Ariel 'Foreign Bureau'

By Sidnei Comenda, Office Manager, Sao Paolo, Brazil, 22 February 2005

I joined the BBC as a clerk in 1983 when I was only 19. The post was based at the British Consulate in Sao Paulo.

Four years later, a bureau was set up – the BBC’s first in Latin America.

This was the result of lobbying by the late Robin Dilks, a distinguished correspondent who worked here from 1986 to 1990. Together, Robin and I rented an office, bought furniture and had telephone and telex lines installed. All of which, in those days, was quite a challenge.

Everyone asks why we’re not based in Rio de Janeiro. There are two reasons. First, Sao Paulo has become the key business city in South America. It’s a place where things get done and has excellent services and communications.

Second, anyone travelling to work in Rio might find themselves distracted by blue sky, breathtaking beaches and a contagiously laid-back way of life. Not ideal for news.

Carnival, samba and football

Sao Paulo is a heaving metropolis, with 18m people and a scary 5m cars. It’s a contradictory place: it has all the problems of a developing world megacity (traffic, pollution, urban violence, shanty towns) yet boasts a rich cultural scene, excellent gastronomy and vibrant nightlife.

Those with money can shop at Dior, Armani, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. The seriously rich beat the traffic by using helicopters.

Since 1988 our bureau has been in the old downtown area. Our office, shared by newsgathering and the BBC Brazilian service, is on the top of a 1929 eight-storey building.

There’s no air-conditioning, so when it soars to 37 degrees we use fans and open the windows. But then we have to compete with the roar of the traffic. These days, the lifts are reliable – but in the past were constantly out of order. You had to go down eight flights of stairs just to buy a coffee.

With Brazil playing an increasingly important role in world affairs, the BBC is taking a growing interest in this country. Everyone knows about carnival, samba and football, but there is more to life here than that.

Termite problems

Nuclear energy, shark attacks, trade negotiations and breast feeding have all been covered in recent stories. At the same time, the Brazilian service is increasingly admired for its website - bbcbrasil.com - and radio broadcasts in Portuguese.

In my 22 years here I’ve graduated from office clerk to office manager, a role which encompasses everything from handling the bureau’s finances to sorting out termite problems in the correspondent’s apartment.

I’ve come to appreciate the sometimes strange ways of the Beeb, such as ‘charge codes’. Often I’m asked to divide the cost of a single story between four or five outlets.

Likewise, there are inequalities between programmes. On filming trips, some spend thousands of pounds on a report, while others struggle to pay for even a basic hotel.

In Brazil, the BBC is greatly respected but thought of as a single organisation. So it can be tricky to comprehend the disparities.

Brazil has its own quirks. There’s always a ‘Brazilian way’ of arranging things. Corruption is common here, but usually you just need to know the right person to speak to.

By gently inducting newcomers, I hope I’ve been able to give something back to the BBC.

See also: bbcbrasil.com

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