am looking into them now. I fancy any of them, I'll go back tomorrow and ask for a letter of introduction.
The Japanese media hasn't got many news worthy issues (unlike Brazil, where we have so many murders per week), so they make a darn sensationalism of the crisis. They keep showing a lot of Japanese people living on the streets, losing jobs, crying, while the public recruiting agency has hundreds of places available. These are vacancies that have been there for a long time, but it seems the Japanese people are not so much into working [in these jobs] and are also snobbish, while foreigners are begging for a chance. The TV shows something and the real world shows another. This sucks!!!!!

Igaum [pt] shares on his blog one of these stories that have been on the news. It is about a 36 year old Brazilian who lost his job 6 months ago and with no money to pay his rent, has been living on the streets of Hamamatsu, in the Shizuoka province. Yet, he would not go back home:

O inicio da reportagem mostra como como Pereira passa seus dias, revirando o lixo em busca de latas, sucatas e materiais que podem ser vendido nos centros de reciclagem, o brasileiro vai com sua bicicleta cheia de lixo até um desses centros de reciclagem vender o material recolhido e consegue 350 ienes (aproximadamente 3 dólares). Em vez de usar para comer, ele vai guardando o dinheiro até juntar o mínimo para poder enviar para sua esposa e seus filhos no Brasil.

Vendo a dura situação de Pereira e o esforço dele para sobreviver, um japonês cedeu um apartamento para ele morar e eventualmente recebe doações de comida, uma ONG as vezes o ajuda também doando alguns alimentos, mas, na falta dessas doações ele sobrevive com o que acha no lixo para se alimentar, Pereira se diz muito agradecido pela ajuda e afirma amar o Japão.

A reportagem termina com Pereira ligando para a família no dia 1º de Janeiro, sua esposa indaga o porque ele não volta ao Brasil, Pereira se diz determinado em continuar sua vida aqui no Japão, pois acha que no Brasil não terá nenhuma oportunidade de emprego, e equanto a situação não melhora ele acha mais viável continuar cantando sucatas e guardando o dinheiro para enviar ao Brasil.

The beginning of the story shows what Pereira's days are like, searching the rubbish bins for cans and scrap that can be sold to recycling centres. The Brazilian cycles with his bike full of garbage to one of these recycling centres to sell the material he collected and makes 350 yen (about $ 3). Instead of buying food, he saves the money until he has the minimum amount to send it for his wife and their children in Brazil. Seeing the harsh situation of Pereira and his effort to survive, a Japanese guy has given him an apartment to live in and eventually he has received donations of food from an NGO but when he doesn't get anything, he survives on food he finds in the rubbish. Pereira says he is very grateful for the help and loves Japan.

The report finishes with Pereira calling his family on January the 1st, his wife asks why he doesn't come back to Brazil, Pereira says he is determined to carry on his life in Japan because he thinks that in Brazil he will have no job opportunities, and while the situation isn't improving he thinks it more feasible to look for scrap and save money to send it to Brazil.

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Photo by Igaum, used with permission.

Job vacancies at the recruiting agency plummeted nearly 60 percent in February from a year earlier and it has been increasingly difficult even for Japanese people to find employment opportunities. Brazilians, most of them previously working in factories that employed a good deal of foreigners, are not able to compete in the remaining job market when the language barrier is an issue, now they dispute vacancies with locals. No Japão [In Japan, pt] blog says that most Brazilians don't even learn the basic spoken language, and thus are not able to communicate properly, let alone hunt for jobs in other sectors. He stresses how important learning the language is to be fully integrated in a different society:

Mas uma parte dos brasileiros infelizmente não pensa da mesma maneira, já ouvi opiniões como “pra que vou aprender japonês se vou voltar ao Brasil?”, é uma triste realidade, a imperícia de se lidar com uma cultura totalmente diferente da nossa, pode levar à mal-entendidos que prejudicam a imagem da comunidade brasileira como um todo, o gesto de alguns torna-se o gesto de todos aos olhos dos japoneses, por isso a adaptação à lingua e à cultura, hoje são coisas que podem fazer a diferença entre estar empregado ou não.

Fica difícil de se encontrar um emprego se não consegue compreender o que o empregador está falando, a imagem fica totalmente prejudicada, e do lado do empregador, como confiar em uma pessoa que não entende o que ele fala? essa pessoa vai conseguir realizar o trabalho que lhe for designado? São perguntas que me ocorrem quando penso sobre o assunto.

Aqui onde moro tenho visto várias reportagens na TV sobre os brasileiros começando a aprender japonês, numa tentativa de encontrar uma colocação no mercado de trabalho, um gesto louvável, mas os frutos desse esforço demoram um pouco para aparecer, e nem todos tem esse tempo para esperar.

But unfortunately a great deal of the Brazilians do not think the same way, I have heard people saying things like “why should I learn Japanese if I'll go back to Brazil?”. It is a sad reality, the lack of skill to deal with a totally different culture to ours can lead to misunderstandings that undermine the image of the Brazilian community as a whole, the way some behave becomes the way everyone behaves in the eyes of the Japanese society, so adjustment to language and culture today are factors that can make the difference between being employed or not.

It is difficult to find a job if you can not understand what your employer is saying, your image is totally damaged, and putting yourself in the employers' shoes, how can they trust a person who does not understand what they say? Will that person manage to do the work he/she was assigned? These are questions that occur to me when I think about it.

Here, where I live, I have seen several news items on TV about Brazilians who have started to learn Japanese in an attempt to find a placement in the labour market, a commendable gesture, but the fruits of this effort do take a while to appear, and not everyone has the time to wait for them.

To help those who have decided to stay or those who are stuck in Japan because they cannot afford the air plane ticket to Brazil, a brand new blog is at hand: Superando a Crise [Overcoming the Crisis, pt] started this March. Silvio Y. Nakano, who lives in Aichi with his family, explains he decided to start the blog because he felt broken-hearted at seeing so many families breaking up because of the crisis, and this is his way to help those who are trying to stay in Japan. The blog aims to gather information about the crisis and provide tips on how to overcome it, posting jobs open to Brazilians and tips on how to save money. The blogger has a very optimistic view:

I am truly confidant that this crisis will pass, not all of a sudden of course, but little by little and those who are prepared when the economy is normal again, will be the big winners.
So let's take this opportunity to learn, undergo courses, devote a little bit more time to our careers, whenever possible, I will be posting information about it, and I hope you will comment and leave your opinions, which will be very valuable to me, you can be sure

I am truly confidant that this crisis will go, not out of a sudden of course, but little by little and those who are prepared when the economy is normal again, will be the big winners.
So let's take this opportunity to learn, undergo courses, devote a little bit more to our careers, whenever possible, I will be posting information about it, and I hope you will comment and leave your opinion, which will be very valuable to me, you can be sure.

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Photo by Igaum, used with permission.

There are approximately 275,000 Brazilian Dekasegis in Japan and some of the biggest communities are concentrated in Shizuoka, Aichi, Hamamatsu and Mie. The ties between the two countries began 100 years ago, when the first Japanese families arrived in Brazil.

Japanese language co-editor Scilla Alecci has collaborated with this piece.