Gonçalo Reis is a student in the 8th year of the Joaquim Moreira Basic School, in Martim Longo, in the municipality of Alcoutim. With the return of the confinement, the young student, without equipment in conditions, once again felt the difficulties of distance learning, but a computer received this Friday, March 5th, will change everything. And, suddenly, what seems so simple only from now on became real: «now I'll be able to talk to the teacher».
Gonçalo was one of five students from the Alcoutim Schools Group who received a computer, in an initiative by the Galp Foundation that took these young people – and their parents – to school, on an afternoon of heavy rain, but also joy.
For the father Daniel Reis, this new equipment «will help a lot».
“I have three school-age children and it becomes very difficult. We had a fixed, old computer, without a camera, without a microphone, without anything», he reports to the report. Sul Informação, already with the new computer in hand.
Coming from the North, but «a resident of Martim Longo», as he makes a point of stressing, Daniel Reis exemplifies the difficulties that the whole family has felt in returning to distance learning.
«My eldest goes to Secondary School, in Mértola, and the school also gave him a computer, but my daughter, who is in the 1st year, has to use my cell phone to follow classes. We're all at home and it's complicated, especially at this stage when I needed to learn more», he laments.
But the afternoon is full of joy and the person in charge of education praises this Galp Foundation initiative. “I really want to thank whoever donated this computer to us. It's a very, very important help, especially for those who have as many children as I do», he says.
Beside him, Gonçalo sums it up, with timid but heartfelt words: “It's a great gift”.
In total, Galp delivered 30 computers to the Alcoutim Schools Group – which incorporates the Alcoutim Integrated Basic School and the Joaquim Moreira Basic School. For now, only five have been distributed to the most needy students and the others will remain in school for now.
According to Joana Garoupa, director of Communication and Marketing at Galp, the main objective is “to contribute to the education of the country”.
«As part of the pandemic, the Galp Foundation promoted a series of initiatives that we thought made sense in view of this dramatic situation we are experiencing. What we felt was that, with the pandemic, the issue of inequalities came to the fore and we ended up creating this project, which is almost a circular economy initiative», he explains.
Is that "these are computers that Galp already had, and which, instead of throwing away, it has recovered, and is now distributing them", he adds.
The fact that the equipment is for students from an inland territory is also highlighted by Joana Garoupa: «we [Galp] are present throughout the country and, precisely for this reason, we try never to forget that there is more than Lisbon and Porto».
The one who knows the reality, which is quite different, of this School Group is Paula Bento, its principal.
«We are here in the countryside, our students come from the countryside, often from places, from hills. There are students with a lot of difficulties», he explains to the Sul Informação.
Therefore, this «Galp initiative is truly important».
"It's a nice gesture and it's good that there are companies with this social responsibility and that are aware of the needs and difficulties that people go through," he says, after the ceremony for handing over the computers.
When contacted by the General Directorate of Schools, the principal tells how "she was all happy". «They called me to say that I was going to receive the 30 computers and I thought: let them come!».
The issue, according to Paula Bento, is really the «lack of conditions that some students have». «They already dominate the technologies, we are in the technological age, but most of them do not have the necessary conditions…», he vents.
Director since the beginning of this school year, Paula Bento, who sums up these months of work as «challenging», tells how the return to distance learning has been «very laborious, especially for teachers».
“Fortunately, everything is going well, but we have to give a vote of praise to the teachers because everyone has worked beyond what is expected so that no one is left behind”, he says.
This is also the great goal of Osvaldo Gonçalves, president of the Alcoutim Chamber: to support everyone in need. This is what led, on occasion, the municipality itself «already lent some computers, doing what we could».
As for Galp's initiative, it only deserves words of recognition from the mayor.
“I have to express my gratitude for this gesture of patronage for schools and kids. There are a number of initiatives that we have been taking, continuously, as an autarchy, and that have also helped. Fortunately, we do not have serious cases of food shortages, but we have seen how these computers help families. The kids left here all happy!», he says.
In a grouping where «we all help each other and there is great cooperation», as the director emphasizes, employees are an essential part. On their behalf, Cidália Pereira made a point of thanking Galp's initiative as well.
“We are so often forgotten. We're so isolated here that we don't even seem to exist in the world. We are few, yes, but we have a lot of willpower and there are people who leave this school who become great professionals».
Gonçalo Reis, with the help of his new computer, will certainly be closer to being one of them because, finally, «he'll be able to talk to the teacher…without using the chat».
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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