My Thick Accent

From Brazil to Africa: A Radical Reimagining of Purpose | Ft. Rafael Rodrigues Ep. 068 [Part 1]

• Gurasis Singh

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What happens when success doesn’t feel like success? 

In this powerful episode, we meet Rafael, a Brazilian changemaker who walked away from a traditional path to pursue humanitarian work in Africa. Raised in the harsh realities of São Paulo—where seeing violence was part of daily life—Rafael followed society's rules until a moment of deep reckoning at age 25.

Inspired by author Paulo Coelho, Rafael left behind everything familiar and traveled to Malawi, where his passion project Playing for Africa was born—literally from music played in local bars. As he connected with communities and asked the simple question, “How can we help?” Rafael’s journey turned into a movement: building under-five clinics, establishing sustainable farms, and sponsoring education for young women.

But Rafael's mission isn’t rooted in charity—it's grounded in Okondwa, the Malawian word for joy. He offers a refreshing lens on humanitarian work, choosing to highlight the beauty, dignity, and strength of the people he works with rather than focusing on poverty and need.

Whether you're feeling stuck in your own definition of success or curious about how one person can drive change, Rafael’s story is a testament to courage, purpose, and the power of listening.

🎧 In This Episode, We Discuss:

  • Rafael’s upbringing in São Paulo and early trauma
  • The moment he walked away from a “successful” life
  • How Playing for Africa started with a guitar and a dream
  • Building health clinics with no initial funding
  • The meaning of Okondwa and why joy matters in storytelling
  • Rethinking success and finding purpose through service

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Want to share your story? Or know someone I should invite next on the show? DM us or write to us at Hello@mythickaccent.com


Gurasis:

What if the life you are living isn't really yours? See, we grew up with a script study hard, get a job, start a business, make money, and happiness will follow. But what if you reach the end of that path and feel nothing? Well, that's exactly what our guest realized at the age of 25. He had followed every step laid out for him, only to find himself searching for something deeper.

Gurasis:

In 2013, he made a bold move, leaving behind the life he knew to dedicate himself to humanitarian work. That leap of faith led him to Malawi, africa, where he helped build a children's clinic through an independent project called Playing for Africa, the name born from a spontaneous moment, 10 seconds of decision making and a deep desire to make a difference. For him, everything, whether it's design, photography, storytelling or even education, boils down to one word creativity. And that's what led him to publish his book as well Okondwa Building Happiness and what continues to fuel his global impact. Even his love story is rooted in his journey, but his story isn't just about art. It's about reinvention, purpose and the courage to unlearn what we are told success should look like. In this episode, we unpack his transformative journey, how he checks in with himself every year, the turning point that led him to humanitarian work and what he has learned about building happiness beyond borders. Please welcome Rafael.

Rafael:

My God, what a nice introduction. You can introduce me better than myself. That's very nice, very nice. Thank you very much for having me.

Gurasis:

Well, I'm very glad to hear that you know. Call me anytime, I'm happy to do that for you.

Rafael:

Wow, that's very nice.

Gurasis:

That's very nice awesome, very, very excited to have you on the show, rafael. I just want to give a little background to my listeners. So I met rafael at a networking event. I went last month too, I believe, and that's where he was. Rafael was one of the guests and I said, okay, I have to bring him on the show just because of the stories he was telling on the on his presentation. I said, okay, this person has to be on the show and share it with my audience. So very, very excited to have you, rafael, welcome once again.

Rafael:

Thank you for having me and I'm looking forward to share some of my stories.

Gurasis:

Absolutely. Let's unfold that. But before that, this episode is part of season two, like I was telling you, and I have a little bit like fun questions to ask you before we get into your journey.

Rafael:

Okay.

Gurasis:

So the first question is tell me what's your go-to breakfast.

Rafael:

My go-to breakfast. Okay, my life worked like in a pendulum movement it's one thing then another. So before I moved to Colombia, before I entered this journey, I had a typical Brazilian breakfast that is black coffee, a piece of bread and that's it, like almost didn't exist. But now that I met the Colombian culture, american American culture is three eggs coffee and bread.

Gurasis:

Okay, and you still follow that till date today.

Rafael:

I still follow, yeah, because it's a lot of protein and it's better. And I ended up learning that the Brazilian way of having breakfast actually not having breakfast is not that good.

Gurasis:

Okay, so tell us about a favorite song or a dialogue or a movie, and tell us why it's significant to you that's a very nice question.

Rafael:

I have a lot of songs, but I have one line from a movie. It's called Blood Diamonds. Leonardo DiCaprio, with another actor, tells the story about the blood diamonds in some country in Africa I don't remember if it's Rwanda or another country, but it tells the story of the guys who keep searching for diamonds and how they kill a lot of people. That's called blood diamonds, uh, and there's a part of the movie like going to the ending that I will not give a spoiler. But the one girl calls this main character of leonardo di caprio and ask him where are you now? Because he needs help. And he replies I am where I was supposed to be. So that phrase for me, okay, okay, that makes sense. You are exactly where you're supposed to be, in a meaning that your effort, your choices brought you here and you are here where exactly you're supposed to be, not one step further, not one step back.

Gurasis:

Exactly where you absolutely wow, I love that do you also keep that as a reminder for yourself at situations? Do you do that?

Rafael:

yes, because I like to. Before I had a lot of excuses about my life, to not being successful or to have a hard time. So it's always someone else fault my father or the system or the government or this and that but I shit that, that now it's everything my fault, even the things. That is not my fault. I try to see not my fault, I try to see it as my fault. So in that phrase came like to back up this like you are exactly where you should be.

