The Escola da Esperança has been in a legalization process for over 3 years now, aiming to be an international, free and officially accredited school within Tamera. As The Grace Foundation we support their current and future efforts because we love the community-based learning approach centered around the children’s inherent curiosity for learning. Also, we see the school as a major contribution to Tamera’s current task of growing deeper roots within the region and Portugal’s educational/political landscape.
While the work for the legalization process has been in full swing over the past years, it currently needs new impulses, inspiration and political support to proceed. It is a timely, costly and complex process, and new pedagogical impulses are easily smothered in the machinery of the education systems. The Grace Foundation will stay faithful to its political and financial support of the project, as we see their goal as a comprehensive and needed contribution to new learning possibilities for children.
ESCOLA DA ESPERANÇA, FREE GRANT – DECEMBER 2016 CHF32K
In December 2016 we decided to give a free grant to Tamera, as a gesture from the heart in gratitude for their work. We were happy to hear that Tamera has decided to use both grants for the homeschooling program of the Escola da Esperança.
Besides the legalization process of the future school, a homeschooling-based education is constantly ongoing in Tamera for 30 children from the community and neighboring villages. The children’s full integration into Portuguese culture and their fluency in the language provides a fair amount of the acceptance needed for the school to succeed politically. Working towards this aim, Tamera has employed four Portuguese teachers through our grants. In the larger context of the school’s development, we perceive this piece of the puzzle to be decisive right now in a very basic, down-to-earth manner. To us it also meant helping to bridge the gap until the Escola da Esperança is an officially accredited school and giving Tamera’s children the opportunity to be homeschooled in the safe, social container of the community.
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