On the morning of 25th November, several members of the Chaimite Community, "Educators in Movement" and children from the Community School took part in the inauguration ceremony of the infrastructures supporting the functioning of this educational service: a shed, a house to support the secretariat and two latrines, one for girls and one for boys.
The ceremony began with the singing of songs, animated by the voices of 136 of the community members who wanted to be present at this initiative, including community leaders, mothers/fathers, family members and carers of the children, members of the Community Management Council (CGC) of the Escolinha, Government authorities, namely the Chief of Chaimite Locality, technicians from the District Services of Education, Youth and Technology (SDJET) and of Health, Women and Social Action (SDSMAS), the Chief of Chaimite Secretariat and members of the project team. This meeting was led by the coordinator and President of the Board of AIDGLOBAL, Susana Damasceno, and with the representative of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL), partner of the project, Professor Maria Antónia Barreto, as Pedagogical Supervisor.
These were the last infrastructures created in the scope of "Educadores em Movimento" (Educatores in Motion). Like the 25 de Junho Neighbourhood Community Centres - Chiconelane, Maivene and Malehice - Chaimite now has a space where the children can shelter from the heat, cold and rain.
This moment of celebration was also an opportunity to carry out another advocacy action on the importance of the families of this community investing in their children's pre-school education. Of all the Schools created within the scope of the project, the Chaimite School had the lowest attendance rate of children in the 2022 school year, with only 19 participating in the activities.
The representative of the parents of the Escolinha was an enthusiastic witness who talked about the learning experiences that her child shares when she returns from the Escolinha and highlighted the fact that she can already communicate with some words and phrases in Portuguese.
In order to confirm the father's testimony, the “Educadores em Movimento” (Educators in Motion) and the children present had fun and surprised the community members by sharing some of the activities and conversations that usually fill their days at the Little School.
Based on this scenario, the project coordinator provided information about the enrolment, the opening of the new school year, the value of the monthly fees, snacks and the contribution to the water supply, encouraging mothers, fathers and carers to enrol their children, so that they can attend the Escolinha in the next school year, and motivated them to consider, in the family budget, the costs of their children's education. Finally, the Locality Leader reinforced all these aspects and clarified doubts, closing the ceremony.
“Educadores em Movimento – Uma Educação Itinerante para a Primeira Infância” (EeM) (Educators in Motion – An Itinerant Education for Early Childhood) has the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as main sponsor, Camões – Institute for Cooperation and Language I.P. as co-financier, as promoter AIDGLOBAL, Project Manager; as co-promoter the Chibuto Vocational and Residential Center (CVRC) and as partners the Instituto Politécnico de Leiria (Polytechnic Institute of Leiria) (IPL), its scientific-pedagogical coordinator, the Center for International Studies of the University Institute of Lisbon (CEI-Iscte) – coordinator of the anthropological component by District Service for Youth, Education and Technology of Chibuto (SDJET) and District Service for Health, Women and Social Action (SDSMAS) – entities that guarantee the articulation of the project with public policies.
