Catalyst House

Brazil Highlights: Salvadore Bahia Day One

Highlights from Brazil trip, arrival in Salvadore Bahia, Monday June 25th

salvadore bahia arun gandhiAppaji (Arun Gandhi) was welcomed at the Airport upon arrival with a big greeting from the ‘Filhos de Gandhy’, or  Sons of Gandhi , a non-violent activist group that began 3 decades ago as striking dockworkers and who are most famous for their Carnival street dancing and parades and striking blue and white attire.

As we got off the plane, we were greeted by our translators, they had a team, who went and gathered our luggage for us as the Sons of Gandhi approached with celebratory music and cheers for the Arrival of Appaji!  

Sons of Gandhi welcome arun Gandhi to salvadore bahiaWe were immediately ushered into a room at the airport for a press conference, and Appa began by acknowledging the Sons of Gandhi as family. What a moving moment for the whole room.

Salvador Bahia, one of the oldest cities in all of the Americas, was settled in 1534. It is known as Brazil’s capital of joy and happiness. Salvador is declared a world heritage site by UNESCO.

The architectural landscape, culture, traditions and activities make the city a great tourist destination.  The Carnival in Salvador is the most popular festival of the world (bigger than Rio’s) joining nearly three million people.

That evening we dined Alfredo’s di Roma, arguably Salvadore’s best Italian restaurant, with Emilia Queiroga, executive director of Education in the First Place Forum and Bahia’s Secretary of Education & Culture João Barcelar

Arun Gandhi Dinner at Alfredo's Salvadore Bahia

Alfredo’s has been around since the 1920s. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks honeymooned in Bahia and dined there.  Many photos grace Alfredo’s wall of famous Brazilian and international celebrities, including Pele, JFK, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren, etc.   They wanted Appaji’s photo too, so they brought out a faux plate of pasta for the wall photo… So now his photo will be in this historical restaurant.

… more to come!

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lynnea2 The BoardLynnea Bylund is managing director of Gandhi Legacy Tours, Director of Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, founder of Catalyst House and has nearly three decades of experience in administration, marketing and business development. She was a nationally recognized spokeswoman for the emerging alternative video and information delivery industries. She has a degree in holistic health-nutrition from the legendary and controversial health educator and activist Dr. Kurt Donsbach, she is the founder of two not-for-profit small business-based wireless trade associations and has lobbied on Capitol Hill and at the FCC where she has spoken out strongly against the cable TV monopoly, illegal spectrum warehousing and ill-conceived congressional schemes to auction our nation’s precious airwaves to the highest bidder.

Ms. Bylund is a founder and former CEO of a Washington DC telecommunications consulting and management company with holdings in several operating and developmental wireless communications systems and companies. In 1995 Lynnea became the first female in the world to be awarded a Broadband PCS operating permit – she was one of only 18 winners, along with Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon in the biggest cash auction in world history, raising a whopping $7.7 billion. Lynnea also spear-headed the successful effort to launch the first cable TV network in the South Pacific islands.
> Follow Lynnea on:  +LynneaBylund – Twitter – LinkedIn – FaceBook – Pinterest & YouTube

Arun Gandhi to provide Keynote for Brazilian Education Conference

Mahatma Gandhi Grandson to provide Keynote Address at Brazilian Education Conference

Arun Gandhi to speak at Salvador Bahia Annual Forum: Education in the First Place 

Arun Gandhi Peace Speaker in Brazil

Dr. Arun Gandhi

Dr. Arun Gandhi, noted peace and human rights activist and president of the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute (‘GWEI’) has accepted an invitation introduced by Catalyst House, to provide keynote address from the Brazilian City of Salvador Bahia (Salvador da Bahia) at the City’s annual Education in the First Place Forum, it was announced today by Emilia Queiroga Barros its Executive Director.  Dr. Gandhi’s keynote opening entitled: ‘Education, a Legacy of Love will be given on June 26, 2012 at the Teatro Castro Alves complex.

Arun Gandhi, the fifth grandson of Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, aka Mahatma Gandhi, is an advocate for nonviolence and has been a Washington Post columnist, has worked for 30 years as a journalist for The Times of India, and is the author of several books, including “A Patch of White” (1949) and Legacy of Love (2002). In 2011 Dr. Gandhi provided the keynote address to a gathering of 30,000 attendees at Dali Lama’s birthday event in Washington DC.

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