Inclusive ECCD: - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...

CASE STUDIES
PORTUGALl
Águeda’s Experience:
A Social Movement in
Portugal Involving
Disadvantaged Children
ROSINHA MADEIRA
The experiences described in this programme profile
from the Águeda district in Portugal illustrate
the dual strategies of 1) addressing inclusion within
a school and family resource centre, called Bela
Vista, and 2) addressing the need for greater social
cohesion within the community. The focus in this
latter strategy is on integrating all disenfranchised
members of a society through activities that bring
people together, that allow people of all different
ages and abilities to contribute, and that strengthen
the social fabric.
Introduction
In this article we will share our experience as educators
and social activators who, for 20 years,
have been working for the integration of children
and social groups who have been victims of discrimination.
Following the Revolution of April 1975 in Portugal,
a movement was born which called for the
integration of those children who were denied
acceptance in the community into the educational
and social systems. This principle of integration
recognised and expressed the democratic
value of Equal Rights For All.
The intervention described in this article was
undertaken by a group of professionals and nonprofessionals
endeavouring to work together toward
the principle of social integration, by
working with parents, professionals and the children
themselves. This founding group created
Bela Vista, an integrated educational centre,
which for many years has been the head office of
the inclusion movement in Águeda.
Bela Vista began as a nursery school, where
20% of the spaces were reserved for children with
special needs. From the beginning there was an
emphasis on working with families as well as with
children, both with and without special needs.
Over time, the work expanded to include the formation
of informal community networks, as well
as other supports and projects in the areas of
health and education.
Today, Bela Vista is still a place that accepts
the challenge of learning new attitudes and developing
new knowledge. It makes possible the “invention”
of new responses to meet the needs of
children, families and communities who lack access
to social opportunities.
This experience in Águeda, which is reflected
today in many other institutions and local projects
beyond Bela Vista, can be used as an example
of the process of community intervention, in
which the integration of children who have special
needs and/or who are at high risk in social
terms has been a key factor in stimulating social
change and overall community development.
Background
Águeda: an area of rapid change resulting
in social rejection
Águeda is a region with nearly 45,000 inhabitants,
situated in the District of Aveiro, located in
the central coastline of Portugal. It is part of a geographical
area that has undergone many
changes since 1950 because of the speed of the
industrialisation process.
In a few decades time, the rural way of life was
abandoned, but there was no reorganisation of
social structures or institutions to replace the traditional,
rural forms of solidarity. In a short period
of time, many farmers born in Águeda left
their work in the fields to get jobs in factories.
Since the 1970s, many of these new workers became
businessmen, contracting people from poor
isolated areas of the country to come in as migrant
workers.
The process led to an obvious material improvement
for a large number of families born in
the area. However, there was a lack of housing
and social integration for the migrant population.
Migrant families experienced problems in finding
employment and housing, and suffered financial
hardships. As time went by, the quality of life of
these “other”, migrant families were determined
by their economic difficulties, employment status,
and housing status, and they had difficulty
getting access to social services. The region was
thus comprised of two worlds: one included those
who were born in the region and had access to resources;
the other was the world of the migrants
who experienced increasing vulnerability and social
dependence.
For everyone the values of community life were
subordinated to the rhythm, mind-set, and innate
values associated with industrial production. In a
community with such a structure, the children and
44