The smiles and tears of joy of the “Silva” family, upon meeting what will very soon be their first masonry house, contrast with the shy looks, full of apprehension, which they cast on the rooms of the one-story house located in the center of São Brás de Alportel, which has just been awarded to them by the municipality.
And it is clear that this is so, as this household has always lived in shackled houses, without the conditions that most Portuguese take for granted, such as electricity, running water and a bathroom.
This was one of five families from São Brás de Alportel who received new homes from the City Council of São Brás de Alportel, this Tuesday, and saw their living conditions improved. Four of the beneficiaries received housing in the municipality's Bairro Social. The “Silva” family will be located in the historic center of the village.
The situation of this family, composed of a couple and their adult daughter, was the most serious. Suffice it to say that the resolution of this problem makes São Brás a «shack-free» municipality.
The head of the family “Silva” and his wife “for more than 50 years” have called improvised houses home. «I worked for many years in a cork factory here in São Brás. At the time, we lived in a tent, on the factory owner's land. Later, a daughter of mine died and I was unable to continue working», he told, moved, to the Sul Informação.
Since then, he survives on a disability pension and lives in a very humble way in a squat house, which he built in another area of the county, authorized by the owner of the land.
Humility is an adjective that runs through the entire history of “Silvas”. “Practically, we had to force them to accept the house. Despite living in the conditions they lived in, they never asked or demanded anything from us," reveals the mayor of São Brás de Alportel Vítor Guerreiro, adding that the family "was very afraid of change, afraid of not adapting."
The “Silvas” did not go to the Chamber, but the municipality's Social Action services went to the family, which they referred to as needing support. Help now arrives, not only in the form of decent housing, but also in the furniture and appliances needed to fill the house and also regular monitoring, so that they learn to use them.
After a moment of greater emotion, when he delivered it, by hand and on the spot, the keys to the house to this family, Vítor Guerreiro gave voice to the feeling of the local authority team that was directly involved in the resolution of this case. "The most gratifying thing about the position we occupy is causing tears of joy like those we saw on the face of the couple's daughter, because it will change her life," he revealed to Sul Informação.
This feeling extends to the other four families with whom they signed contracts for the transfer of social housing, throughout most of yesterday morning. “Today we have assigned five houses and we have solved many other cases that were part of our priority agenda”, illustrated the mayor.
«I think that, from now on, the municipality of São Brás de Alportel is a little different from most other municipalities in the country. At the moment, fortunately, we don't have major problems with regard to housing, which is very good», illustrated Vítor Guerreiro.
This does not mean that the municipality considers that everything is resolved. "Of course, there are always cases where the household is very large and the house is not suitable, or other types of situations, which we will continue to resolve", he assured.
Cases of social emergencies are also emerging, such as those of two single mothers with financial difficulties, who were given homes yesterday.
Other situations, namely degraded houses, are dealt with using the municipal program “Mão Amiga”.
“Every year we have a budget in our budget for small projects in the homes of people who do not have the economic capacity to do so, which are always allocated to local companies. We have been recovering roofs, bathrooms, improving kitchens and other works», he illustrated.
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