ESEB/IPBEJA Multimedia Communication and Education 1º year students and teacher in a class dedicated to LOLA.

Personal insect zoo run by an autodidact. Social insects preservation, study and education.
www.cappas-insectozoo.com.pt

Vila Ruiva is a small village near Beja

Mr. João Cappas built an insect zoo at home. He always loved insects and at the age of twelve contacted a famous Brazilian researcher who encouraged him to follow is scientific passion and to share it with the community. The zoo is a one-man enterprise, was built bit-by-bit and has now 4 rooms, including an educational library. The newest room, still in construction, will be a pharmaceutics research laboratory. The zoo is mainly supported by Mr. Cappas and the entrance fees.

Mr. João Cappas with the students at the zoo entrance.

The promoter of the initiative took an industrial design course and built himself most of the structures you can see in this exposition room.

An hive of the mayan stingless bee. Mr. Cappas as done serious investigation about them. The visitors can taste the honey wich is great!

If you are brave enough you can make aquaintace with the zoo favourite pet….

Authors:
_Arminda Faustino
_Carla Matos
_Marisa Batista

A group of a small village neighbors drive the communitarian van when the eldest need to go to the city to attend medical treatments or other need.

São Brissos is a small village near Beja

When the eldest of São Brissos need a ride to Beja, to attend medical care or other need, they can depend upon a free communitarian van drived by a group of volunteer neighbors. The van belongs to the local village hall “Junta de Freguesia de São Brissos”, have nine seats, and it is adapted to the transport of people with special mobility needs. The volunteers are now 5, and they offer their free time with no financial counterpart.

Mr. Flávio, one of the volunteer drivers.

The students, the van, Mr. Guerreiro (left) - President of the “Junta de Freguesia” - and Mr. Batista (center) - one of the usuaries of the van.

Authors:
_Sandra Sanches
_Sofia Patola
_Inês Patrício

An innovator and small business owner develops ecological swimming pools that can be used to combat fires, a summer nightmare in Portugal.

www.ludusgroup.com

Leiria is a city located in an industrial and business region.

The center of Portugal as extensive areas dedicated to forestation. The summer heat facilitates big fires that compromise the security of many isolated homes in the middle of the woods. This business initiative builds swimming pools that are both ecological and help to protect the house from fire. In these pools the water is cleaned and oxygenated by a system that combines sand filters and aquatic plants. No chemicals are used. At the same time, this water is connected to an automatic watering system that comes to action when a sensor detects fire in the surrounding area. This “intelligent” system waters the house and vicinities and at the same time warns the police, the fire department and the absent owner of what’s happening.

Ludus Group headquarters. It employs 35 workers.

The interview with Diogo Marques, the business owner.

A model of one of the swimming pools.

Authors:
_Leonor Basílio
_Natália Faria
_Patrícia Rosa

Medical personnel gives their free time to consult poor people from Barreiro, mainly elders. No money involved.

Barreiro is a Industrial Town, near Lisbon.

This initiative exists for two years and engages now 50 doctors, 16 nurses, 1 psychologist, 1 nutritionist, 1 social worker and 10 other volunteers.
They offer their work for free and consult poor people from Barreiro, mainly elders. At workdays take place general and specialty clinic practices. At weekends take place glycemic, blood pressure and diabetes clinical trials and regular treatments. This initiative subsists based on the good will of the professionals engaged and individual donations.

The sign outside the Clinic

Dona Mira, a 80 years young volunteer, it´s the Clínica Frater´s recepcionist.

A view of the clinical facilities.

The students with Dona Mira and the vice-president of the Clinic, Dr. Fernando Fonseca.

Authors:
_Sara David
_Sílvia Vargas
_Lina Franco

A single mother trying to deal with her own economical problems in dressing her baby, finds a solution and shares it with many other parents.

www.trocasebaldrocas.com

The shop is located in Parede, near Lisbon and Cascais

One of the problems of being a parent is the need to buy lots of articles at high prices. Articles that in a couple of months become obsolete because your baby is growing very fast. In this shop, parents, specially those with economic difficulties, can sell or exchange “old” baby clothes and buy others for a fraction of a new one (sometimes ten fold less). The life-cycle of the baby articles is extended and the parents spend less money. This initiative started two years ago and employs now the founder of the initiative with her brother joining as a “capitalist”.

The entrance of the initiative. Here you can find articles for children till 12 years of age.

A user and Cláudia Sousa (left), the promoter of the initiative.

The shop also sells other articles, besides clothes.

This shop gives visibility to other social initiatives of the kind.

Authors:
_Maria Rodrigues
_Patrícia Rodrigues
_Ana Craveiro

A consumers cooperative devoted to sell and promote products from biological agriculture at reasonable prices and in the process, support dozens of biological agricultures.

www.biocoop.coop

The initiative is based in Lisbon.

In Portugal, products from biological agriculture are present at the big supermarket chains but at high prices. BIOCOOP wants to make these products more accessible to all. To achieve that goal they have direct contracts with the agricultures, even supporting the consumers visit to the farms. They also have a bimonthly magazine devoted to the promotion of this kind of products. BIOCOOP as now nearly 1500 families associated and their next goal is to expand and improve the present facilities.

Biocoop entrance.

Consumers. They know they are eating healthier food and contributing to hundreds of hectares free from agro-chemicals.

A volunteer.

Authors:
_António Bule
_Nuno Costa
_Artur Carapinha

To fight the isolation of the seniors of Alentejo Litoral, a group of teachers created this academy. The elders learn new things, share what they know and above all make social connections.

http://asas.chrome.pt/

The initiative is based in Santo André, a rural area devoted to turism in the summer.

This academy began in 2005 and experienced a huge success, with many classes totally booked. Classes are varied, ranging from informatics to decorative arts. The students pay a symbolic fee (5 €) to maintain the facilities and buy the class materials. The teachers are volunteers; they earn nothing, except the joy of teaching others (many are retired teachers). Due to the success of the Academy, the main problem now is the lack of physical space to some classes.

The classes take place at “Centro Pedagógico Alda Guerreiro”.

The informatics room.

Two of the promoters.

The students proudly expose their work.

Authors:
_Patrícia Serra
_Nadine Pinto
_Waina Botter

A group of people, mainly retired, provide guidance and moral confort to the patients of the Hospital .

Beja is a small town in the middle of the fertile plains of Baixo Alentejo

In this region there are a lot of old people that live isolated in small agricultural houses in the fields named “Montes”.
Many of them are poor and illiterate. When they need to come to Beja´s Hospital they are already fragile and often feel lost and unable to deal with such an huge and complex institution. These volunteers give them an helping hand and provide human warmth in a ,so many times, cold and impersonal environment. This initiative exists since 1999 and joins now near 500 associates which are the main support, in work and money, of this League.

Beja´s Hospital.

The league also buy and donates medical equipment to the Hospital.

Volunteers of the league promoting the initiative.

Authors:
_Alda Silva
_Ângela Revés
_Sara Guerreiro