• September 5, 12 pm – Hoisting of the Brazilian Flag and performance of the Brazilian National Anthem, at the Boston City Hall Plaza;

• September 8, 7 pm – Brazilian film screening: Master, A Building in Copacabana, at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St, Arlington;

• September 9, 7 pm – Teresa Ines & Marcus Santos in Concert, at the Framingham Public Library, Costin Room, 49 Lexington Street, Framingham;

• September 12, 12-6 pm – Outdoor Festival, at DCR Herter Park, 1175 Soldier’s Field Road, Boston.

Attractions:

- 12 pm official opening – performance of the Brazilian National Anthem by Daniela Speziale;

- Festival Opening Parade with Marcus Santos and AfroBrazil;

- Children’s activities;

- Boston Museum of Science;

- New England Aquarium;

- Ethnic Food, information and service stands;

- Live performances by Afro Orpheu Musical; Forro Band Cabras da Peste; dance performance by Moves & Vibes Co.; capoeira with Mestre Chuvisco; and David Ramos and Samba no Pé.

Award recipients are people whose hard work and commitment have made a difference in the lives of the Portuguese-speaking communities of Massachusetts. A list of previous recipients in four different award categories is also available on the organization’s website. It includes Secretary of State William Galvin, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Cape Verdean community leader Isaura Mendes, among many others.

“It takes a lot of energy and altruism to advocate for and serve the immigrant communities,” said Joseph J. Vasconcelos, President of MAPS’ Board of Directors. “We offer those awards in recognition of their dedication and to encourage them to keep on doing this crucial work, as well as inspire others to follow in their footsteps.”

Leading the preparations for the 2011 Gala are co-chairs Elizabeth Chaves and Antonia Alves. Chaves represents MAPS’ Board of Directors, of which she is the Treasurer. She is a former MAPS Director of Finances and co-hosted the Gala in 2007. She currently works as a financial consultant in Cambridge.

Elizabeth Chaves

“I’m a witness of what MAPS can do for the community and how important the Gala is to make sure the agency keep helping thousands of Portuguese-speakers in Massachusetts,” said Chaves. “I am very excited to be deeply involved with the Gala one more time and to see all the Portuguese-speaking communities come together as one.”

Alves has been working for MAPS for almost five years as Case Manager and Driver Alcohol Education Program Coordinator.

Antonia Alves

“I am honored to represent the great team we have at MAPS in such an important assignment,” said Alves. “I can’t wait to get started and make sure we’ll have a wonderful celebration.”

The Annual Awards Gala is MAPS’ largest fundraiser and supports the many social and health services that the agency provides to Brazilians, Cape Verdeans, Portuguese and other community members. Last May, MAPS held its highly successful 40th Anniversary Awards Gala.

“We had such a memorable night this year, and we want our next Gala to be just as glamorous and inspiring,” said Paulo Pinto, MAPS’ Executive Director.

Development Assistant

Part-Time

15-20 hours per week

Reporting to the Director of Development and Communications, the Development Assistant will be responsible for a variety of funding development projects.

Responsibilities:

1. Assisting in research, development, writing, submission and follow-up activities for agency funding proposals

2. Helping to plan and implement the Annual Appeal, Annual Awards Gala and other fundraising activities, and to motivate other staff and Board members to participate

3. Helping to plan and implement agency donor development and maintenance strategy

4. Maintaining communications with donors, funders and other important constituents

5. Maintaining development files and mailing lists/database

6. Attending development-related meetings such as bidder’s conferences

7. Helping to develop community sponsorships such as for agency special events

8. Using Constant Contact email marketing system and other communication methods to keep MAPS constituents and others informed about agency activities and issues

9. Working with other team members to cultivate MAPS donors, funders and other constituents by promoting MAPS –especially its development-related efforts – through Facebook and other social media as well as on the agency website

Skills:

• Excellent writing, organizational and communications skills

• BA degree

• Knowledge of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, InDesign, Photoshop, and/or related software

• Familiar and comfortable with Facebook, Twitter, WordPress or other blog software and other Web-based technologies

• Background in grant writing, donor development, special events and/or other development fields preferred

• Bilingual/Bicultural in Portuguese/ English languages preferred but not required

• Must be fluent in English and have strong English writing skills

Salary Range commensurate with experience: $17-$18/hour

To apply for this position, please send resume and cover letter by August 31, 2010 to:

MAPS Personnel Office

1046 Cambridge St.

Cambridge, MA 02139

Email:  lmorais@maps-inc.org

Affirmative Action/EOE

If you have already responded to the census, why are you being contacted again? A census worker may call if the Census Bureau has difficulty reading or otherwise needs to clarify your answers. Census workers may visit if your household was incorrectly marked as unoccupied on April 1. You may receive a visit if your address was not included in the mail-back phase or in the door-to-door follow-up phase. If you filled out a Be Counted form or provided your answers over the phone, a census worker may visit to confirm that the geographic location of your home matches an address in the Census Bureau’s files. Finally, census workers may be in your area to resolve any suspected duplicate addresses.

Please keep in mind that the Census Bureau’s quality assurance operations will affect a small percentage of the total number of households counted in the 2010 Census.

As always, individual responses are completely confidential, protected, and cannot be shared with anyone. All Census Bureau employees are required to swear an oath for life to protect your personal information.

