Exchange

They will make things happen

Angolans from Biocom take part in ETH training program

written by: Guilherme Oliveira
photos by: Sergio Alberti

Pavlov Dias Neto was born in Luanda, Angola, in 1980. A technical course in Farming and Livestock Husbandry got him one of his first work opportunities, but his interest in computers soon led him to work with Information Technology. Little did he know that, years later, as a member of Biocom, an Angolan sugar producer, he would find himself in Brazil – more specifically in Rio Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul – learning to produce ethanol, sugar and electric power at ETH Bioenergy’s Eldorado Unit.

Biocom, whose shareholders include Odebrecht, Sonangol and Damer, is building a factory in Malange Province that is scheduled to go online in the second half of 2010. Pavlov is part of a group of 62 company members who came to Brazil in August to take part in a 1,200-hour training program including theory and practice in the areas of farming, industry and management: “This will be the second sugar factory in Africa and the first in Angola. We have come here to learn how it operates,” he explains. Developed by ETH, the program aims to educate trainees to operate the factory on the basis of processes instead of equipment.

To enable everyone to completely master every step of production, the class has taken a Basics of the Sugar and Ethanol Manufacturing Process course at the SENAI (National Industrial Apprenticeship Service) in Deodápolis, an ETH partner in this program. In addition to learning about the factory’s operations and acquiring the skills they’ll need to help build the facility in Angola, the group will return to their home country in December to share what they have learned in Brazil, explains Wanda Lubaco, 26. “We’re just a small group, and we can’t learn everything in six months of training, but we are all aware that we have to absorb as much as possible so we can teach our coworkers,” says Wanda, a Sugar Manufacturing trainee.

The brief period of study imposes a heavy schedule: four class hours and eight hours of on-the-job training per day from Monday to Saturday. “This course is very well rounded. We aren’t just learning to operate our plant, we’re learning to operate any plant,” says Pavlov. Although the processes are complex, the biggest obstacle the group has to overcome is homesickness. “We couldn’t have had a warmer welcome in Brazil. Brazilians are very cheerful, just like the Angolan people. But everyone here misses their family,” confesses Wanda.

To bring a little of Angola to Brazil, the trainees spend their Sundays making food from back home, such as funge, and dancing semba and kuduro, traditional rhythms in their African country. “In a while, we’ll be homesick for Brazil,” jokes Wanda. Pavlov observes: “We will go back to Angola with full mastery of things that few on our continent know how to do. We will be able to play an active role in our nation’s reconstruction and development. And that is why we are here.”