Rafael:

Your results today, even if you don't like the result, is the result of your effort. So don't blame anything else, don't blame anybody else. It's where it's at too. And you start to see that life is, or the life of people, when you see people complaining or this or that, when you see in the core, everyone is exactly where they should be, because if they keep the accountability and ask themselves the hard questions, they will be like okay, there's nothing wrong. I'm here because the result of my action. So I keep this phrase as a, as a reminder that I'm responsible for my life I love that you know.

Gurasis:

thanks for reiterating that we do discuss that a lot on the podcast, because immigrants do have this tendency to compare their lives with oh my god, the person has got the pia, the person has got the job, the person has got this and that, but you don't realize that when it's your time, it's going to happen.

Rafael:

Exactly For the good or for the bad.

Gurasis:

It's up to you, okay. So next is if you had to teach one phrase in your mother?

Rafael:

tongue to us. What would it be and what does it mean? That's hard my mother tongue. I would say in Portuguese segue o jogo, segue o jogo.

Gurasis:

Okay.

Rafael:

Segue o jogo. It's literally keep playing. It's literally like go ahead. Like you know, in soccer when there's two players that hit each other and they fall. So the referee sometimes, when they want that the match keep going, he said keep the game, keep the game playing. The game, keep the game playing. I said keep the game playing. So it's a reminder that don't let this thing stop the match or the game. Keep going, keep playing. So keep going.

Gurasis:

Yeah, I feel like there's like underlying motivation there that, hey, keep going Exactly, don't let these external factors stop you. Keep going Exactly, exactly. Yeah, I feel like there's like underlying motivation there that hey, keep going exactly don't let these external factors stop you keep going exactly, exactly, keep the game, keep going.

Rafael:

It doesn't matter you can think about it later, but show must go on, keep going exactly, I love that.

Gurasis:

So lastly in this section, if you could teleport back to a particular place from your home country for a day, or anywhere you have been, what would you do and where would you go?

Rafael:

Only place or time. Could I go back in time also, or just go back to one place? So?

Gurasis:

this is allow us to travel geographically or in time also. I'll let you answer. You answer whatever you have in mind.

Rafael:

Okay, so I will connect the two answers. I would go back to Brazil when I was like 24, 25. And I would say that to myself Segue o jogo, keep going, keep playing. I would say that to myself segue o jogo, keep going, keep playing. I would say that Because it took me a long time to realize that, like five years, that I could realize in two months, I don't know. So I would say that I went back to Brazil 15 years ago, I don't know and say segue o jogo, keep going, yeah, Okay.

Gurasis:

So speaking of that, let me take you back to the time you spent in Brazil. Tell us a little bit about your for many years, the city you were born in, and how was it like just growing up in Brazil.

Rafael:

Yeah, I was born in São Paulo in Brazil, in a very poor neighborhood and very dangerous, but as a kid we don't realize this, we don't realize, we just keep playing and everything is great. And also I saw someone said everyone says, ah, my time when I was a kid was the best time. The old times was better. And of course it was better because you were a kid, so you don't have to work, you don't have to worry about the bills, so every time is better, even though it's hard times for the society, for you was the best time.

Gurasis:

It's the age which was the fun and the better, exactly.

Rafael:

So, even though it was a very dangerous neighborhood and we were very poor, I couldn't see how would you?

Gurasis:

define dangerous. What do you mean by that?

Rafael:

I have a perfect example for you for that. I met one friend from Denmark. She was Danish and I was talking about my life and I said to her and I was talking about my life and I said to her that every time I went to school, in the back wall of the school, like in the backyard, there's always a body there. And every week we went there to see the dead body and she got like. She got like very scared, but I never saw a body on the street because it had been shot or something like this. Then I realized, okay, I'm normalizing something that's not normal. So I remember very clear that going to school sometimes there's a body over there, that some, some guys got shot. So there's new papers, newspapers over the body and sometimes I remember to climb the the the wall of the school just to walk to see the other body from that someone else. So I remember me like, okay, that's life, keep the match.

Rafael:

But now I realize it was very dangerous, even though at that time I did not realize that. So, like my father, make the, my mother and my father made it possible for us to cannot see this. They tried their best to keep us looking to the other side. So I remember my father taking us to museums, expositions, to do anything in order for us to see different sides of the life and not get that, that, that part. So I was. I always said that, that to my sisters and to my friends that I was very lucky because I had some friends that they got shot, they got killed, uh problems with, uh drugs or other problems. So I like, look to my right, to my left, there's problems. It could be me anytime and I don't know why was not me. So, yeah, it's lucky.

Gurasis:

Wow, it's, uh, definitely dangerous. Yeah, yeah, oh my, I can't even fathom seeing like a body almost like every day, maybe at that young age. But yeah, that is kind of scary and at the same time a little weird to me, you know.

Rafael:

And like what's normal, like countless times I was playing soccer on the streets and I heard someone there's a body. Someone found a body over that corner and we rushed there just to see the body and wait for the police to come to do the investigation or something. So that's not normal, yeah.

Gurasis:

So you know now, rafael, you were talking pretty casually about it or just sharing it with us, but did that impact you in any way? Maybe on your mental health, or maybe your upbringing in any way? Or maybe you had this thing in your mind that, okay, I have to leave this place, I cannot stay here for longer.

Rafael:

Maybe that thought hit your mind yeah, I never realized that, but this maybe can be a main reason, uh, that I end up being an immigrant because, uh, you, you grow up. Seeing that kind of things sometimes is a reminder that I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here. It's not to get out of here, it is not safe. I'm realizing this now. Thank you for the input, because sometimes people ask me why you choose to live in Canada or other country and it was never clear to me. I don't know, it was always a dream. I saw pictures of Canada, these other countries, but maybe there's like a reason. One of the seeds of my decision is to be in this place, in this scenario, to see some bad things happening around me that I had to move out.

