September Update from Goiana

The churches and festival in downtown Goiana

From Yuri

Hello, fellow readers!

Lately I have been absent and silent. Don't think that it's solely my fault, but depression has really affected me these last two weeks. I try to stay well by taking my medications (important to get rid of bad thoughts) and I find myself in a paradox created by the worry that when they run out I won't have any more money to buy them.

But let's get to what really matters here, which is the news about our non-routine everyday life. We are in Goiana, Pernambuco. A small city in the most extreme northwest of Pernambuco. Goiana has around 82 thousand inhabitants, a historic city that is 453 years old and is marked by the gigantic cultivation of sugar cane and the installation of some car assembly plants.

It has beautiful churches from the Brazilian colonial period. I read in an article that, as the city hall does not have enough funds, the residents themselves mobilized and raised money that is being allocated to repairing these churches. Street commerce here is also very important for the city's economic development. This is the first city I've seen where the street market is open 6 days a week and I think it's incredible.

One of the historic church buildings in downtown Goiana

Chet and I arrived here on September 26th, as the day before I had finished my volunteering at Ramon Hostel, in Recife. We were very well received by Sávio, who took us to a friend's house so we could have dinner (IT WAS DELICIOUS!).

The next day we tried to explore the city streets and looked for a place that was a little cheaper for our stay. By changing from a hotel to a guesthouse, we were able to save around 400.00 reais or around 80.00 US dollars. It seems small, but it makes a huge difference in our tight budget.

I finally met Chet's well spoken and appreciated friend, Renato, a person of great intelligence and desire to transform this world into a better place for everyone. We are located in the city center, just a few steps from the street market, which is very practical for us.

We have talked a lot about the uncertainties of the future and what has happened to us in the past. We understand each other better every day. Here at the inn there is a pool table and I discovered that Chet is an excellent calculating player. Chet said that the coffee here isn't as good as mine and that made me very happy on the one hand and apprehensive about drinking the coffee here.

Every day, a different adventure, different feelings, few certainties and infinite uncertainties. No one can predict the end of this story. We know what we want and we are moving towards achieving our goals of helping as many people as we can. Now I understand the real meaning of the word Missionary.

Dear readers, don't forget to subscribe and share our stories. Donations are also very welcome, no matter the amount, but do it from the heart.

May Jesus always be with you. To the next.

From Chet

We have been pretty busy. Learning more about the community here in Goiana is part of what we are working on. It has been great having Yuri help learn more about the community. He refers to himself as my security, as he is always watching out for me.

The other night, the community had a festival downtown, just a few blocks from where we are staying. The was a concert, some carnival rides, and lots of food vendors. It reminded me of the fall festival from Palmyra, just a little smaller. We went out that afternoon to see one of the churches, and explore the downtown square. They were setting up for something. An older gentleman was setting nearby so Yuri struck up a conversation with him. He explained about the concert later that night. Festivities would start around 10pm. I laughed and told Yuri, that after so much time in Brazil I have gotten used to the fact that things are just starting at 10pm here. In the US, most events finish around 10pm. We went back to the hotel for a few hours and returned later. I love to see the community events like this.

As I have gotten to know Yuri, I have found him to be happy to jump in and help any way he can. The last few days we were in Recife, he had spent repairing both showers, a door lock, and a fan at the hostel. While at the fair, we stopped by one of the vendors to buy a cold drink. The man was clearly overwhelmed. Since we had bought a drink earlier, he told Yuri to help himself, and send the money as before. Someone walked up wanting a drink. For the next 45 minutes, Yuri helped sell drinks, while the man worked through his queue of people buying food.

Yuri helping sell drinks at the festival

Along with learning more about the needs here in Goiana, we have several online projects we are working on. Someone recently hired our tech team to research training a computer to smell. Yes, there is a gas analyzer that enables a computer to detect specific odors. A friend wants to build a detector to sniff out a specific type of thing in the environment. We will be having some of the children in the communities we work with help with testing out this system. It will give these children an opportunity to explore what they can do with the computers, and learn a little bit about AI training in the process. That is the kind of projects were are doing through our Unswivel technology service. These technology projects help us teach real-world skills to people in poor communities.

Update - Feb 2025

The computer smell project has led to interest in building a data analysis lab in Goiana. Check my website for details about the Goiana lab project.

Fundraising Update

Hiring us or purchasing our products as mentioned above help a lot, but several people have been asking how they can donate to help. Since we have several community projects we are working on, you can give through my donation link. Please pray about what you can give to help us out with these projects.