Me at the Rede Brasil Suiça event in 2025
Last year I went to a Rede Brasil Suíça event and did not know what to expect.
I knew it would be Brazilians in Switzerland, which already felt like something. But I did not know if I would feel like I belonged there, or like a guest at someone else's table. That particular anxiety is one I have written about at length. Apparently it does not go away just because you wrote the book.
I felt welcomed.
So when Rede Brasil Suíça invited me to join the volunteer team, to help make the events happen, to be part of what sits behind the thing that made me feel that way last year, I said yes immediately.
Rede Brasil Suíça is an interdisciplinary network founded in 2022 that connects Brazilian researchers and professionals who are already in Switzerland or thinking about coming. It organises events, shares job and academic opportunities, and creates a space where people who understand both sides of the Brazil-Switzerland crossing can find each other. It is run entirely by volunteers who believe that the crossing is easier when you do not have to do it alone.
If you are Brazilian in Switzerland, or thinking about coming, this is the bridge. I will now be one of the people helping set up the chairs.
See you there.
Jessica Gabrielzyk
