So you never spent money?
AS: Of the 1.111 Euros already spent 477 to pay for water, electricity, gas, the seal and car insurance. From now on I do not spend more money on household bills, I will save that amount, because from the beginning of the project I thought that someone could live in my house, sleep in my room and I will take the coach. I thought of someone who could not pay rent, it was unemployed and could not spend much money. Then I got a person with these characteristics, which pays the expenses that is much less than renting a room. When I go out of the house and that person takes care of my cats and turns out to be an exchange. I have not done an exchange with the EDP light company, but this is a way for people to share expenses, rent them a spared room. It is a way to overcome many difficulties.
Where ANJE enters in this process?
AS: ANJE only provided the facilities, space to launch the idea. I organized two events, one of my personal project and one of the social work. They found the concept funny, but I do not work with them, because it is an association of young entrepreneurs, and I'm not a company or want to be one. I want to do this individually, with people like I say with the blue heart. I do not need financing. With the resources of society, I could do much more thru the exchanges.
Do you feel fulfilled?
AS: Yes, of course. Very much so and not like before. It's completely different. I do not think I'll stay here. This is just the beginning. A sabbatical and now I feel I am born again. It is also a year of learning how I can be more sustainable, greener and many things are happening and interestingly I am not learn more because I end up spreading this project. I wanted to plant a garden in front of my building. But I have no time, because the movement is maddening growing. In the first month, I began to give many interviews and everything was very fast. Next year I'll have another project, another idea, and other ways of doing things and will surely be different.
When you have decided to embark on the adventure of the "Believe in Portugal" people did not try to dissuade you? After all you had a steady job, a house; it is time of economical crisis.
AS: The people who tried to dissuade me were the ones that were closest to me, my friends and my father was very worried about the money and the future, my mother is very religious and sees this as a way to help others in a Christian or catholic way, so she agreed. The people that thought that I was crazy were my closest friends, I always had crazy ideas and they always went along with it, only they thought this particular one was too much (laughs). They told me that there was no need for it, but I felt that this was what I wanted. My boss also told me the same: Andresa, nobody lives of exchanges. And when I told him I wanted to leave, he thought I was crazy too, because he liked my work, he told me to relax, to calm down and even suggested to take a sick leave for a few days (laughs). I always said no and then I just left. People who do not know me so thought well of my idea and found it normal, others found it sober, said it would change politics, which would create a new religion, even said that this project was the future.(laughs) I was driven by those who are more open minded, it is possible to change the world. My friend's support me a lot now, my father is more rested and now feel that there this blue hopes.
How many people have joined project?
AS: The group has 14 000, but not half make exchanges. There are people added who never show up. The trade fairs, in Lisbon have an average of 100 people in other Portuguese districts less and then the group of England is going well, but I do not know how many elements have. Spain will start in force now, because a friend of mine is going to live there. What matters is not how many people have the movement, but that there is an alternative, when you have no money, do an exchange. This is the real magic. I do not ask people to live as I do, I obviously have good conditions and home ownership, but they can minimize their costs in ways that makes all the difference. A friend of mine switched English tutoring for her daughter, by someone who will iron her clothes. We all win. Contact with other persons and we stopped giving so much value to things. It is an exchange of skills that each one has. No one is ever more important than the other.
Why you chose the color blue?
AS: For a number of coincidences, one because everyone called me the girl with the blue eyes. My color is now blue. Then why I started this whole project on facebook and it's blue. There was also a girl who interviewed me and told me: "You are a link, you united, you linked people," as I worked in recruitment, I can always refer people to the right projects. It will be superfluous to say that the links on the internet are blue, so the blue in color "believe". If you want to change the world, it is blue. The sky and sea are blue. It's all very blue.
The title in English, why?
AS: It's called "believe in Portugal" and not "acreditar", because early on I thought it was a project that could travel the world, hence the English. Not that I do not believe in Portugal, on the contrary, our country is going to teach others to "belivar" and make the world a better place. It is necessary to internationalize. The movement is growing so much that has been adapted to the Portuguese language, people say believe that it is also interesting because it means "be life." There is a new language, we believar.
The trade fairs how they operate?
AS: They all have a theme, believe in change, believe in love, believe in life and this month is believe in dreams, and everything revolves around this theme. The fairs always arrange an organization to support, in Madeira, is the "pata" which hosts stray animals. At the entrance of the fair we ask people to bring everything that are related to the animals, food, sand, what people have at home and they not have to buy it obviously. So you have to get an object, but even without it, you enter the same. The fairs, in addition have individual stalls where people trade for other things, there are also workshops, reflexology, massage where there are exchanges also. Then there is a moment which is called "speed connecting" I invented with a friend of mine who is a way for people to get to know each other and exchange services. They have 30 seconds to say what they have to offer and what they wish to receive, but only on services. And hence arise the connections, causing people to know each other like in a village. This dynamic is interesting in that sense.
After this, what will you do?
AS: The slogan of the project is to be life, believe, be happy and then a friend offer me to continue be life, the idea is to recover a home without money, trading services, retrieving objects from the trash and have a vegetable garden be a sustainable space for people to make exchanges. The idea was to record our daily lives through an online television, or a documentary that would be issued as a kind of "be school" to teach other cities to do the same, to provide community support. Another interesting project is at the individual level, I help to change people's homes. I perhaps will live a week in the residence of someone and in return for accommodation and food, I help them to be more sustainable, spared, minimize costs with simple gestures. This will be very funny and people ask me to do that a lot. Another project that would like to put into practice, more in the future, is a school where children teach the parents to be happy. They have everything inside, I would love to involve children, so they teach us to dream again.
