New european volunteers in Mó de vida

In this year 2012 - 2013 two new volunteers will start working with Mó de Vida. We (Blanca and Jessica) just arrived here and will try to propose new ideas and activities, and we will specially learn a lot of thing of our mates and from all the people cooperating with Mó de Vida. We will keep informing of our activity here. 

                             Blanca and Jessica on our first weekend here, in Festa d'Avante.

Meeting with schools for sharing experiences

On January 18th, 2011 a meeting took place to exchange experiences about fair trade under the project titled as “Fair Trade: Contribute to the Construction of Global Citizenship.”

This meeting took place in Loures by encouraging the participation of teachers, the Municipality of Loures, Mo de Vida and CIDAC organizations, the guests Carolina Leão and João Vieira and these schools:

- Miguel Torga

- Voz do Operario

- Odivelas

- Delfim Santos

- Sec. da Amora

- Romeu Correia

- Sec. Fernão M Pinto

- EBb 2/3 Costa da Caparica

It was a very interesting meeting to share the knowledge in this fair, where each school built a stand to present its vision of fair trade. This also allowed people to explore the concepts and practices of fair trade.

Thus, during this fair experience, the students were able to share their knowledge and had the chance to learn from others.

The intervention of the two guests permitted students to learn the different concepts of fair trade and economic solidarity.

At the end of the meeting, everyone had the opportunity to express what they learned about the theme of "fair trade".

The visit of Julia and Delphine

Visita de ex-voluntárias SVE à Mó de Vida
Enviado por Mo_de_Vida. - Vídeos de notícias da mídia alternativa.

We entered 2011 in good company because we had a visit from Julia (from Austria) and Delphine ( from France) who are two ex-EVS volunteers from Mo De Vida. With them we remembered the good times that was spent in 2005/2006 and 2008/2009 respectively and planned the future of each individual collectively. They follow their paths that will cross with ours. And it is precisely such crossings that make everything much richer.

Venezuela time in Mó de Vida

Venezuela, which has been the most unequal country in Latin America for nearly 10 years, is currently one of the most fair ones. The United Nations declared this country as the illiteracy-free territory with the highest minimum salary of that sub-continent, with proven advances in health, with an exponential growth in the number of alternative means of communication, etc...For this reason, why this process of inclusion and transformation have caused many negative reactions, attempts at interference, boycotts on the part of foreign governments(including U.S.) and manipulation of information in hegemonic ways of communication? Mo de Vida performs this cycle shows which include documentaries, discussions, food and singing sessions free of Latin America for the purpose of providing a view from the grass roots and discussing the social and political advances in this transforming process.

Read more

A Servidão Moderna (Eng/Fr/Esp)

The December Jaw Harp

December is a tough month for volunteers and the whole team of Mo de Vida: Pausas Justas, Work in the shop, christmas market...
Oustide, the winter came... It's freezing say portuguese people !! You would laugh and say..A winter with positive temperature is not a real winter pa!!
BUT...while you may be comfortable and warm in your cosy home...in Potugal, winter is also inside the houses...Once I was said : "Portuguese architects thought they were living in a tropical country !" and that's TRUE ! No central heater for us...Our punishment for wonderful summers!!

SOlutions ?
1. Stay outside, at least you know why you are cold
2. Hide under the 4 blankets you have on your bed and wait till spring
3. Dance on the electronic sound of Ivette's jaw harp

Guess our choice..let's dance !!

Story of Stuff - A historia das coisas

Copier/Coller - Copy and Clone

Books exchanges

In addition to the others initiatives of Mó de vida,

and following the same idea as the Banco de Tempo,

Volunteers implemented at Mó de Vida a system of book exchanges.
People are invited to let a book they want to share with the community, and explain why they liked it in a short message. Then that person can take away any book let by another.

Arrival of a new friend!

In June, Mó de Vida welcomed a new friend !