Gurasis:

Yeah, you don't want to live your life looking over your shoulder each time you leave the house Like, okay, is it me next.

Rafael:

Exactly looking over your shoulder each time you leave the house, like, okay, is it me next? Exactly. And also we were discussing this with some friends, uh, last saturday, and we are talking about how latin people there's they are always ready to check if someone is coming to pickpocket or something, so like we are wired that every two minutes behind you. Like like you go to the Metro, check your pockets every time, every time. And I remember one guy come from Belgium. He said no, but it's easy, you just put your cell phone in your front pocket and you are safe. And I say, I see your vision, but like the public transportation in Brazil it's so full that you don't have time to keep your hand on the pocket. You have to grab something and that's the perfect chance for someone to grab your cell phone or your money or something. So, yeah, part of being here is to feel that relief. Like you know, I don't need to be that worried so much.

Gurasis:

Yeah, no, it's funny. You tell about this example of looking over your shoulder if somebody's coming or not, because we all have, like, certain things. I feel like they are instilled in us and now they are part of us. No matter which part of the world you go to, you always look around or you always behave a certain way, which has been happening in your country so I totally understand.

Rafael:

Yeah, yeah, even though it's a like, it's a life skill, but it but it took some of a lot of energy from your brain, like I should not worry about that at least it's not in this level.

Gurasis:

Yeah, yeah, okay, but let's just talk about your life inside the house. Also, tell us a little bit about your family dynamics, and I was like just growing up within the family, or was it like a certain pressure to grow up? Oh, I think you were telling me about it, that you had to follow like a certain path growing up.

Rafael:

Tell us about the family dynamics as well yeah, it was very nice, like the first part, from like childhood to around 11 years old was very nice, even though we were poor. My father and my mother made the best possible choice for us to have a different life and I remember like we had always good gifts on Christmas time, good celebrations. I had two sisters I am like the middle one so it was very nice. But we have a shift in our life. My father works in a public company, like a train company in Sao Paulo, and he decided one day that okay, we are living in a dangerous place. We should move out to another city from more the countryside and I will quit my job. He was a public employer and I will open and I will start my business.

Rafael:

It was a good idea, but he forgot some I don't know if he forgot or not one detail he had some problem with alcohol and while he was working in a company, he only had the chance to drink a little bit every day at night, so that kept him under control. But as soon as he started to open a restaurant in this countryside and now he has access to drinks every time, it was a wrong decision that ended up killing him in five years, like when we decided to move and we moved to another city. One year later, he broke up with my mother. Three years later, I found him dead due to alcoholism. So what's the? So this comes for the second part. So this first part was perfect, no problem. And when it?

Gurasis:

comes to the second part.

Rafael:

Uh is totally a mess and took me like 10 years to at least 10 years to recover from this situation, because we end up losing everything losing the house, losing the furniture, uh have to live uh in other places, in other people houses, couches. It was terrible. So, yeah, it was nice until one point. Then later it was not that nice.

Gurasis:

Okay, and during the tough time, did you have any sort of go-to people that you had, or like mentors, or were there people you could discuss your feelings with? Was it anybody at that point?

Rafael:

Not really. And also I had to start working when I was 11 because my parents break up. Uh, broke up, and what was your first job? I was a. I work in a counter in a drug store. As funny as it is 11 years old. I put like a white, uh, a gel, like this, and I sell uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh. A lot of things From the day I started to work when I was 11, I never stopped until today, except for the Malawi part in Africa, but later we come to that.

Rafael:

But it was a job anyway. But I didn't have any mentors. I was kind of lost. So I tried to listen to some of these people to give me advice that we will end up in that story that I told you that follow, like by the book, the rules, like you have to do this, you need to do this. But I was listening to people who not that successful. So you know it's not like. Okay, this is okay, you are giving me one advice, but let me see your results first to see if I want to follow your advice, but at that age you listen to everyone. You listen to everyone. Someone said you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to do this and this and that. And I was lucky to have some core values given from my father that allow me to not choose some bad uh paths, but I could end up uh in a very bad situation. Some of my friends took that that path and end up uh get murder uh.

Gurasis:

So I listen to anyone it's funny how casually it's so funny how casually you said the path to get murdered, so casually you just said it. Oh my god yeah, yeah it's.

Rafael:

It took long time for me to process this this is your coping mechanism Exactly? So I would say I had a lot of mentors, even though they were not that good, and some of them teach me what not to do instead of what I should do.

Gurasis:

Yeah, okay, you did share a lot about Brazil. You know, educated us on that, but is there something you think people might not know about Brazil that you would like to share?

Rafael:

I have you took. It's a point that I'm still trying to figure out why. Actually last week I had a discussion with a friend a point that I'm still trying to figure out why. Actually last week I had a discussion with a friend and he said what about the immigrants in Canada? Maybe they got insulted, the racism, it's very hard. And I said I don't get offended with that because I don't get attached to, to brazil or to I. I'm not proud to be brazilian. That doesn't represent anything from from me, like I'm not. That guy said oh, brazil, it's a terrible place to live. I would say, yeah, it's a terrible place to live. I would say, yeah, it's a wonderful place. I will not live here, never. Yeah, I have no personal feelings from Brazil.

Gurasis:

I would say no doubts there, I can imagine.

