There are 50,000 Olympic volunteers and Andre Pacheco is one of them.

Despite being clad in the lime green Rio 2016 volunteer shirt and beige cargo pants, Pacheco stands out from the rest of the volunteers.

His Olympic rings sunglasses make him hard to miss, as does the mega phone hanging around his neck.

It’s volunteers like Pacheco who epitomise the Brazilian culture – colourful, lively and friendly.

“I’m still learning how to shout into the mega phone,” Pacheco grins cheekily.

The 18 year-old is from an adjoining State of Rio de Janeiro. He’s on college vacation and says he has nothing to do.

“The Olympics are here and I thought to myself why should I be here and do nothing,” he explains.

“I will travel to Rio and do something new!”

Pacheco is studying ecology and said he doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future.

“Maybe something like international relations,” he suggests.

“The best part of the job is meeting people from all over the world.”

Pacheco is confident Rio will have a successful Games.

“I’m very excited. I can see this is a great opportunity for our people,” he said.

“I am very happy to receive people in my country and I hope everyone has a nice Olympics Games here.”

And with volunteers with attitudes like his, it’s hard not to have an enjoyable Games experience.

Sophie Onikul
olympics.com.au