Sustainability in Brazil

By Allie Brickner

Human Rights and Unions in the Workplace

By Allie Brickner

My trip to Brazil was not a typical post card tourist vacation. My trip to Brazil was a learning experience of the fight for people and the planet through a socialist lens. In America, just like any other country, our culture has molded our belief system. For example, most Americans would agree that corporations are generally good things because they provide jobs, boost our economy and produce things that we can ultimately consume. What could go wrong?

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The water crisis

By Allie Brickner

Does Brazil even want me to come? It was a bit of a rocky start… Saturday morning before I left I was excited, anxious, happy, nervous and overall emotional. I waited until the last minute to pack and all I could think about was what I had probably forgotten. I only had one connection in Houston then a direct flight from Houston to Sao Paulo, our first destination. The weather was terrible in Houston so they delayed my flight, boarded everyone, deboarded everyone and then boarded everyone again. It was a mess! I met Victoria and Odessa, two other girls joining me on the trip that were on the same flight as me. When we landed in Houston it was pouring down rain and flashes of lighting at all corners of the sky. We circled the airport on the tarmac for an hour because none of the gates were available. The instant we got off the flight Victoria, Odessa and I ran like the wind to try and catch our connection to Sao Paulo. We ran to the gate and the staff yells, “Sao Paulo left! It is gone!”. Suddenly our faces dropped and we stood their speechless. We missed the only flight out to Sao Paulo that night.

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Calm, cool and collective?

By Allie Brickner

When you travel internationally, you prepare and expect to see new things but what you cannot prepare for is how you will change and grow as a person by expanding your horizons and opening your comfort zone to new opportunities.

A couple of months ago I received a gracious scholarship from the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives to take a month abroad in Brazil for a capstone experience. The rollercoaster of emotions that followed the news was enough to make anyone sick. The first emotion I experienced was excitement. I was about to solve sustainability problems in one of the world’s most beautiful countries, my dream come true!

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