Rafael:

Yeah, I would say there's everything to be. Of course, everyone will say this about their own country, but it has anything to be the best place to live on earth. But for some reason the cultural aspect and the way that people were raised it makes very difficult, because it's a huge country a lot of beaches, rainforests, mountains, a lot of space, good weather. If you want to feel a little bit cold, you go to the south. If you want the best beach, you go to north. There's everything. But when it comes to society in general, it can be challenging, except if you have a good amount of money so you can close in your bubble and you live a very good life. But I guess it's the same in all of the countries. So the only thing about Brazil that we are very friendly, we are very open, we like to hug and it's always partying, so we celebrate the immigrants there. So I would say it's a good place, it's a good country. Just take care, I don't know, it's not that safe.

Gurasis:

And have you traveled a lot within the country?

Rafael:

Yeah, Funny that first time I traveled abroad in a lot within the country and now, yeah, uh, funny that first time I travel abroad a lot of, in a lot of different countries. Then I realized, okay, I should travel inside also because I need to and not to know more about my country. Not that much I travel to different states from a little bit, from south and to the north, uh, but definitely I I have traveled to more countries than I travel within my country. It's sad, I should not be that way but end up being that way yeah, no, it's sort of the same for me also.

Gurasis:

I really haven't traveled enough within my own country. The funny thing is that I have met a lot of people from my own country, like from the south, but I come from the extreme north and, coming from, you know, there I haven't really been able to expose to different cultures other than mine. You know, I did meet few people when I went to Mumbai, like once but again, I haven't traveled to the south, but then I meet people from there and then I learn so much about their cultures and even about the languages.

Rafael:

Also, what I understood is that in India you have different languages, right? Oh my God.

Gurasis:

We have Rafael like around 24 official languages Wow.

Rafael:

So it's possible for you to travel to one side to another and do not understand anything they're saying Exactly understand anything they're saying exactly so.

Gurasis:

so the thing is, hindi is is like sort of the national language, but it's actually not, because hindi is not widely spoken in the south of india and it's the english which is the common thread between the north and the south. Basically, I would say that, okay, okay yeah wow. So if I go the South, I will be able to communicate with people in English, but not Hindi, or obviously not in my regional language, which is Punjabi.

Rafael:

That sounds so different. So crazy to me, because I it's the same. I imagined that I go to the North part of Brazil, south, and not be able to communicate in Portuguese.

Gurasis:

There's different accents but we speak the same language.

Rafael:

That's a whole different level of different culture, like yeah absolutely it's almost like a different country whole together.

Gurasis:

Yeah, there's so much culture, so much like. Even the food is so much different. You know, in the south or not, you know, uh, even I would say the upbringing of the people is very, very different, because I feel like you from the north have a lot of business mindset in them, but the people from the south do have this corporate understanding. Of course they have that entrepreneurial bug in them as well, but it's it's still similar, but yet very different.

Rafael:

It's like you know, I'm very curious to travel to india because for some period of my life I met there's a guru from india called uh bagwan. Shri rajneesh is osho of course yes and totally changed.

Rafael:

I I read one of his books called before, I think in English it's Until you Die. Until you Die. It was the first book that I read and it blows my mind completely and I end up practicing some of his meditations. I took some of the courses. I met him in a community in Brazil and I think he has a place called Ashram. This is a place, ashram, yes, so my bucket list is to go there to visit this place.

Gurasis:

Okay, you definitely have to visit my side of the country as well, which is the northwestern part. There's a state called Punjab, if you know about, and you have to go there. The food is absolutely amazing. You will love it.

Rafael:

Yeah, yeah, actually, I love Indian food. It's very spicy, but I have a friend who came from India in December. Come on, I think.

Gurasis:

Brazilian people also eat spicy. You guys also eat spicy food.

Rafael:

But not that spicy. But the Indian spicy is a whole different level. We have some spicy, but nothing compared to Indian food. I had a friend who brought me some candies from India. There's even one candy that is silver leaf, Like yes, it's very nice.

Gurasis:

I love that.

Rafael:

That's one of my favorites it's made from cashews and I ain't imagine, wow, this could be silver in my mind, but I didn't realize that it was really silver when I took it. I said to him it looks like silver.

Gurasis:

I said it is silver oh my god, it's very nice. There are actually ones with the gold also.

Rafael:

Yeah, he told me like okay, so it's my bucket list also to eat like gold.

Gurasis:

Okay, whenever I'll go next, I'll bring for you.

Rafael:

Okay, okay, that will be very nice.

Gurasis:

All right. So moving to your journey now you know. Thank you for the questions. I love this organic conversation as well. So you know, definitely at the age of 25, you realize that, okay, I have to make some changes in my life. And that's where you know, you decided to leave everything and go to Malawi and work there, right, but that did not happen like instantly. I was watching your TED Talk, which I didn't understand the language, obviously, but I did make the effort to read all the subtitles and I was trying to just understand the whole journey of yours and there were so many aspects of it. I would like to touch upon it because it was like funny as well and inspiring as well. Starting from, you know, you with your friend taking a cardboard writing their donations for Africa and going outside the streets and restaurants and asking for money. Yeah, tell me about that. What, what happened?

Rafael:

that was terrible because, uh, what, uh like the seed for my, uh, that they end up me, me living in malawi was, I have follow all the rules, as you said. Said so, I was listening to everyone around me. So, get a job, go study, go do this graduation? No, okay, you have to find a job. No, you have to open your own company. Now do this, now learn this.

