WHesterN Hemisphere
Annette Hester's Blog
There are times when even time stands still
Summary:Last Thursday, while I was driving past the Brazilian embassy in Washington, DC, I noticed that the flag was at half mast. A phone call later and I found out what had happened. My heart sank to hear the news of the passing of Ruth Cardoso, the accomplished anthropologist, scholar extraordinaire, and wife of Brazil’s former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. She was an amazing person – warm, reserved, dignified, intelligent, and articulate. Someone I much admired , someone who I thought showed the world the other side of Brazilian women.
The news took me back to
the last time I saw her – six years ago – to a time of
beginnings and much hope for me. The event was the World Petroleum
Congress (WPC) that took place in Rio, Brazil in 2002.
Actually, it all started
two years earlier,when in Calgary hosted the WPC in 2000. Given
that Brazil would host the next WPC, the Brazilian contingent came
en masse. My previous contacts with Petrobras and the energy world
in Brazil landed me an “in” with the group and an
informal position of liaison between them and the Canadians. I
helped where I could, and planned to attend the WPC in Rio.
A few months before the
event, we had the chance of hosting Luis Orlandi, who was then a
director of Ipiranga (a Brazilian owned refinery group which
recently was sold to Petrobras) and was on the Brazilian WPC
organizing committee, here in Calgary. Luis was impressed with the
Canadian efforts to send a substantial delegation which would
include then provincial Minister of Energy, Murray Smith, and took
a huge risk. He promised the Canadian WPC committee that he would
find a place for Murray to speak in the conference’s crowded
agenda. This was a risk because there were no more spaces
available, and with any such political event, many demands that
need to be accommodated. But Luis also knew that once an official
promise had been made, they would have to find a way to honour it
and that was that. After much discussion,
and to-ing and fro-ing, a solution was found. One of the keynote
lunch speakers was Ruth Cardoso,who would be addressing one of the
Congress’ central theme – Corporate Social
Responsibility -
and there was room for someone to introduce her. For
Brazilians, this made total sense. Dona Ruth was head of an NGO
that brought together business and other social activists in
development projects, and was a well-known speaker on the subject.
Murray Smith was a good fit.
However, Canadians, especially Albertans, thought
this was a real snub:
how could a senior minister be expected to introduce
someone as presumably lightweight as the President’s wife?
tTo do so atn an energy congress, where Smith was respresenting one
of the world energy powers seemed undignified.
They were about to write
the Brazilians declining the opportunity when I got wind of the
situation. I talked to everyone who would listen.My line was
“No, guys, you got this wrong. Dona Ruth is not being invited
because she is the President’s wife (although that
didn’t hurt). The fact is that she is a noted authority in
her own right, she is amazing, and this will be a great honour. You
must trust me on that.” Much to my surprise,
they did listen. And, much to my satisfaction, Murray Smith did
introduce Ruth Cardoso. As expected, the whole event went off
without a hitch. But there was one unexpected outcome: Murray
absolutely loved Ruth, thought she was engaging and
delightful….and for a long time after, looked for an
opportunity to bring her to Alberta. Unfortunately, that did not
happen….
That was the personal
side of the story. On the professional side, she didn’t
disappoint. She delivered the best lecture I have ever had the
pleasure of listening on the difference between Corporate Social
Responsibility and Philanthropy. Too bad this took place before the
age of YouTube and Ipods… otherwise I am sure we would be
able to listen to her words again…. Oh well, that is not
possible…but her wisdom impressed me then, and remains
ingrained in my thinking.
So it was with great
sadness that I dealt with her death. Sadness for the passing of an
admirable woman…sadness for our collective loss – and
with all losses, it reminded me of how precious time is –
precious enough not to waste it at all. Precious enough to make
sure that every day is special, every minute to be spent with care
and affection.
And as I settle into my
summer mode, I will keep in touch – will write posts….
But expect them to be dreamy…. Just the way summer should
be.
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