Ivette is from Catalunya, Spain and will spend a year at Mó de Vida.

Soon you will find her profile on the volunteer's profile !

A Outra Margem do 15 a 21 de Junho na Mo de Vida

PROGRAMA DA OUTRA MARGEM

Aproxima-se o dia mais longo do Sol e a noite mais curta. Ao marcar o apogeu do Sol, os dias irão diminuindo e as noites tornando-se maiores. Contudo algumas colheitas ainda vêm longe, como a do trigo e outros cereais, vinha e outros frutos.

São estes ciclos criadores da natureza que nos mostram o exemplo a seguir no que toca a momentos de transformação que promovam a vida em toda a sua plenitude.

Na semana de 15 a 21 de Junho, na Mó de Vida, poderá participar em várias oficinas, tertúlias, peddy-paper pelo Pragal Velho, gastronomia e assistir a duas dezenas de filmes que farão parte da extensão de Almada do Cine Eco – Festival de Cinema de Ambiente da Serra da Estrela.

Além da extensão do Cine Eco e das várias oficinas, destacamos as tertúlias do dia 18 e 19 e as actividades do dia 20 de Junho.

PARTICIPE!

In a rush..

May is a month full of events...

After the traditionnal 1st of may, which will give you the impression that may will be cool and relax... then starts the rush ! Delphine told but I thought maybe it would be different ?
Market, Stands, Catering, Meetings...Be prepared...

And June is not going to be that different ! At Mo, we are preparing something....the summer solstice is coming...

2nd class of Didgeridoo na Mó

On Saturday 16th of May, we organize the 2nd class of DIDGERIDOO at Mó de Vida!
Rodrigo will provide you advices and techniques to learn that instrument from Aborigen culture!

16h-18h
12.5€

More information: Rodrigo´s website

2nd meeting of Banco de Tempo members

The Banco de Tempo organizes the 2nd meeting of its members !

This meeting aims at making people know better each other, and create or re-create the feeling of be part of a community. Because trust and solidarity are important to stimulate exchanges of services !
This moment of conviviality will take place on Sunday 19th of April, in the Parque da Paz in Almada at 15h, where will be organised a Peddy-Paper before the "lanche" ( tea-time with snack !)

Dia D : O dia da Delphine

Today is the farewell party of Delphine, the so called D-Day (Delphine's Day of course !)

Lunch in Monsanto park and dinner at Nuno's and Cristina's with all friends of Mó de Vida and Banco de Tempo...

Mó de Vida will miss you querida !!

Predeparture topics

A few answers to the questions you could have before the departure :
about transport, things to bring to Portugal, examples of prices, and the dilema : should you learn portuguese before you come...

• Choose your transport

By plane
Localization of the airport of Lisbon
By plane you can often travel with a 20 kg luggage in the baggage hold, and a little one you can keep with you in the plane

The airport is located within the city, and there are various means of tranport to Pragal:
Autobuses ( Company Carris 1.35€), underground, taxis and even train.
Of course, if you let Mó de Vida team know when you arrive, Nuno will pick you up.

By bus

The company you will probably use is Eurolines.The weight of your luggage is not important, but its size is.

Buses are not very comfortable and the trip may seem very long, nevertheless it is cheap and may be a pleasant way to discover european landscapes while you are travelling !

In Lisbon, there is two eurolines bus stations
Oriente station:
it is located at this adress:
Av. D. Joao II Loja G203 - Gare Oriente - Tél. 218 957 398
Sete Rios station: Rua Lucília Simões, 13A 1500-386, Lisboa
Nuno from Mó de Vida team usually picks you up at the bus station.

By car
Roads in Spain and Portugal are pretty good, and there are very few tolls, especially in Spain. Gas is cheaper in Spain than in Portugal, so you would better fill the car up before the frontier!

You can park near the apartment Mó de vida provides to the volunteers, even if it not always easy to find room to park the car. Anyway, once you are in Pragal, you won't need your car anymore, because there is public transports near the apartment.