Rafael:

So for seven, eight, ten years I was just trying, working, working hard, studying and this and that, and when my first company broke, uh, like bankrupt, I said, so what else I should do? Because I did this, this and that and that, like following like an equation, but the result was not what I was expected. So, where I did something wrong and the main transformation came from a book, there's a famous writer in Brazil called Paulo Coelho and I read his biography and in his biography it's a very interesting biography because at one point in the past he was like one of the most famous writers in the world, like multi-millionaire, and the biographer I believe the alchemist is also a biographer. Exactly, he's the writer, like the author of Alchemist and like the book writer, the author of.

Rafael:

Alchemist. And the book starts with the author saying I want to write your biography. And he said okay, I will make a deal with you. I have been tortured during the dictatorship in Brazil, so if you find the guy that tortured me and I can have a conversation with him, I can give you access to my life to write your biography. So the guy ended up following tracking and found the guy discussion, the paulo cuello give him a key from like a like a box, like a wooden box. He had said okay, you have, you can open this. And when he opened was his tires, since he was like six, seven, from from six, seven to 45, I don't remember, like that's exactly age where he wrote all his ideas and stories and experience and everything. He said you are totally free to tell everything of my life, no censorship, you can do anything.

Rafael:

And the author said that when I read some of these stories I even said, okay, I will not move on with this because it's too personal. But he kept going and the idea was he was very crazy. He tried different drugs, different trips, even different religions. Well, like crazy, crazy, crazy experience and end up of him being the most famous writer in the world and he always finished every day like he wrote his thoughts. He finished I will be the most famous writer in the world. So I realized, okay, what gave him this opportunity was that he was open to experience. He was not following any rules, he was just going, going, of course, very dangerous. But then I realized I said, okay, let's do the opposite now, if I'm going by the book, decide let's be open to different experience and I will see what we end up. But I will not follow any rule and I end up having different experience with drugs, travel, religions and everything, almost trying to copy this author. And that plant the seed of me going to Malawi.

Rafael:

So the way I found that I could live in Malawi was through organization. So I said, how can I travel around the world without money? The first thing that pops in my mind was okay, I will be a volunteer. So I went to the internet how to be a volunteer in Malawi and pop up some organization? I did in the United States.

Rafael:

So I even bothered to do a research like okay, they are serious or not to do? No, are you accepting volunteers? Yes, we are accepting, but there's a cost of five thousand dollars to be part of the organization and I said forget it. I was just thinking that only a volunteer can work, because I'm a designer and I'm broke. I was totally open and and the person said you know what we are needing? We need a designer here to do our communication. Are you open to like exchange? You come here five months before your program starts, you provide some graphic designer service and you don't need to pay. And I said, okay, perfect. So I borrowed money from a friend just to buy the flight tickets and I arrived there in the United States with only $50 in my pocket and I remember they said from the airport to the school, the ticket will be $45.

Rafael:

So I had only $5 to stay with me because I was like okay, open, now this. So after I arrived there then I realized I said, oh no, for you to go to africa, a part of paying that's five thousand. You need to raise donations to pay for your expenses, and the way you do this is asking money on the streets yeah and I.

Gurasis:

And I said oh my God.

Rafael:

And we start as a group, like every three months there's a different group and it was a very hard situation because it's a pyramid scam, you know, like you, are attracting immigrants.

Rafael:

They have to raise money, but it's totally a mess. Actually, I later discovered it was a cult. You know a cult is. That place was a cult, totally crazy. But we need another chapter just for me to tell you the steps that the cult do for you to fall, to fall in the story. And I always, when I saw these documentaries of people saying I was partying, of a cult for 10 years, I could not escape. I always think, okay, that's bullshit, you want to live, you just live. Exactly, it's not like this. So they kept me my mind there. So, anyways, it's not a story.

Rafael:

So in the beginning I went to the streets with a board donations to African this and that and people, can you ask donation? You ask, you ask. It was very hard and I started to question myself like, okay, I had a hard time in Brazil, but at least I was a teacher in that moment in one university, so at least I could give some classes and I don't need to ask money on the streets. And now I'm here asking money on the streets and eating at McDonald's. But I met this guy, this Colombian friend called Setulio, and one day I saw him playing guitar and I had an idea and I said to him what? What if, instead of asking money in the streets, we play music on bars and ask for donations? And he and he said, but you can play? And I said, of course I can play, I'm from Brazil, the rhythm is on my, my blood, but it's totally bullshit.

Rafael:

I never played anything you know, I also came across this photograph on the streets yeah, for the audio listeners please check the youtube yeah, and, and you know, this picture was on my ted talk it was yeah, that's when I got it and it's like that picture is the first day I'm asking money on the streets.

Rafael:

And this friend, like two hours later, uh, he came then to check on me like how is the experience going? And he, while he was approaching, that was my face and what I'm like, that's exactly like okay, this was the feeling that I was in that moment. From that moment on, I decided to have the the plane idea. So we started to like found, we found the plane for africa, just out of the necessity, like I don't want to be in the street, sex for money. I would do anything to have some money, but I would not ask. And he said, okay, I played, you like going the percussions, and we asked for some donations. And we did that. We like playing for africa was the same, was the first thing that popped in our minds.

Gurasis:

We create a yeah, that's so funny like no other name.

Rafael:

Nothing, just playing for africa is the most basic english and at that time also, I was learning english. So what we are doing, we are playing to go to Africa. Okay, playing for Africa, and that's it. And it was a good strategy because we could play and we post on. There's the playing for Africa. Page was still on.

Gurasis:

Facebook yeah, I found this from there as well, exactly, exactly.

Rafael:

So there you can see every gag, we have every show and we call like this and I remember one day we finished, uh, one of our presentations like five minutes. Yeah, there's like it's, that's me as a designer trying to to do something like like, uh, okay, more creative. So I took one picture from this side, I took a picture from the other side for my friend say, okay now we have a logo.

