The mobility to Madeira took place between 1st and 7th April 2019. During the first day, the Portuguese teachers and students welcomed the rest of the partners at school. All the participants of the project wanted to leave the image of our project and its symbolism on the walls of the school by drawing a dove in a wall painting activity.
As you can see, the final result was a fantastic masterpiece!
Previous to the presentations the students of the school offered us some musical and theatre performances.
After that, Mr. Armando Barreiro, the headmaster, together with other local authorities from Madeira and representatives of different organizations welcomed officially all the partners involved in the project.
Conference of Dr. Celina Cruz, responsible for the “Center of Madeira and Migration Communities” CLAIM Madeira. Edifício do Governo Regional 3º andar, Avenida Zarco 9004-528 Funchal.
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Conference of Dr. Cristina Nóbrega and Dr. Ricardo Silva, of the “Garota do Calhau” Association.
Power Point presentations in English by students from the three countries explaining the previous mobilities and their personal experiences.
After lunch they went up by cable car to the part called Monte to visit the “Quinta Berardo” gardens and learn about their history and tradition.
The current owner of “Monte Palace Tropical Gardens” is also the story of an emigrant who managed to achieve his dreams.
Joe Berardo was born in Santa Luzia, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. At the age of 13 he left school and got a job with low qualification in the Madeira wine cellar sector. At the age of 18, he emigrated to South Africa, where he worked in the distribution of horticulture and, finally, created large commercial enterprises, becoming in the late 20th century one of the most renowned and wealthy Portuguese entrepreneurs. In South Africa, he created Egoli Consolidated Mines Ltd, a gold mining company. Later, the mining company started working with diamond mining Berardo returned to Portugal in 1986. In 1987, he created "Monte Palace Tropical Gardens". These gardens occupy an area of 7 hectares and in them we could observe the enormous biodiversity of Madeira's natural heritage in the form to Laurissilva Forest and also botanical specimens of several continents, with a special attention to an impressive collection of Cycads originating from South Africa.
After this visit, the day ended with a fellowship dinner with the director.
