JANUARY 2019 1

Silver

Coast

Volunteers

Newsletter

Summer

and

Autumn

2018

Silver Coast Volunteers Headquarters in Obidos

A Message from Our President Diane Noronha I am very proud to have been elected president of this wonderful group of volunteers who represent many nationalities, races and creeds. Although we come from many different countries, we all have one common theme which is “To be a group of likeminded people who have joined together to use their time, skills and attributes to support and develop their local communities through Integration, enjoyment, and friendship, for the benefit of all”. Our aim at Silver Coast Volunteers is to work with the local council of Obidos, to find ways to help and support Obidos and the surrounding communities. We believe that through giving our time and knowledge we can give assistance to the community, and most importantly integrate into the Portuguese communities we now live in.

We have 203 registered members, many of whom volunteer regularly in the Book Exchange and local Community Shop. As a benefit of membership our active volunteers can attend:

• Portuguese Lessons

• The Short Story Book Club

• The Short Story Writing Club – Coming soon

• The Drama Club – Coming soon

As well we are planning more activities and clubs in 2019

JANUARY 2019 2

APAR Building – Renovation Support

APAR- Associação de Apoio ao Recluso is a non-profit organisation that gives support to inmates and their families. APAR was given the use of an old primary school in Alvorninha (Caldas da Rainha by the local council.

The building will be used as the APAR headquarters, and as a centre for counselling and support for former inmates who have finished their sentences and seek to be reintegrated into society.

This beautiful old school needed some repair work before it could be opened so SiIver Coast Volunteers, offered their services, and alongside APAR volunteers we cleaned and painted both inside and outside of the building.

It was an enjoyable day talking, and working, with the APAR members, learning about all that they do to help inmates still in prison, and ex inmates to fit back into life “on the outside” again. Of interest they also assist with non-Portuguese inmates as well. So, if you ever find yourself locked up, you can count on APAR to help you!!

Support for Our Local Communities

A volunteer collecting for Guias da Sao Lorenco in Pingo Doce Obidos

Local school children making use of the Book Exchange to find books in English to study

Donations of unusable books to Banco Alimentar in Caldas da Rainha

JANUARY 2019 3

Medieval Festival - Support for Usseira The Medieval Fayre is one of the great occasions held every year in Obidos. It is a time to dress up as a wench, princess, knight, king, or peasant and take part in the pageantry of a bygone era. The Medieval Festival is a time when the local villages of Obidos have an opportunity to raise money to support their local causes, such as the Elder Centres, or Churches. Each year Silver Coast Volunteers gives support to one of the local councils in their fund-raising efforts. Last year we helped Usseira who were running a “Tasquina” food stand, with all profits going to their causes. Our volunteers helped with serving food, coffee, wine and beer to customers, and cleaning up wherever necessary. We arrange the shifts for only two or three hours to cover the times the event is open over four weekends in August. It is great fun to work as a serving princess, knight, or wench (great word!!) alongside the dedicated and hardworking locals. You will get to learn some Portuguese, learn about how the food is made, and get to meet a lot of very happy customers!! To top off this fun event every evening there is a parade, which SCV are part of. Many people join in a procession from Obidos castle to the front gate and back again.

You can see musicians, jesters, jugglers, knights on horseback, geese, bishops, queens, kings, and all manner of costumes from medieval times. It is a wonderful thing to be part of this procession. Volunteering for this event is a fabulous, fun opportunity to be in Obidos Castle as it might have been in the 15th century!! And as a bonus you will be helping the local community.

JANUARY 2019 4

Literary Village, and the Official Opening of The

SCV Book Exchange

Last year during Folio The Silver Coast Volunteers had an extremely special day. On the 4th October 2018 the Book Exchange was officially recognised as one of the official literary destinations within The Literary Village of Obidos!!! The event was also the official opening of the book exchange and was celebrated with a speech and ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Obidos. This is a moment that all the volunteers can truly be proud of, it is through their hard work and dedication that this has been achieved.