Gurasis:

You look so serious in it. Exactly.

Rafael:

But I remember we finished one of our concerts and one guy came and said, oh that's very nice what you're doing, let me help you. And he signed a check for, I think, $450 or something like this. And I, oh my God, so that really can work. People, even though I was inside me, I was feeling very bad Because this friend of mine he was very like he's a professional musician, so he plays a lot, he sings very well, and I was like the imposter there, like okay, like like percussion and tip, tip, tip, tip, but like I feel bad for the audience, even though it was not that bad, like, okay, what I'm doing here, but end up like we reached the goal.

Rafael:

After six months we reached the goal and we pay our expenses to go to Malawi and, on theory, that money should support the projects there. But when we arrived there, it's totally a lie. Nothing works, it's just a bunch of photos, reports, numbers. But when you go really to the fields, when you go to visit the families and the project, it's just a story. It's just a story, it's just a story. And you call the organization, you ask for the money and they say no, actually the money is spread for all the Africa for all the projects, it's not really for you so it's not that clear. So we end up there, have to live there for six months and no money, no project, and that's it.

Rafael:

So it was in that time that we met Tony. That is a community leader there. There's a good friend still today and he said if you want to do something here, it had to be by your own terms. Don't expect the organization to expect anything. And if you want, I can help you make like the connection between you and the community and let's see what they need is this the guy you called superhero in the ted talk?

Rafael:

this is the other one and also that that story it's very good because, uh, there I went to visit a small school there and there was a blind teacher for the kids. He was blind but he did like a basic English sentence and I call him superhero because, even though he cannot see on the moment, he could see the future of the kids, like trying to improve and trying to give some education. And he had no like a formal salary, like the families around who gets a little bit, and he was able to survive with that. So imagine one guy, blind, in Malawi, living from donations from the parents and teaching kids.

Rafael:

So for me, that's why this experience completely changed my life. For me that guy is a superhero, completely changed my life. For me, that guy is superhero because he cannot see now but he can see the future. That's why he keep pushing, wow, he keep pushing the, the students, yes, yeah. And from now, from that point, the plan for africa that starts with like a band becomes a social project yeah no plan Tell us about that also, where you end up collecting the money for the clinic, your children's clinic.

Gurasis:

Tell us about that as well.

Rafael:

So it was very funny because we went to the community to have just a meeting and say we are here to help, how can we support you? And they said we need under five clinic. And they asked that and they like, mostly like mothers, and they wait us to have a response like yes or not. And also Tony was like the translator and like we had like seconds to look at one another and said, okay, let's do it. And I remember when we said let's do it, they started to celebrate, they danced and everything and there's some videos of me dancing with the mothers there. After we finished, I said to him okay, what?

Gurasis:

is. I found this one there.

Rafael:

Yeah, yeah, this is like the result. All the mothers, exactly like this group. And I said to my friend, what is an under five clinic? How can we build this and from where we are going to get the money? I had no idea, but we already promised and let's see. And then we started to work with what we had. So he had his guitar microphone. I had bought a camera in united states. So I say, okay, we can record videos. I'm graphic designer, so at least I know how to put some things like visually okay yeah and let's start to to start to tell stories.

Rafael:

So our idea was to record one or two videos saying here we are, is this is what we need, please support us. But we end up like, hey, there's, for example, this story of this superhero, this teacher. I said, okay, why we don't tell his story in one episode? What about this? So we start recording some videos. It becomes like a web series and without any plan, like plane, like, okay, we have this story here, let's record. And and that time I was not that good managing camera, I was most graphic designer, but on editing side and microphone and sound I was not. I was learning. So when you see the videos, it's a lot of shaking and it's terrible. When I look to the like, oh my God, this is terrible, but it was working.

Rafael:

We are telling different stories and we get some engagement from that stories and I end up someone telling the another one, okay. And one day we had idea, okay, we need to give something back to people to be part of the project, because I don't know how can we connect. And we had idea that the kids that we would use the clinic could draw like a postcard. Okay, and we will send by mail for those who donate. Oh, wow, regardless of the amount, we will send by mail. So we went. So our routine starts.

Rafael:

Ok, let's go to this small school while this blind teacher was teaching and we give some piece of papers and it was very sad, because you realize so small details when we give, like, the crayons to the kids. They had no idea what to do with that because the way of learning was sitting and repeating what the teacher said exactly. So they had no skills on how to draw. And I remember asking for the tone in this community leader why they're not drawing and he said it's the first time they are getting some crayon or some pencil, so they don't know how to do this Like this is mind blowing, like something so basic that you never imagine in your life that that could happen.

Rafael:

So for some of the kids we need to like teach them that it's how we do it and this and that. So, uh, in one side there's a, there's a draw from the kid and behind we said the other side, we said thank you for your donation, this and that, and we sent by mail. So our routine starts to go to school, grab some postcards, write the notes, send by mail and receive the donations. And little by little we start to have the donations and after six months we could finish and inaugurate the clinic. So it was very nice. I'm simplifying the process.

Gurasis:

It was not that simple, but it was that I was about to say that I'm sure there's a lot of work that goes into it, a lot of trial and error also, like what's working, what's not working. And speaking of trial and error, that reminds me again my limited understanding of the TED Talk through translation. I was understanding that you posted one of the videos and you got one of the comments on that, when people were criticizing that you were asking for money, right, tell me about that.