By train
If you want to come by train, you will have to search information in your home country, and search the train company of every country you cross.
portuguese rail company : comboios de portugal
Depending on your home country of departure, prices may vary a lot. Of course, the longer the trip lasts, the more expensive it will be. That is why it might sometimes be cheaper to buy a interrail ticket.

• Things you should bring in your luggage

The flat currently rent by Mó de Vida for the volunteers is very well equipped.
Nevertheless, we strongly advise to bring warm clothes ! Why ? First, because there is no central heating in portuguese houses, and sometimes winter is not so much warm ( at least this year, January 2009 !! ) ; and then because Mó de vida world shop is also very cold !

And in order to enjoy your free time, you should not forget:
- sleeping bag and maybe a tent, for your trips during your stay
- sports equipment, because there are lots of sports facilities near the flat: swimming-pool, a big park, many sports associations ...

• Prices in Portugal, a few examples

Bars
Beer : 1-1.5€
Coffee: 0.70€
tea:1.5€
Caipirinha: 3€
Glass of red wine: 2-2.5€
Restaurants
Main dish + drink + desert : about 10-15€
Cinema
With EVS youth card:
Cinema São Jorge (Lisboa, avenida da Libertade) : 2-3€
Others : about 4.5€
Gas
Cheaper in Spain !
As an example, on january 2009, diesel costs about 0.90€ (about 0.80€ in Spain)
Cigarettes
Also cheaper in spain !
About 3.5€ in Portugal

• Learning portuguese before your departure ?
  

Yes!
It is of course useful to know a few words in Portuguese before your arrival, we can't say it is not!
There are lots of books with cds that may help you speak and a basic portuguese in a few weeks.
For those who already speak a latin language, written portuguese is very easy. Nevertheless, oral portuguese is really special ! Pronunciation may seem very strange (lots of ssshhh and nasal sounds) and difficult to understand. That is why watching portuguese movies for example may be useful to get used to listening to the language.
The use of portuguese verbs is also hard to learn, because the portuguese verb sytem is quite complicated, with rules you won't find in any other language!
No!
As it was said before, if you already master a latin language, you won't be totally lost when you arrive in Portugal.
Moreover, many members of Mó de Vida team speak other languages, such as english, spanish or french...you will always find a mean to communicate !
You will also be provided portuguese lessons, from the beginning of your EVS. The current teacher is Rodrigo and classes are scheduled once a week.

Volunteer's main activities

These are the activities of Mó de Vida, the volunteers participate in.
Among them are :
- awareness actions
- sociocultural activities ( thematic lunches, cine eco movie festival...)
- assistance in the worldshop
- pausas justas (coffe breaks)
- bancas (stands)


• Awareness Actions
The responsible for these actions is Colette, and as a volunteer you will assist her in this kind of activity. The aim of awareness actions is to inform and sensibilise children and teenagers about fair trade and social based economy, mainly pupils and students. These actions are provided in basic schools and universities and special sociocultural events.

Mó de Vida team thinks it is more interesting for the schools to come directly at the worldshop, so that they can concretely witness the work in a fair-trade shop, by looking at the place and products, and talk to the workers : Carlos and Nuno. That is why these actions are mainly implemented directly at Mó de Vida worldshop. Before every activity, you will meet Colette in order to prepare the training program. We have organised different types of trainings which aims are:
• Understanding the role of every member of the fair trade system
• Comparing the different economical and trade systems : the fair one and the conventional one.
• Making the students discover themselves the concept of fair trade.
We have been using different means : Analysis e of products’ labels, projections of movies, reflection in small groups, games, powerpoints, price comparisons between fair products and conventional ones, debates… These educational activities allow the volunteers to express their ideas and above all create their own tools for awareness actions, and finally develop their own project. (read more)

• Sociocultural activities

Thematic lunches













When possible, depending on our activities, they usually happen once a month. The food cooked is related with the themes of the films showed and of the debates.
Ex: The “hortas urbanas” meeting, April 2008. Mó de Vida implemented a workshop about the creation of a organic urban garden. During this day, we visited our own urban garden and another one. Then, lunch was organised at Mó de Vida, where everyone brought something to share. In the afternoon, we watched a movie about food wastes.


