"I GOT INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP BECAUSE I FELT IT WAS A DUTY I HAD TO FULFILL AND BECAUSE I IMAGINED MYSELF, FOR A MOMENT, IN THE OTHER'S PLACE."
MATILDE
Portugal
Matilde is the coordinator of the Chaves Acolhe group - the first sponsoring group to support a family in Portugal. She heard about community sponsorship thanks to the Soul Frater association, where she volunteers. She immediately thought about getting involved so she could support a refugee family, thinking it was a different and differentiating possibility. "I believed that welcoming people into the community and for the community would make a real difference in a family's life." After participating in the formation of the Community, the small group of people considered that this was a model that should be privileged and tested in our country, as it was within it that each person could give the best of themselves and integrate a family into a community that was with open arms to welcome. "I believed that the group I was part of would be up to the challenge and, above all, would be up to dealing with it."
"The desire to welcome grew in each of us. Our main motivation was, above all, to make a difference in someone's life. Thinking that welcoming should be the path and that we could be the path for someone."
"THIS EXPERIENCE CHANGES US. IT TRANSFORMS THOUGHTS, CHANGES WAYS OF LOOKING AT AND UNDERSTANDING SPACE, TIME, CULTURE AND PEOPLE"
The group was formed and organized, acquiring new elements and preparing everything for the family's arrival. They managed to mobilize the population and hold a dinner to raise funds and donations. Before the family arrived, the anxiety and nervousness intensified but the desire to meet the family and help them feel at home was greater.
When the family arrived at the airport, Matilde felt filled with a certain fear and a lot of joy. On the long journey to Chaves, the family slept the entire time and when they arrived they were thrilled with the house they had found in the city center.
In addition to all the support provided, in less than 6 months the group achieved incredible things, including: a daycare for the little one, a job for the mother, the children integrating very well into school and extra-curricular activities or the father started to take out the letter.
For Matilde, "from the moment you feel that you are making a positive difference in someone's life, the impact is always huge! From the start because you realize that the other person feels that this opportunity is changing their life and then they become the small daily gains, of autonomy, adaptation and well-being that tell you that the impact will always be greater the greater the commitment on both sides and this is the real challenge for everyone".
For anyone who wants to be a sponsor, Matilde warns: "Enter this project with an open heart. Aware that there will be difficult days, with a lot of adaptation, days of sharing, days that seem to have no end, days in which a smile is worth every hour. But you will also have the opportunity to see a family live, free, safe, grateful and feel part of the community that you also represent, it will be far more important and impactful than any difficulty that may seem greater along the way.