ASSOCIAÇÃO OFICINA DA ABELHA

description of organisation

We are an organization that focuses its main activities in the following areas: environment, art,education, traditional crafts and social interaction not only in the multicultural aspect but also the ecumenical dialogue as well as the dialogue between generations attentive to the heritage and the knowledge that drifts from there.
- Environment:
o Part of the land of our town is inserted in “Natura 2000”, a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species and some rare natural habitat types which are protected. We promote monthly meetings to identify and register the flora in this region, to collect enough information about the autochthonous plants in order to create a catalogue with images and a brief explanation about its tradicional use. By identifying autochthonous plants we also register the weeds and are creating a paralel catalogue for recognition and measures to take to reduce them. We have partnered with the organization "Trinta por Uma linha" and meet monthly for birdwatching.
o We have started a population of goats and sheeps, which are responsable for cleaning our land to prevent fires, a major problem in our area. We encourage neighbors and the whole population through the distribution of flyers and sensibilization campains in local markets and through social media.
o We have started a campaign for reforesting ours and abandoned lands by planting autochthonous trees that are donated by members and the population.
o We are gifted with a land with centenary olive trees and have been harvesting olives for a long time, for curing and for making organic olive oil. Each year, during one weekend, we open our door to everyone who wants to learn and experiment harvesting olive trees in the ancient and traditional way.
During the workshop we explain the whole process, how to take care of an olive tree, how to harvest, prune and take advantage of the branch to enrich the soil instead of burning. We also explain how to prepare olives for eating and take participants to a communitary olive press. At the same time, we have a programm that anyone can sign up to, where people who have olive trees but have no time to harvest them, give us permission to collect their olives. The olive oil obtained this way is distributed among those who worked, the owners of the land and institutions of social solidarity.
o Once a year we organize a public meeting for exchanging seeds and plants.

- Education:
o We are working towards creating a space for a communitary homeschool learning center. We are rebuilding an old stone house, which is surrounded by forest, and want to create a safe space for learning in nature, in the woods, with the principals of “Forest schools” which have proved that children that are stimulated by the outdoors, typically experience an increase in their self belief,
confidence, learning capacity, enthusiasm, communication and problem-solving skills as well as emotional well-being. The pedagogic basis of our learning center will be based in non violent communication, attachment play and emotional intelligence and will be transmitted to the community through experimental learning and non-formal education.
o We have a pedagogical garden that is opened for visitors of all ages where they learn about seasonal gardening, plant cycles, crops and harvesting. The projects were built and are maintained by our volunteers and members. The highlights and projects children adore are the flowered rainbow, the herb spiral and the pollinators garden.
o We hold sessions about non formal education in local schools and other organizations to discuss specific topics: citizenship – participation – gender parity – activism – democracy

o Every week we host an informal meeting for language exchange where people meet and help each other improve in languages such as Portuguese, English, German, Italian or French.

- Art
o We have created a circus-theater company “Tá bem abelha”, a company of creation, production and artistic thinking. We participate in summer camps organized by the Parish Council and in activities and festivals all around the country.
o We have a circus school that provides workshops for children during their holidays.
- Community / Social Interaction and Celebrations
o With the vegetable / flower garden and the farm being open to everybody, the elderly population can come to the farm and teach agricultural skills to children. We aim to build a sensory garden for blind people, a guide for deaf people to recognize bird chirping through the different vibrations.
o We live in a country with centuries of history that has been preserved through storytelling,
celebrations and social gathering. We preserve the harvest and season celebrations, according to ancient rituals and traditions and have every equinox and solstice (4 times per year) a celebration where all members, volunteers and friends gather together around the fire or the flowers.