These "young men" created an association to help the "forgotten" of society

Pilot project is underway with a Roma community in Boliqueime

Maria Lopes (in the middle) – Photo: Associação Môçes

Mário Silva and Maria Lopes are a couple who, after a period of confinement in Brazil due to Covid-19, decided to return to the Algarve with a mission: to help disadvantaged populations, such as gypsies or drug addicts. For this, they created the association “Môçes”, headquartered in Santa Bárbara de Nexe (Faro), who, through teaching techniques such as crochet and crochet, wants to «give new life to those who need it most». 

Despite being from the Algarve, the idea of ​​these two young people was born far away from the region. It was during a trip to South America that, out of a necessity, an opportunity was born.

«We were in Brazil and we needed to create something to be able to continue the trip. Brazil has a lot of that: fairs, young people selling handicrafts on the street, on the beach, and we thought: why don't we do something?” says Maria Lopes.

Crochet was the art found to start developing their own products. First, the online store “Water in the Mouth”, with items of clothing, which later evolved into the association, because “the social part of all this work was missing”.

«No matter how much headaches I had at the beginning, I kept insisting and the thing stayed. I, for example, am already developing the technique more and I want to continue more and more», explains Maria.

 

Photo: Associação Môçes

 

It is these teachings that Maria and Mário are already passing on to a small Gypsy community, a “fringe of society often forgotten”.

“Right now, the pilot project is underway, with which we started the association, and we have been working with young Gypsies from Boliqueime, teaching them to crochet,” says Mário.

Twice a week, the couple goes to this community and the evolution has been notorious. «They are already autonomous and it has been very good because we have noticed that it is something that makes them feel good», says, enthusiastically, Mário Silva.

With these people, the goal is to make a “large crochet blanket”. In fact, in the future, the aim of everything the association does is to sell «the pieces, on an online platform, with part of the profits to be used so that young people can reinvest the money to continue their training».

In all this work, the “Môçes” association has had the support of Casulo, an incubator of the António Aleixo Foundation, in Loulé.

“They are the ones who have supported us, namely in contacts, because we want to form partnerships with associations that represent, in a way, fringe of the population that are put aside”, says Mário.

 

Photo: Associação Môçes

 

After this pilot project with the gypsy community of Boliqueime, there are already more ideas in the pipeline.

“Basically, we want to work with all groups considered at risk: young people with disabilities, from orphanages, with learning difficulties in schools, women who are victims of domestic violence, refugees or drug addicts”, exemplifies Maria Lopes.

To this end, in addition to crochet, the objective is to explore other «more ancient techniques, such as contract work, tin-making, pottery or ceramic», making «training in these areas». «We still don't have anything closed, but we have a lot to explore», he sums up.

«What we want is to give a new life to people and also to the art itself, which tends to fall into oblivion and is more connoted only with our grandmothers. The objective is to change the lives of people who come from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Or, at least, forward them», concludes Mário Silva.

 

 

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