Developing the self-esteem of homeless people who are being followed by the Albufeira Homeless Planning and Intervention Nucleus (NPISA) was the objective of a visit to Zoomarine and a collective photography exhibition promoted by the Albufeira Chamber on the 13th and 17th of October.
Both activities were part of the celebration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The visit to Zoomarine was attended by 16 people, who were accompanied by four NPISA technicians.
Throughout the day, the group had “the opportunity to walk around the various amusements in the park, watch shows and participate in an educational activity with two biologists, with the aim of raising awareness of environmental issues”.
«These are people that life hit, but what matters now is the direction of tomorrow, is looking forward and not back», considers Cláudia Guedelha, the councilor for Social Action of the Chamber of Albufeira, who accompanied the visit as coordinator of NPISA – Albufeira and had lunch with users and technicians.
«They are interested and interesting people, who were very concerned with environmental issues and showed great interest in group dynamics», he says.
«We also want to raise awareness of the community in general, to the importance of a positive position towards people who find themselves in this situation», concludes the councilor from Albufeira.
The other activity, which kicked off on the 17th of October, International Poverty Day, consists of an itinerant photography exhibition carried out by homeless people who are at CATE – Accommodation Center Temporary Emergency Shelter Center , with the motto “Dreaming the future”.
The inauguration of this exhibition, on the 17th, took place at Cais Herculano, in what, according to the municipality, was «a festive day, with the performance of two violin interpreters, from the Conservatory of Music of Albufeira, and a cocktail party, organized by the team of technicians and users of CATE'.
«This work with users was developed over several weeks, under the theme of emotions and the idea of the future, with trips abroad with cameras in hand. Each user took photographs in order to express their present and to think about the idea of the future», describes the Albufeira Chamber.
José Carlos Rolo, Mayor of Albufeira, attended the opening of the exhibition and was impressed by «the way in which they share their emotions through the image and captions», which bring us «other views on the reality that surrounds us» .
The mayor of Albufeira also highlighted the work carried out by NPISA in the municipality and the importance of working on the role of users in society.
After Cais Herculano, the exhibition “Dreaming the future” will be on display in the parishes of the municipality.
From the 3rd to the 11th of November, it will be on display at Guia (Municipal Market), from the 14th to the 21st of November in Paderne (Parish Municipal) and in Olhos de Água, from the 1th to the 23th of December (Exhibition Room – Beach Support).
The “Albufeira Social Network”, within which the NIPSA was created, results from a partnership protocol between 14 municipal and regional entities: Albufeira Municipality, Social Security Institute/District Center of Faro, Albufeira Solidarity Humanitarian Association – Albufeira Volunteer Firefighters, CASA – Homeless Support Center – Albufeira delegation, Portuguese Red Cross – Silves Humanitarian Center – Albufeira, Drug Addicts Help Group – GATO, Employment and Professional Training Institute – Loulé Employment Centre, António Silva Leal Foundation, National Republican Guard – SPE, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Albufeira and Parish Councils of Ferreiras, Albufeira and Olhos de Água, Guia and Paderne.
Comments