Vice Chancellor Brother Peter Bray and Executive Vice President Rev. Dr. Iyad Twal welcomed H.E. Mr. Alessandro Candias, the Brazilian Ambassador to the State of Palestine, accompanied by Professor João Baptista de Medeiros Vargens, Head of the Arab Studies Sector at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and Ms. Adriana Farias, a diplomat at the Representative Office of Brazil in Ramallah, on their first visit to Bethlehem University on Wednesday, 18 May 2022.
Brother Peter briefed H.E. Mr. Candias about Bethlehem University, its mission to serve the Palestinian people through education, and its development plans. They also discussed ways of cooperation at the academic level between Bethlehem University and Brazilian universities.
Professor Vargens gave a lecture to students of the Department of Arabic Language on teaching Arabic in Brazil, and about his role in teaching the Portuguese language in some Arab countries such as Morocco, Syria, and Egypt. He explained that he is trying to expand his work to include Palestine since there are Brazilian tourists who visit the country.
