Naturalized Brazilian Canadian, Kenny Pires Mendes, known as Professor Kenny, has just been elected municipal councilor of the city of Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, for the Democratic Party. He attributes the victory and encouragement to enter politics to his students. A university professor, the former soldier declares that the flag he will brandish as an advisor will be that of education.

Kenny arrived in Brazil at the age of six due to the illness of his mother, who received a doctor’s recommendation to go live in a country with warm temperatures. After his death, Kenny returned to Canada with his father and obtained a degree in engineering. From 1989 to 1994, he was a member of the peacekeeping forces in his native country. “When I was in the military, I traveled through Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia and Kuwait on peace patrol missions,” he says.

Still in Canada, he married a Brazilian woman and returned to Brazil in 1994, where he still lives today. “I already consider myself Brazilian, it’s the country I love, that’s why I entered politics,” says the future city councilor. The goal was achieved in the third election attempt, after reflecting on Brazil’s shortcomings. “I have traveled the world and Brazil is the most receptive country. The country is fantastic, the natural resources are endless. What unfortunately ruins it is politics. My dream was to live here with politics there, and little by little I want to make a change,” says the professor.

Among his plans for the next four years, Kenny says he will prioritize education. “My flag is education. I have been a teacher for 16 years, I have a dream related to education. Santos is growing rapidly, with the pre-salt basin, tourism and the World Cup, many opportunities will present themselves, but the biggest problem is the lack of training. An idea that I would like to put into practice is to transform municipal schools into community training centers during their off-peak hours,” declares the elected official.

Besides education, Professor Kenny also emphasizes environmental and cultural issues. The professor teaches English and French in technical terms in engineering, biology and pharmacy courses at Universidade Santa Cecília (UniSanta). Kenny also gives voluntary language lessons to young people in the Santos hills.

Kenny explains that he decided to go into politics thanks to the students, who always encouraged him. “I used to talk to my students in class and we formed a great friendship. I often say that things work in Canada and they always joke that I should be a politician, mayor or president, for it to be the same here as in Canada. It was nourishing, as was my dissatisfaction with politics. My biggest supporters were without a doubt my students. About 99% of them and 1% of my dissatisfaction,” he explains.

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