Rafael:

Exactly. It's a good point. The thing is, our idea is to record just one video and ask for donations, but here's the catch we could not put the name of the organization because the money will go to the organization and they will not give us the money. So we need to put our personal bank accounts in brazil and in colombia and we record a video and it was like a kind of sad video. You know that video that you expected I give me some money. So the situation here is very hard and this and that, and also we had very limited internet. So we met a guy that was a photographer in other city, so we travel by bus there, give him the pen drive so he can upload our content on YouTube. So like it was very hard and I remember that feeling that, okay, we upload the video. We have the first comment, and the first comment was terrible Like how these people trying to profit from poverty, from misery, asking money to personal accounts and like destroying us completely.

Gurasis:

Yeah.

Rafael:

And but from that point, that point, I realized, okay, let's reverse this and let's try to tell good stories, like happy stories. Let's try to share the culture, the local culture, and not like. The sad part was in that moment that I asked the guy how can I say happiness in the local language. He said Okondwa. That's it. Oh, okay, so that will be. The subject of the second video will be Okondwa. So I would say that here there's a lot of problems, but there's one thing that is highly contagious and it is called Okondwa. And from that moment on, the video, the, the like, the video will shift and we'll be just smiling, dancing, singing, showing that the people, even though they have problems, they are happy, very happy, and end up that Oconda becomes like the title of everything and the name of the clinic and the name of the book and the name of the TED Talk.

Gurasis:

That just me telling you now is totally crazy, because we don't plan for that that's brilliant, you know, I was also, uh, hearing you say that there is a certain image showed of the people in Africa, especially like from these lower communities, that okay, there's sadness, there's poverty and all that, but there's also another side of happiness and laughter in it also, which is a little bit different, right so you saw that comparison right there, right yeah, and you feel like at the beginning you feel a little bit guilty, like, okay, I will ask for, for donation and money, but I will show people celebrating, so we have this image.

Rafael:

You should be very sad that kids on the street but we subverse that. Okay, no, let's show the reality, let's not create anything that doesn't exist. Let's show exactly what is happening here, and that end up being our strategy and end up being very successful, because once we put some videos online, one local TV show on Colombia asked us to give an interview. So they send us questions and we just record the answers there. Then later they edit and post on the TV and people start to get to know more about the project. That someone from Google got to know the project. They invite us to talk with the google employers like one year later.

Rafael:

So things start really, really to grow and it was very nice like and and also because we were doing exactly what we did before, without knowing. Like Setúlio, my friend, he took charge of the songs on the audio, all the parts that he knows a lot, and I started to create stories, draw the design, the reports. I said, okay, even as a graphic designer and a storyteller, you can work in social projects, Like there's no limit. And we ended up like the two we had we could finish the project.

Gurasis:

Yeah, wow, rafael, absolutely incredible.

Gurasis:

I love these stories so much to touch on and I actually admire your work, you know, and also the courage to kind of like get out of your mechanic life and do something different. You know getting inspired from the author as well and then doing something of your own. This also sort of inspires me also that, okay, I can also do something like this. I can at least try, you know, I don't know how successful I can be, but there's no harm in at least try and contributing to these communities. So so kudos to you, you know, for doing that and continuing to do that. You are still working on many, uh, social projects, right?

Rafael:

yeah, actually I. I continue then, because once you live there and you make friends, you cannot just only go back to your country and forgetting about that. And also, for me, the hardest part of living in Malawi was the time to come back, because you start to have this comfortable life. Even though in Brazil I thought I was poor, then I discovered that I was not that poor poor, then I discovered that I was not that poor. Uh, you start to compare like, okay, I will buy a cell phone now, but this costs I don't know three hundred dollars and with this amount of money there I could do this and this and that. For you you live in like a space that is very dangerous because you don't live even not there nor here, and you compare the currencies and you feel guilty just because you go out to buy a pizza or something and you compare with the people there. So I managed to overcome this and I keep working, keep trying different projects. So I tried a podcast. There's a podcast called Okondwa.

Gurasis:

Oh really.

Rafael:

Yeah, my main idea was okay, I will create a show where people can donate freely for each episode and with that I can have the money to go there. But to do a podcast alone, you know how hard it is Me talking to myself, I get zero donations.

Rafael:

Okay, okay, I don't have time to keep doing this. Then I try crowdfunding uh, that, actually that picture that you show me, the girls, the mothers and it was a crowdfunding that I tried to do and I could, uh, raise any the amount necessary. So I keep trying, I keep trying. Then one guy, one guy said this funny thing about life some people comes to our life just to say one phrase, one sentence and go out that completely change your point of view. And the guy said to me you know, imagine the situation there's a group of people in a hole on the ground and you, your mission, you are trying to get these people out, but you're doing that by jumping on the hole and trying to push people out, and you've been, and you end up being there alone. So, instead of you jumping there, you need to be strong here and lay your hand and push these people out. So, in other words, fix your incomes, fix your savings before trying to save someone else. That's it. Okay. And I'm not that.

Rafael:

I'm not a religious person, but I believe, like when you decide to do something and you said I'm going to do something, the universe, I don't know, starts to happen and I started to have some very good clients. I started to have more money and three years later I had enough money to go back there and to build the second clinic. And now it's a clinic and a school in the same place. Oh, wow. So I went there. It was very nice. So it was less stressful because I didn't have to ask money to no one, like, okay, I'm paying for everything. I sent money to Tony. He managed the workers and everything. The government gave us the land. It was like a really partnership and I went there just for the last three weeks of the construction to have the inauguration party and to see, uh, the clinic.

Rafael:

The second clinic is called chikung butsu. I also I always ask them to give the name and they said, uh, chikung butsu. And I say what that means is said remember us, that's it, that's perfect. So now, chikung butsu, it's a yeah, it's a vaccination point chosen by the government because we put solar panels, there's electricity, there's a small refrigerator and so they can give vaccines to the kids, so they have local health assistance here and a school on this side, in the same place. And besides that, there's a side story, tony, when we were leaving Malawi for the first time. I asked Tony, what is your dream? He said my dream is to study and to try to get out of poverty. Actually, he works for that organization.

