Sam Rossoni is proud of his Brazilian heritage.
The Staples High School junior’s parents were born and raised there. He and his family travel often, to visit family. Sam has dual citizenship, and speaks fluent Portuguese.
He’s an active and involved teenager. He plays varsity soccer; helped collect thousands of dollars for Westport’s sister city of Lyman, Ukraine; is vice president of Enable (a club that prints 3D hands for people who cannot afford prostheses); is a member of the National Math and Science Honor Societies, and takes flying lessons at Danbury Airport.
Sam also co-founded Staples’ chapter of Associaçáo Médico do Floresta. The Brazilian non-profit helps indigenous and underserved populations in remote areas, providing services like dental care, eyeglasses and surgeries.
Fundraising is important. But this summer Sam went the extra mile — literally.
He spent a week in the Amazon with the Ribeirinhos. The traditional population relies on fishing, and growing bananas and macachera; they receive very little help from the government.
Sam traveled with about 20 others — all Brazilian, primarily doctors, and a Globo filmmaker — to provide help.
He was the youngest volunteer. The next oldest was in his 30s.
Sam Rossoni, in an Amazonian village.
Sam traveled by himself, from Sao Paulo to Manaus. He joined the group there, for a 10-hour boat trip up the Rio Negro, to a village called Tapiíra.
From that base, they worked. Eye doctors performed tests; dentists and gynecologists provided their services.
Sam helped register patients. He worked on the database. And he helped the dentists, teaching villagers proper brushing techniques.
Sam Rossoni teaches toothbrushing techniques.
The volunteers traveled beyond Tapiíra, visiting even smaller settlements along the Unini River.
Seeing first hand those lives — without electricity, and water available only by carrying buckets down and up steep hills to a river — made an enormous impact on Sam.
He was immersed in their lives. He slept in a hammock. He saw — and ate — alligators and turtles.
Sam Rossoni and a catfish, on the river.
He spoke with villagers, and learned about their distrust of corrupt, unhelpful governments.
He also enjoyed lighter moments, like swimming with local boys, and scoring the winning goal — barefoot — in a makeshift soccer game.
One day, the Ribeirinhos cooked fish for the volunteers, with lime juice, green onions and peppers. Sam calls it “definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had.”
Grilled and fried local fish, farinha quebra dente (“teeth-breaking flour”), and a sauce made from lemon juice, pepper and green onion.
“They were so nice, generous and welcoming,” he says of the people he met. “They told me about their daily lives. It’s so drastically different from mine.”
“Before going, I knew the situation was bad,” Sam says. “But now I realize how much I take things like electricity and water for granted.”
Of course, he notes, “I only witnessed it. I didn’t experience it, the reality of it, the way they do, every day.”
Sam Rossoni, with new friends.
Sam is even more inspired now to “find the most efficient and effective ways to help people, in a way they want to be helped.”
He adds, “I knew this trip would be special. But it was so much more than I could have imagined. It was happy, sad — all sorts of emotions, combined into one. It was definitely life-changing.”
He returned home “a new student, a new volunteer, a new person.”
(“06880” often tells stories of young Westporters, doing interesting, challenging and important things. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog. Thank you!)
Sam Rossoni and a friendly paca.
