Cristiane Soethe

My name is Cristiane Soethe Zimmermann.

I’m 27, I live in Blumenau, a city colonized by German immigrants, that has 300.000 inhabitants today.  I’m married to Sylvio Zimmermann Neto.

 I’m a journalist, with post-graduation in business communication. I have worked with tv, newspaper, radio, magazines, but I have found my professional realization in journalism working with press assistance, public relation, all those things that the corporate communication evolves. I have a partner (also journalist) in a small company of corporate communication called “Presse” (www.presse.inf.br).  We provide communication assistance to several companies and associations.

 I have many hobbies and special interests, among them: to cook, to read, to do some handicraft, to travel, and to study new languages. I love arts and music and I take part in a German chorus.

Professionally, taking part of the GSE, I hope to make contacts with people who work in the same area and to know how they do this work there and what the differences are, improve my work in Brazil with some new ideas, etc. I’d like to know how the corporate communication works there.

 We can also tell you about our situation here. We live in a privileged place in Brazil, but not compared to the European level. In Santa Catarina we have a great quality of live, comparing to the rest of the country. However, in November 2008, we had the hardest flooding on the state’s history. We have never saw a tragedy like that. More than 100 people had died because the flooding and landslides and more than 6.000 were homeless. The tragedy has mostly reached cities like Blumenau, Ilhota, Gaspar, Itajaí and Luís Alves, the region called “European Valley”.

 This situation brought us a big problem: how we can rebuild the State of Santa Catarina? It’s hard to see our beautiful city, the place where we were born facing this situation. The government is asking for help, the citizens are asking for help and our hearts are asking for help. Then, I think this GSE program will give us the possibility to show you our real situation. This entire question has to do with the Rotary’s humanitarian program to reduce the infant mortality, because in natural disasters like this one, there are many innocent children who died because their parents has no conditions to build a house in a legal place. Maybe we can find a way to contribute and to give our testimonial about what happened here. For example, as a journalist I could visit the media to report our experience and give them information about this tragedy and how the world could help us.

 At the same time, I can learn about your country and propagate here in Brazil your way of life, your difficulties and the good things you have in Nederland.

As a tourist, I’d love to visit the Van Gogh Museum, the Rembrandt House Museum, theaters, and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun at the Queensday.

Cristiane Soethe Zimmermann,
Presse Comunicação Empresarial
(47) 9943-2992 / 3041-2992, www.presse.inf.br