“Cine eco” movie festival
It is organised during the fair trade weeks. Projection of movies about food sovereignty, environmental issues, globalisation and so on.
Participating in these activities helps the volunteers understand that fair trade is just part of more global issues, such as consumption habits, North/South relations, environmental issues, education for development or social based economy.

• Assistance in the worldshop













You will work everyday in the world shop, so it is a very important part of your activity. Most of your time will be spent at Mó de vida. It consists in :
• Decorating of the worldshop, introducing regurlaly alterations and updating the supports available, organising the products presentation.
• Assisting and communicate with fair-trade consumers.
• Helping Nuno and Carlos with the products supplies ( receiving the products, checking them, labelling them with Portuguese translations and prices and so on, preparing the products ordered by other cooperatives)
• Cleaning of the shop



• Pausa justa ( coffee breaks )
You will be Nuno’s assistant in this activity. It a special coffee break with fair trade products and/or from local producers, provided to public institutions and local organisations during their meetings, conferences, seminars, in order to promote solidarity and responsible consumption.

Before the activity, you will prepare the material, and then set up the coffee break, help the participants, give them information about fair trade and responsible consumption based on solidarity: This activity is actually in a growing phase at Mó.


• Bancas (stands)













This activity takes place in fairs or markets: The aim is to set up an exhibition and sale stand with fair trade products. During this activity, you will not only sell products but also give information about Fair Trade and what it is related to (consumption, environmental issues, globalisation, conventional trade…).

Activities created by the volunteers

Volunteers could develop their own activities during their EVS, among them are the Banco de tempo exchange system, and various tools for awareness actions.
Volunteers can also take part in extra training sessions provided by Mó de Vida.

• 2009/2010:  Ivette has  participated in the following extra training sessions provided by Mó de Vida during her  EVS:

Formation on Educational Animators of Fair Trade ; Autumn School of “Espaço por um Comércio Justo” Network ; Jornadas de Turismo Ético e Solidário; Workshop with Cape Verde traditional lunch “Cachupa” at Mó de Vida in cooperation with Escola Superior de Educação Paula Frassinetti/Porto and International Amnisty / Portuguese Session ; Workshop of “didgeridoo” managed by the musician Rodrigo Viterbo; Initial formation destinated for teachers concerning in the frame of the project “Frair Trade:Contribution for building the Global Citizenship” ; 
Workshop destinated to 60 schools of Península de Setúbal and Lisbon regions.







Power Point for dissemination of EVS made by Ivette Grané: 

  see the file

• 2009: Puppets theater/Teatro de marionetas (implemented by Ivette and Marion)

Mó de Vida has been invited to the Andanças festival during the summer 2009. Andanças is a dance festival with all kind of european dances, and other activities like the ones Mó prepared. Ivette and Marion prepared an awareness action for children for the festival. They created a theater play with puppets about fair trade issues. About 20 children assisted the play and then could see the puppets, play with them and ask some questions. It was a nice moment to share with the kids, we all enjoyed so much the moment that there is no pictures or movies of the play :)

• 2009: Welcome plan for volunteers/Plano de acolhimento (being implemented by Ivette)

Ivette is actually on a project for future volunteers for Mó de Vida...To be continued...

• 2009: Books exhanges/Troca de livros (implemented by Marion)

The books exchanges is a small project which consists in disponibilize a space for people who want to share books they like. the idea is to let a book you loved, and explain in a short message in the book why you liked it so much. When you let a book then you can take another one.

