Hi everybody!
Today I'm going to talk a little about some differences in our culture.
Families in Brazil are very close. So close that the kids leave home only when they get married. Never mind de age, really. It doesn’t matter if you are 20, 30 or 40 years old.
Sure, some people leave earlier, but usually after college, when they can support themselves financially as they have good jobs with good salaries and can afford a rent or buy their own place, or when the parents are rich and can send their kids to study abroad after they complete high school (very few). Or when they have no choice, like when they find a job that is too far from home, sometimes in another city and it is not worth the time spent in traffic, by the way, this is another hot topic that I will talk about later.
There are many reasons for it and the economy certainly has a share on this. But I believe it is cultural too. I was shocked when I found out way back that kids here in the United States leave their home when they are off to college and mainly because they choose to go to a school in another city or even state.
Another thing is that families take care of their parents when they get old and can’t take care of themselves anymore. Here they go to a retirement home or such. In Brazil that happens too but usually they care for their parents at home, unless there is something that would prevent that to happen, like their job, again, here is the economy talking. If they have money and can afford, they hire a home care companion or in some cases, they send them to nursing homes, which most people would feel guilty about it.
There are many cases when the adult place their parents to a nursing homes maintained by the government because they can’t afford to pay or because they are not emotionally able to take care of them. And there are some cases where they abandon their parents in these places. We call these places “Asilo”. The conditions in these places are as dignified as they can be, as they depend government assistant and many of them rely on donations. It is very sad to see an abandoned elderly in these places, but sometimes, they are better off in a place like this because at least they have other people to talk to, to receive some love and affection from the employees, visitor and volunteers.
Many companies nowadays, are involved in volunteer programs and at least once a year they gather some employees and they go visit these places and bring food, drinks and clothes and most important, give the elderly there some attention that most need. You can see happiness, sadness, wisdom and all kinds of mixed feelings in their eyes. It is wonderful to be able to participate in such events.
Well, that’s all for today. I hope you will enjoy reading this post.
Have a great day! :-)
Today I'm going to talk a little about some differences in our culture.
Families in Brazil are very close. So close that the kids leave home only when they get married. Never mind de age, really. It doesn’t matter if you are 20, 30 or 40 years old.
Sure, some people leave earlier, but usually after college, when they can support themselves financially as they have good jobs with good salaries and can afford a rent or buy their own place, or when the parents are rich and can send their kids to study abroad after they complete high school (very few). Or when they have no choice, like when they find a job that is too far from home, sometimes in another city and it is not worth the time spent in traffic, by the way, this is another hot topic that I will talk about later.
There are many reasons for it and the economy certainly has a share on this. But I believe it is cultural too. I was shocked when I found out way back that kids here in the United States leave their home when they are off to college and mainly because they choose to go to a school in another city or even state.
Another thing is that families take care of their parents when they get old and can’t take care of themselves anymore. Here they go to a retirement home or such. In Brazil that happens too but usually they care for their parents at home, unless there is something that would prevent that to happen, like their job, again, here is the economy talking. If they have money and can afford, they hire a home care companion or in some cases, they send them to nursing homes, which most people would feel guilty about it.
There are many cases when the adult place their parents to a nursing homes maintained by the government because they can’t afford to pay or because they are not emotionally able to take care of them. And there are some cases where they abandon their parents in these places. We call these places “Asilo”. The conditions in these places are as dignified as they can be, as they depend government assistant and many of them rely on donations. It is very sad to see an abandoned elderly in these places, but sometimes, they are better off in a place like this because at least they have other people to talk to, to receive some love and affection from the employees, visitor and volunteers.
Many companies nowadays, are involved in volunteer programs and at least once a year they gather some employees and they go visit these places and bring food, drinks and clothes and most important, give the elderly there some attention that most need. You can see happiness, sadness, wisdom and all kinds of mixed feelings in their eyes. It is wonderful to be able to participate in such events.
Well, that’s all for today. I hope you will enjoy reading this post.
Have a great day! :-)
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