Currently taking place in Braga is the festival of São João, which means nearly two weeks of festivities. Celebrated annually, São João - Saint John the Baptist - is the patron saint of Braga with the city being completely taken over for the celebrations.
An aspect of these festivities is the fair, with lots of small barraquinhas - small tents- that line either side of Avenida da Liberdade, one of the main roads into the centre of Braga. These stalls sell literaly everything from fresh bread all the way to sunglasses. One of these stalls is occupied by Ponto Vermelho - Red Dot - a project run by Juventude Cruz Vermelha.
Ponto is a project of social entrepreneurship which aims to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in Braga. The project's main objective is to provide to those most in need free necessities, which have been donated to them, such as clothing and footwear, among other things. Therefore Ponto kind of works in a similar to foodbanks in the UK; the organisation receives donations and then these are redistributed where needed most. Additionally,
Ponto also has a shop selling second-hand items to the general public. I have even been able to pick-up a couple of items up there myself and the funds that are raised are used to help contribute to the financial sustainability of the Red Cross in Braga.
Throughout the festival of São João, the barraquinha of Ponto is open and manned, selling a variety of items from scarves and books, to cooking utensils and jewelry. Everyone from Juventude contributes by taking some shifts in order to make sure that the barraquinha always has enough help. With the stall open until 11 at night during the week and midnight at the weekends, everyone takes shifts of three hours in order to make sure no-one is overworked.
Everything at the stall is sold for the grand total of 1 Euro which means you can pick up some real bargains. This also helps us EVS volunteers who are still getting a grasp of Portuguese. Whilst helping at the stall is really good for practicing the language it does mean that if we are confused and do not understand what is said, we can simply reply with, 'Tudo é um Euro', which as you can imagine means, 'Everything is one Euro'.
The final thing to add is that it is a really good way for us to raise awareness about Ponto Vermelho and its mission, which is to promote equal access to basic necessities. By having this stall they are able to encourage more people to volunteer or donate items for the shop. It can also have a cumulative effect as someone can see the stand and mention it by word-of-mouth further raising awareness. It is also a lot of fun to break from normal routine and experience something different. Helping at the barraquinha is a different way of experiencing the work that Juventude Cruz Vermelha does and how they can do extra things to promote themselves.
An aspect of these festivities is the fair, with lots of small barraquinhas - small tents- that line either side of Avenida da Liberdade, one of the main roads into the centre of Braga. These stalls sell literaly everything from fresh bread all the way to sunglasses. One of these stalls is occupied by Ponto Vermelho - Red Dot - a project run by Juventude Cruz Vermelha.
Ponto is a project of social entrepreneurship which aims to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in Braga. The project's main objective is to provide to those most in need free necessities, which have been donated to them, such as clothing and footwear, among other things. Therefore Ponto kind of works in a similar to foodbanks in the UK; the organisation receives donations and then these are redistributed where needed most. Additionally,
Ponto also has a shop selling second-hand items to the general public. I have even been able to pick-up a couple of items up there myself and the funds that are raised are used to help contribute to the financial sustainability of the Red Cross in Braga.
Throughout the festival of São João, the barraquinha of Ponto is open and manned, selling a variety of items from scarves and books, to cooking utensils and jewelry. Everyone from Juventude contributes by taking some shifts in order to make sure that the barraquinha always has enough help. With the stall open until 11 at night during the week and midnight at the weekends, everyone takes shifts of three hours in order to make sure no-one is overworked.
Everything at the stall is sold for the grand total of 1 Euro which means you can pick up some real bargains. This also helps us EVS volunteers who are still getting a grasp of Portuguese. Whilst helping at the stall is really good for practicing the language it does mean that if we are confused and do not understand what is said, we can simply reply with, 'Tudo é um Euro', which as you can imagine means, 'Everything is one Euro'.
The final thing to add is that it is a really good way for us to raise awareness about Ponto Vermelho and its mission, which is to promote equal access to basic necessities. By having this stall they are able to encourage more people to volunteer or donate items for the shop. It can also have a cumulative effect as someone can see the stand and mention it by word-of-mouth further raising awareness. It is also a lot of fun to break from normal routine and experience something different. Helping at the barraquinha is a different way of experiencing the work that Juventude Cruz Vermelha does and how they can do extra things to promote themselves.
