In the 2021/2022 school year, 8th-grade students from Escola Básica e Secundária Professor Dr. Francisco Freitas Branco, Porto Santo, had the opportunity to get involved in actions to promote volunteering, both inside and outside the school.
One of the strategies implemented was the creation of a proposal for the Participatory Budget of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (OPRAM), the project "From Porto Santo to the Azores - Youth Volunteering", which, with the number 600, is currently being voted on here. This activity was thought and dreamed of by all elements of the four 8th grade classes, within the scope of two Participatory Assemblies, in which the students made several proposals for the school and the community. Volunteering in the Azores was the one most voted by all.
In addition to the proposal for OPRAM, in May 2022, 14 young people went to Funchal to have a volunteering experience at Casa de Saúde S. João de Deus. The students also visited the S. José Health Unit, which welcomes people in the process of rehabilitation regarding drug addiction.
Chatting, playing (table football, ping-pong, ball, ...) and serving snacks were the main activities of these students, who gave their time for solidarity sharing with the sick in collaboration with EntreLaços - Associação de Familiares e Amigos dos Utentes da Casa de Saúde São João de Deus - Funchal.
In June 2022, after the end of the academic year, 12 students spent three days at the Câmara Pestana Health House, interacting with users and receiving training on what it means to be a volunteer. They also had the opportunity to be in the social canteen of the CASA Madeira Association and to support the distribution of meals. "Move for change" was one of the messages left by the young people on the last day of this volunteer experience, which also included the collaboration of the Casa do Voluntário.
From both experiences in Funchal, the participants brought back the best luggage that volunteering gives: a heart full of the sense of mission accomplished.
The initiatives were developed under the Action Plan “Da Escola para o Mundo – Agir, Incluir, Transformar” (From School to the World - Act, Include, Transform) (Active Citizen Fund, financed by EEA Grants), promoted by AIDGLOBAL Association, in partnership with Escola Básica e Secundária Professor Dr. Francisco Freitas Branco, Porto Santo.
Learn more about the project here.