Please cooperate if a census worker calls or visits your household as part of the final stages of the 2010 Census. This has been the largest domestic undertaking of the American people, and now is the time to make sure the data we all rely on is as accurate as possible.

“The best way to ensure survival is through screening and early detection,” says Ione de Andrade, MAPS Women’s Health Educator, who is leading the agency’s group for the race. Race participants can either run or walk even small distances to support the campaign. Donations can also be made online. For information or to join the MAPS team, please call (617) 787-0557. To learn more and sign up, please click here.

MAPS’ Portuguese-language Breast Cancer Prevention Program offers frequent outreach, education and prevention about the disease in the community. The program recently received a $40,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Massachusetts Affiliate to support its activities and educate more people.

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) announced today that the risk for eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in people has increased in a large part of southeastern Massachusetts. Lakeville and Middleborough were already considered to be at high risk for human disease due to earlier EEE positive mosquito samples and the death of a horse from EEE in Middleborough. Today, the state expanded the high risk area to include the towns of Acushnet, Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Duxbury, Fairhaven, Freetown, Halifax, Kingston, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Plympton, Raynham, Rochester and Taunton. The towns immediately surrounding that area are at moderate risk.

Mosquitoes collected in Fairhaven and Duxbury today tested positive for the EEE virus. One infected mosquito was identified as a mammal biter, making it more likely to transmit infection to people. So far this year, 10 collections of mosquitoes have tested positive for EEE virus.

 The Department of Public Health asks cities and towns in the high risk areas to curtail evening events at dusk and dawn. Outdoor events should be rescheduled for different times of the day. Even if you are wearing long sleeves and using repellant, it is prudent at this time to take extra precautions.

“We look at a number of factors when we assess risk, including mosquito findings,” said DPH Commissioner John Auerbach. “Both mosquitoes and virus were early this year, and a horse was sick with EEE much earlier in the season than we usually expect. If you also consider the warm weather plus recent rain in the area, the evidence points to the fact that people are at more risk, and everyone must take precautions to prevent illness.”

There was one human case of EEE during 2008; however, there were 13 cases with six deaths from 2004 through 2006. EEE is usually spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. EEE is a serious disease in all ages and can even cause death in some cases.

“There is a complicating factor this year,” said DPH State Epidemiologist Dr. Al DeMaria. “The numbers of mosquitoes are generally low and people may not feel they are getting many bites. A high proportion of those mosquitoes are infected with EEE, which makes any bite a greater risk, and we are expecting a resurgence of mosquitoes after last week’s heavy rains that will primarily be the type of mosquito that likes to bite people.”

Mosquito testing results from 2010 can be found on the Arbovirus Surveillance Information web page at www.mass.gov/dph/wnv.

People have an important role to play in protecting themselves and their loved ones from illnesses caused by mosquitoes.

Avoid Mosquito Bites

• Be Aware of Peak Mosquito Hours. The hours from dusk to dawn are peak biting times for many mosquitoes. Consider rescheduling outdoor activities that occur during evening or early morning.

• Clothing Can Help Reduce Mosquito Bites. Wearing long-sleeves, long pants and socks when outdoors will help keep mosquitoes away from your skin.

• Apply Insect Repellent When Outdoors. Use a repellent with DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide), permethrin, picaridin (KBR 3023), oil of lemon eucalyptus [p-methane 3, 8-diol (PMD)] or IR3535 according to the instructions on the product label. DEET products should not be used on infants under two months of age and should be used in concentrations of 30% or less on older children. Oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under three years of age.

Mosquito-Proof Your Home

• Drain Standing Water. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water. Limit the number of places around your home for mosquitoes to breed by either draining or discarding items that hold water. Check rain gutters and drains. Empty any unused flowerpots and wading pools, and change water in birdbaths frequently.

• Install or Repair Screens. Keep mosquitoes outside by having tightly-fitting screens on all of your windows and doors.

More information about EEE and WNV risk is available on the DPH website: www.mass.gov/dph/wnv.

Information about West Nile Virus (WNV) and EEE is also available by calling the DPH recorded information line at 1-866-MASS-WNV (1-866-627-7968) or the Epidemiology Program at 617-983-6800.

-DPH-

“Becoming a citizen is the ultimate level of the immigrant experience and we strongly encourage our clients to apply for citizenship when they meet all the requirements,” said Paulo Pinto, MAPS Executive Director. “It empowers not only the students, but all of our communities as well.”

Classes will prepare the students to pass the US Citizenship exam by teaching them some fundamentals of civics, history and English. The cost is $150 for the 12 weeks, plus $18 for the workbook. For more information or to enroll, please contact (617) 864-7600.

Portuguese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with approximately 250 million speakers in the nine countries where it’s the official language – Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, East Timor, Guine-Bissau, São Tomé e Príncipe and Macau. The Basic Brazilian Portuguese course will provide the students with reading, writing, speaking and listening skills to connect with some of the fastest-growing economies and most vibrant cultures worldwide. It’s also an opportunity to increase personal and professional relations with the large Portuguese-speaking communities in the United States.

Instructor Junior Catao is a native Brazilian with more than five years of Portuguese teaching experience in Massachusetts. The total fee for the whole course is $150, not including materials. For more information, please call (617) 864-7600.

Sat., April 30