Gurasis:

Okay.

Rafael:

And the organization was the second biggest employer in the country Only lose for the government. So it's a way to keep people in poverty. I remember he received at that time $25 a month and I ran the numbers with him and said I can save $5 a month. And when I went to check, like the semester on university was five hundred dollars. It's not that much, but to him like it's impossible. So that is the kind of thing that don't let me sleep at night if I don't do anything. Because Because, coming from a hard reality, a hard background, I know how hard it is.

Rafael:

You want to change your story. You have the mindset, you can do cold plunges, you can do this and mindset. But if you don't have any tool to give the step one, you're done. So I always picture myself as Tony. Okay, I wake up like very motivated, I will change my life. Okay, so you can save $5 a month. It will take you 10 years for you to be able to pay just one semester. So that thing like desperate me like okay's, that's hard, that's my mission. I need to give the basic tools.

Rafael:

So I found a friend that sponsored the tony's education. So tony finished the high school, then they went to college, they later a technical and later he finished uh university. So for the next four, five, six years we keep paying him his education. He got a very good job. But then here's the catch again, when COVID hits, the first part of the first project that is cut off by the government is social aid projects. So he worked for the UNICEF and like, okay, now we don't have any more money to fund it, cut the program. In a country, I think, less than 1% of the people get access to university. He holds a university degree, get access to university, he holds a university degree. And even with that he is like he was eight months without a job. So I say so it's not a matter of I will study here and this, and that it's more complex than that.

Rafael:

So that ended up creating the second project, that is, a farm. So I said to him how will it cost for us to buy a piece of land, enough for you to share with four different families and from there you can grow food for yourself and sell the surplus and from that we can try to have a sustainable farm? And we run the numbers. What I did? I paid for the whole project, but I asked from some investors to lend money for the families, so my deal was okay. We have these five families and I have some posts of these on my Instagram. So choose your family, choose the amount of money that you want to lend for this family for a year and they will take this money. They will buy seeds, fertilizer, anything they need, and after one year they can pay you back Without interest for now, but you can have your money 100% back. If one family fails to pay, the whole group will pay you back, and if the whole group fails, I will pay you back. So there's two levels of security.

Rafael:

And I get some investors, mostly my family and friends, um, and? And now we? It's one year and a half of the farm and it's going well. Still the numbers doesn't match. Still we are in loss because I took the money we invest. I paid the money back for the investors, but the first year was not that good. So then we are still in red, but was enough for them to have food, uh, to at least guarantee, like the, the food for the families to learn. And now we are going to the, to the second year of the farm, raising pigs, planting maize, rice, potatoes and they are doing good.

Rafael:

My plan is to have more farms like that that they end up, they can have the food for themselves and to sell and to have some profit. And besides that I'm sponsoring four girls' educations. I said to Tony we need to multiply your leadership, so I need you to choose four new Tonys, but this time let's go with girls, because here it's very hard for women. And he talked to teachers. We found four girls and two of them are studying to be nurse and I think the other one changed to administration, business administration or something. And in this model I'm paying because there's no way they can have an investor that can pay back, afford it. So my point is I'm trying, I'm just trying, as long as this is the kind of business that even if it fails, it ends up doing good because it's changing the life of someone.

Gurasis:

You are not only trying to fail. It's incredible. You are doing much more than that and bravo to you for, you know, for doing that. Hats off. I totally admire you. Like I said, I read about your journey a little bit but just listening from you, the work I've been doing, I'm so inspired and I think my audience is going to love this story, love this vision and the mission you are on. And if any of our listeners you know, I love this vision and the mission you are on and if any of our listeners would like to contribute to this or just kind of join you in some way, they can lend a helping hand to you where they can reach out.

Rafael:

They can find me on my Instagram. I think you can put on the description of the episode. I'll put that. Yeah, and the way sometimes people write me like I want to contribute how much and what they need, and I always tell they are always needing some input or something to pay for this girl's education. These girls need mentors. So if you are able to and it's not that costly A semester for one of the girls I think it's $800, including transportation, food and some basic materials. So I was seeking some mentors because they need to be held accountable, also because here is my grades, I'm doing good, I'm paying attention to the classes. So there's some ways. If you want to be a mentor, you can pay from one of the girls' educations. Or if you don't have enough money to pay everything, you can just donate for one girl. Or if you want to send some money to the farm they always need some input. They are trying to raise different, to grow different crops.

Rafael:

The way that I work. I don't have, for now, organization Because of this terrible experience that I have with this other NGO. I'm avoiding to have an NGO. But some people said you should start an organization because it's the way that people can transfer money, invest in this. Let's see in the future, but for now I don't have it and if you want to contribute, just write me. And I managed to send the donation to Tony and there's always an update there on my Instagram photos what they are doing the families, and it's very nice. I feel like those who can have the tools and the resources to do something and don't do anything. I think that's sad. You know that's sad. I feel like, okay, you are sitting down in a pile of gold and you could just a small amount change generations, generations a little bit goes a long way, exactly.

Rafael:

You can change generations just sponsoring one girl's education. And you, if you not do that, I feel I feel sad, because I don't know. For my personal point of view, I say okay, so why are you having this money? So why are you getting these tools just for yourself?

Gurasis:

I think it's just too small yeah, okay, I'll put the links to contact rafael in the show notes for our listeners.

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Gurasis Singh

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