“This is Christmas: it's love!”. The premise is by Miguel Baptista and is not just lip service. After all, it was this citizen of Quarteira who, in 2015, decided to go out on the street on December 24th, with a pot full of potatoes and cod, to consort with the homeless in this city, giving birth to “Christmas in the Streets”.
In 2020, the event arrives at hospitals in the region, this time with a double component: to encourage users and professionals of these health units and give a job opportunity to professionals in the local music world.
The first concert of “Natal das Ruas no Hospital” is starting today, from 15 pm, at the Hospital de Faro. On the 23rd, Wednesday, it will be the turn of another unit of the University Hospital Center of the Algarve (CHUA), that of Portimão, to host the initiative.
These will be completely normal concerts that require the logistics of any other, but they will have a fundamental difference: they are not live shows, open to everyone.
«There will be a physical stage where several musicians will play, with all the light show and many surprises.
Obviously, the concert will meet all safety standards. This is not a show with an audience. It is, above all, for those who are hospitalized, who can see from their bedroom window or on their mobile phone, because will be broadcast on streaming, live. We will all be able to follow this path, wherever we are. And there will be professionals who can visit there», revealed Ana Castro, president of the Board of Directors of CHUA.
The leader of the team that manages the Algarve hospitals spoke with journalists on the sidelines of the event's presentation session, which took place at the headquarters of the Recreational and Cultural Association of Musicians (ARCM), in Faro, organization that organizes the event, with the support of the Chamber of Faro and CHUA.
The inspiration for today's and Wednesday's shows is the “Natal das Ruas” by Miguel Baptista, who launched the challenge for these concerts. The adaptation and recreation to the reality of hospitals is in charge of musician and producer Mauro Amaral.
"This initiative brings together two realities, which were greatly influenced by the pandemic: that of health professionals, who have always continued to work selflessly since the beginning of the year, some of them voluntarily giving up vacations, as well as people who are hospitalized. We wanted to give them this treat», framed Ana Castro.
"On the other hand, here is the issue of professionals in the world of music, shows and the technical part, who have been without work all this time," he added.
This aspect of support to professionals in the world of music, not just the artists, but all the technicians who are involved, will be the one that most distinguishes “Natal das Ruas no Hospital” from the event that Miguel Baptista promotes annually in Quarteira.
And what is “Christmas Streets” and how did it come about?
«I'm not from the Algarve, but I've been here for about 25 years. My family are my children. And Christmas becomes that situation in which families isolate themselves and, when they isolate themselves, it is to be in contact with themselves. But they end up isolating themselves from all people. I think Christmas is a gathering of isolations», he said.
In 2015, at a time when he was separated, he thought: “I don't feel like going to anyone's house. So, I went to talk to some homeless people I met in Quarteira and decided to take some pots with potatoes and cod, which is the traditional thing».
Shortly after "exposing the feeling on the Internet" of having sex with the homeless, in Quarteira, he received an answer from someone he had not expected.
«I was surprised by a number of people who wanted to share this moment with me, but I will never forget Lourenço Ribeiro, [director] of Epic Sana, who was the first person who called me after 20 minutes», he said.
“And I would say: “But are you sure? Look, I'm going to do this here at the bus stop, on a park bench. This is going to be freezing cold and this is going to be a very personal thing, but if you want to come…” Miguel Baptista added, laughing.
The answer was yes: «“I want and I'm going with my children”. I was even more surprised», he confessed.
The hotel director is one of the many people who, since the first edition of “Natal das Ruas”, has participated in the event or helped to make it happen.
And from a first spontaneous meeting, with few people, a movement was born that grew, so that there are now more than a hundred meals served at each Christmas Eve.
And all this without money.
“There were people, even from the North, who contacted me saying they wanted to send money, but I refused. So people sent orders down with various things. And this is a little bit the spirit I want to keep. After all, money is not everything in life. And the human being, when he wants to do things, they happen», he said.
“The aim of this is that there is only the human spirit and that people focus much more on the humanity part. Anyone who has been there, realizes how incredible it is: that it is something, in fact, fantastic. There's absolutely nothing missing, from carpeted floors, heaters, giant screens, musicians and food», as well as gifts, as can't be lacking on Christmas Eve.
Mauro Amaral, who helped Miguel Baptista's idea reach the Chamber of Faro, in order to obtain the necessary support to carry out the initiative at the hospital, and who took on the task of producing it, he was one of the musicians who attended the event last year, and he doesn't hide that he was «with a full heart» and truly impressed by what he saw.
«I've been talking to Miguel throughout this year and I've also played in his space, where he's putting together his own project. He came up with the idea, also after seeing what we did here in the summer, with the Kriativa Fair», said the musician from Faro.
"As we have a very close collaboration with the municipality, namely with Vice President Paulo Santos, we spoke with them straight away, because this makes sense for everyone," he added.
And if, in the past, musicians were part of the party as volunteers, this year, when the pandemic has profoundly affected the cultural sector, they are one of the recipients of the initiative.
Even so, everything was thought of in such a way as not to convey «an image of misery, of needing a little help. We want to do things, have the opportunity to work. Solidarity is internal, it is for us, and we were also lucky enough to make our work object be people and emotions», said Mauro Amaral.
Now João Melro, president of ARCM, recalls that finding ways to allow musicians and technicians to work was one of the association's priorities, after the order to deconfine.
“We realized right away that ARCM, as an association, was not at risk of survival because of the pandemic. So we thought about what we could do to help. We tried to benefit the musicians we have here in the rehearsal rooms, forgiving some rents», he said.
«From the moment it opened, we have been concerned with making a program, in order to try to keep the musicians working», said João Melro.
Rogério Bacalhau, president of the Chamber of Faro, one of the entities that will finance the initiative, emphasizes that “cachets will not be paid out there”, but stressed that this is “an opportunity for these professionals to work, in a year in which they ran out of income”.
«Like what we have already done with the Theatre, this is an initiative that comes here to help. It's a simple help, but it makes a difference for people», said the mayor from Farense.
The idea of “Christmas Streets” also excited Ana Castro, who opened the doors of the CHUA units.
"We are grateful for this gesture, which for patients and professionals will be a gesture of affection and recognition and which for us is very important," he said.
The gratitude extends to the two Chambers involved, that of Portimão and that of Faro, “who helped to set up this project in each of the hospitals”.
Finally, the CHUA Board president thanks "the entire event team for what they have been doing, which has been incredible, as well as our communication team, who have been helping them to put this together in record time."
“What we are talking about here is a collaboration between different institutions that is not always easy. We all need to be aligned to be able to assemble something like this in record time. I am sure that it will go well and that we will leave a mark on the people who are there, debilitated, in the hospital and on those who work there, who, at this moment, could be on vacation or with their family», concluded Rogério Bacalhau.
“Natal das Ruas” counts on the technical assistance and support of the companies Mentecapta and Dirtysock.
The Associação Recreativa e Cultural de Músicos has also created the ARCM Solidarity Fund, to which it is possible to contribute through the following means: MBWAY 968506072 or Nib 0036 0221 99100007204 31. The donations raised revert to the benefit of Algarve musicians.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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