Richard’s Very Special Party

Nearly everyone who has visited the ICBIE goes away with great memories of Richard Beyai.  A man of few words and modest ways, he nonetheless is an integral part of our team, and we’ve wanted to feature him on this blog for a long time.  Now there is no excuse for procrastinating: at long last, Richard has received his documents and he’s finally a legal resident, instead of an illegal immigrant!   Obviously, this happy news provided Marlene, Bogus and Júlio a perfect excuse to throw another party!

A native of Gambia, Richard worked as a skipper and got a job on a big yacht that brought him to Brazil, but a change of plans caused him to be tossed off the ship without any papers when the boat got to Salvador, and Pietro discovered him on the beach in front of the ICBIE.  Since that day, way back at the start of the ICBIE adventure, Richard has been staying with us, except for a couple of years when, thanks to his excellent English, he had a job at a beautiful agri-tourism resort up the coast in Sauípe (where hoards of ICBIE people would take jaunts up to see him).  Besides doing every imaginable odd job for us, he is in constant demand for his talents in doing high-quality restoration work on the yachts stationed at the big marina across the street from our Institute.  For years and years, he has been chipping away at the formidable wall of bureaucracies, in his attempt to get his papers in order.  Finally that long ordeal has come to a happy end, and he can rightfully raise a glass in celebration.  Parabens!