• 2007-09: Banco de Tempo ( implemented by Delphine and Maxi, developed in 2009 by Marion )
  

It is the Portuguese equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon’s LETS (Local Exchange Trade Service).

It consists in a net of people working together with the aim of exchanging knowledge and services.
The “unit of exchange” is one hour. After the service provided, the one who received it, pays it with an hour(s) cheque to the service provider.

Mó de Vida’s Banco de Tempo was inaugurated in October 2008. The idea of the Project creation was to find an alternative to money and to create a Project in the area of solidarity based economy.
The project was created with the help of Graal , The organisation which promotes Banco de Tempo’s system in Portugal.
Nowadays in Mó de Vida, we are counting with the help of a 4 people team for the system’s organisation. The Banco de tempo participated in Mó's events such as the "Outra Margem" in 2009 with didgeridoo, juggling and writing activities. It has its own meetings, events, newsletter...

Delphine, who implemented the Banco de tempo at Mó

• 2007-08: 3 tools for awareness actions ( developed by Delphine and Maxi )

aimed at children and teenagers in some fairs or special cultural events

Ø A volta ao mundo dos alimentares _ Around the world food trip


It consists on a shadow puppetry play, where the main character is travelling around the world meeting different little producers from the south of the Globe.
This is a really basic story which purposes are presenting the Fair Trade principles in comparison to Conventional Trade.
We are used to proposing these activities for children from about 3 to 10. It’s flexible, because as we organise it in fairs we do not control the public we receive.

After the play, we usually organise a game related to the story with the children. The one we created was with a world map, in which the goal for the children was to discover where the food they consume every morning for breakfast is produced. Our goal when the game ends is to make them understand how dependant we are from the little producers of the world, and also how important it is for them to live in dignity.


Ø O percurso de uma calça de ganga _ A pair of jeans trip



This is also a shadow puppetry play. But the story is more complex so it is aimed to an older public. Delphine and Maxi have done it once with teenagers.

In this story the main character is progressively discovering that for making a traditional pair of jeans, he has to cross China, Philippines, Turkey, India, Morocco, France, Germany, Switzerland…
The story deals with many themes (environment, labour rights, living conditions in the South of the Planet, Multinational Factories profits…). Dealing with so many different themes, we want teenagers to question themselves about consumption, their consumption.

To go through this story, we have organised a moving debate in which the teenagers have to take positions on 3 subjects related to the story, then to explain their ideas, persuade others and possibly change their mind.


Ø Jogo de 7 famílias do Comércio _ / 7 families trade game


This game is built like a 7 families game, but the families are products (chocolate, coffee, cornflakes…), and the aim is to find all the members of the family and rebuild the chain from the producer to the consumer.
There are 2 games, we first play with the Conventional Trade game, and then with the Fair Trade one.

It’s a game Delphine and Maxi have played once till now, in a fair with children from 6 to 10.
The objective is to inform them about the distribution chain, its actors and realise the unequal/ equal share of money among them.

The Portuguese lessons

The formal Portuguese language support is foreseen during 2 months-2 hours/twice a week, by a Portuguese teacher. On the other hand, an informal support will be provided by our team, trying to help her/him to communicate as much as possible in Portuguese. After 2 months an evaluation will be made and the language support will continue if the knowledge is not enough to communicate.

If the volunteer wishes she can complement her learning in the USALMA (Senior University of Almada) or in Fernao Mendes Pinto Secondary School where there are different groups and Portuguese classes. The cost is symbolic and Mo de Vida can provide all information.

Banco de Tempo's Team

Banco de tempo system was implemented by Delphine and Maxi during their EVS in 2008.
This system allowing people to exchange services without any money is currently being developed at Mó de vida.
The Banco de Tempo Mó de vida counts now more than 20 members, and is supported by a team of 4 people and a coordinator.

De BdT Team

Beatriz

De BdT Team

Filomena

De BdT Team

Lena

De BdT Team

Lourdes