Book towns, or Literary Villages, started with Hay-on-Wye in the UK; now there are communities around the world that celebrate the written word. In April 2013 the The Village Literary Society of Obidos was created with the objective of creating and developing Obidos to be part of the worlds Literary Village towns. Since then Obidos has striven to make this wonderful and unique town a literary haven. Because of its location visitors are naturally attracted to come here, and with the development of new/used book shops over the years, in 2018 Obidos was accepted and is now the first town in Portugal to officially be known as a World Literary Village Town. Did you know that there are nine bookshops, and one library in Obidos? Since 2015 Obidos has hosted The Folio Literary Festival at the end of September every year and is now the largest festival in the town. Folio is eleven days of meeting prestigious national and international authors, illustrators, musicians, painters, booksellers, poets, teachers, politicians, journalists and many others. The program includes presentations and autograph sessions, talks, debates and conferences, classes, lectures and exhibitions, cinema, street performances, and concerts. It is a festival where close contact between authors, artists and the public is encouraged, and is one of the Festival's trademarks.

JANUARY 2019 5

Collecting for Banco Alimentar in December

Every year in December and June, for one weekend, SCV volunteers, alongside many local volunteers, ask for donations of dry, canned goods, and milk at supermarkets for those in need, as part of the Banco Alimentar food drive. Banco Alimentar, Food Bank, is a Private Institution that was created for social solidarity. They collect food products and direct them for free to those in need. More than 390,000 are assisted annually throughout Portugal. It is astounding to see the poorest of people give a bag of rice or pasta to Banco Alimentar. It gives a wonderful feeling of unity to be part of this countrywide group food collection.

Electric Sewing Machine Donation

When a sewing machine was donated to us last year, it seemed that the best place to pay it forward was to the Day Centre of Obidos. The ladies that use the facility already spend much of their day making items to sell in the Community Shop, and now with a sewing machine they can expand their reportoire!!

JANUARY 2019 6

Silver Coast Vounteers Short Story Book Club The 7th of November 2018 saw the first meeting of the Silver Coast Volunteers Short Story Book Club. We had a lively discussion about Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter looking at societal expectations and gender roles. It was decided to meet every two weeks and take it in turns to decide on the next short story. Our next meeting continued teaching women how to get rid of unwanted men when we read and discussed Margaret Attwood’s Stone Mattress. We were noticing a theme with the choices so far!! Most of us had read and enjoyed novels and short stories by Barbara Kingsolver so looked forward to reading Homeland. This short story had much less action and overt murderous intent than the first two and was rather different from what we had expected from Barbara Kingsolver. Our Christmas read was I Remember by L Weiss, a story set during the Christmas season with a sad but profound ending. Our next read is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

Newletter Receipe We are very blessed to have Jean Paul Allonsius as member of the SCV volunteers. In a former life he was a professional receipe creator. Jean Paul has offered to share one of his unique receipes, in each newsletter, using only items grown in Portugal. This issue we are sharing a dessert using pears rochas and coffee, two very Portuguese items. Who hasn’t had too many pears given to you by a wonderful neighbour, and then what do you do with them all…..

Ingredients

3 kg peras rochas 5-6 café expresso duplo (forte) 600 g azucar amarelo Muscatel or Aguardente to taste (optional)

Method

• Bring the liquids to a boil

• Clean and cut the pears into quarers, leave the peel on but core

• Add the pears to the boiling liquid

• Reduce heat to the lowest setting and leave for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the pears are still a little firm

• Remove the pot, put the lid on and let the pears cool down

• Place the pears and liquid into the fridge until cold

Serve with cream, ice cream, or watever

takes your fancy!!

This Photo by Unknown Author is

licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

JANUARY 2019 7

Please Ask

If you would like to volunteer for The Book Exchange, The Community Shop or any of the events SCV organises, or assists with, please contact: silvercoastvolunteers@gmail.com

Or come in to the Book Exchange and talk to one of us

Should you have an ideas, or know of any assistance needed by your community where volunteers might be needed please contact: silvercoastvolunteers@gmail.com

Or come in to the Book Exchange and talk to one of us

Thank you to every volunteer!!