Maria Amélia parks the car and then hurries to open the back door. From there, he takes out several bags, with oranges, onions, clothes and shoes. "This year, I had so many oranges, I see so much spoiling and it's not time for that," he confesses. In Alte, there is a new project, the ASAS (Aldeia dos Saberes e dos Afetos), whose social bazaar collects the surplus from the vegetable gardens that are still cared for by many elderly people to deliver them to those who need them most.
This is a project where «everyone wins», as he says, when Sul Informação, Joana Camacho, one of the faces of ASAS, as she puts the finishing touches to the preparations for the inauguration of the bazaar, which took place this Sunday, December 19th.
The philosophy of this store, created on the premises where Casa da Criança operated, is simple to understand and wants to involve the entire community.
Elderly people who have surpluses in their gardens are invited to donate these “leftovers” to ASAS. Afterwards, the project will deal with delivering the food to those who need it most.
The store will have three schemes: one completely free, another for “bartering money” (with people being helped to be able, for example, to participate in ASAS activities) and, finally, goods at a lower price.
“Our bazaar will work as a support for the families: there will be a selection, a follow-up of those we are going to help. There will be a connection between us and the social worker from the Parish Council and this will work almost in emergent situations», explains Elsa Silva, president of the Community Support and Animation Center of the Parish of Alte, the entity behind this project.
The person in charge lives in the mountains and tells about her personal experience.
«I myself see how there are still many people who cultivate a lot, beyond what they need, and we want to make a education for them to yield. If necessary, we'll get these surpluses from people's homes. There will also be an action, in the villages, with surplus boxes that the population can put there or take out, as needed», he explains.
In recent years, Alte has also received "many immigrants", he says. Many of them, upon arrival, "have some needs" and ASAS wants to help them fly.
To this end, there has been help from ladies like Maria Amélia for whom this project is «an excellent idea».
“There are always people who need something. I have a small garden and sometimes there are things that go bad without needing to. So, coming here to bring this is an act of help for someone», he considers.
This is what Marta Guerreiro, Stephanie Silva and Alexandra Guerreiro also think.
Students of the Educational Action Technician course at the Cândido Guerreiro Professional School, in Alte, it was precisely through the school that they learned about the creation of ASAS.
“Our teacher told us about the project and we immediately started volunteering”, explains Stephanie, with her classmates at her side.
Together, they have helped to prepare Christmas hampers to deliver to needy families – another ASAS feature – and have also donated food and clothing that they did not use.
“Helping others is very good and very important”, says Marta.
One of the goals of ASAS is to bring new and old together around the same goal: solidarity. In addition to the social store, workshops on more traditional techniques and actions are planned in which young people will be teaching the elderly to use technology.
“Above all, this is a project that wants to actively participate in people's lives. Imagine that an older person comes here to talk about their professional experience 40 years ago. Maybe, for someone unemployed, this will arouse interest», exemplifies Joana Camacho.
At her side, Patrícia Madeira does not hide her enthusiasm for the project for which she is one of those responsible.
«Right when the application was opened, I identified myself. I'm from Altense, I walked here at Casa da Criança and it was a whole process until I got here», he says.
Despite being recent – it only started in October -, Elsa Silva already speaks of a “very well accepted” project that even exceeded expectations.
«A social project of this nature was needed in Alte because there was nothing of the kind», he reports.
Maria Amélia's help is guaranteed. "Whenever I can, I have publicized this initiative because it has legs to walk on." Or wings to fly.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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