I. Foster Brown's

Innocence in Brazil

Foreword

The writing of Innocence in Brazil began as a way to keep family and friends abreast of my experiences in Brazil. I was reluctant at first to publish these accounts because my experiences might gain an aura of importance beyond their worth, yet several people remarked that these stories helped make global issues more real.

My job is to work for local solutions to global environmental problems - solutions that demand the concerted efforts of Americans, Brazilians, and indigenous peoples alike. I hope that these accounts will provide some insights for those outside of Brazil as to the challenges facing residents in Amazonia and will encourage readers wherever they live to participate in solving global problems.

The title is a misspelled take-off on Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad because I often felt (and still do) naive about life in general and Brazil in particular. The accounts are edited versions of stories that I sent to friends every few months over the last two years. They are snippets of time and are dated because things do change - new colleagues come, others go, ideas end in failure, wither on the vine or, as one always hopes, become successes.

I. Foster Brown

P.S. As for the use of the English rather than the metric system for distances and weights, all I can say is that the editors made me do it.

©Woods Hole Research Center, 2008