Current State of Progress and Plans

As you know, we are working for years on establishing an international private school. We did not manage to start the school in September 2014, as we had planned. In 2015 we revised our application for the licence of our school, yet again. Since then, we have a good contact towards the school authorities, and got positive signs towards the approval of our school concept. more...

And you, which animal are you?

“There is a snake!” The voices of the children sound excited and curious. The encounter with the animal in the forest reveals a trusting and awake attitude the children have towards this being, which is usually a rather shy one. Animals, wild ones and domesticated, were a theme in the kindergarten in these last months. Our kindergarten group grew bigger with four new children in the age of three.  more...

What is an activist?

What is activism? Who are our change-maker role models past and present? What is my personal form of activism and how do I want to direct my activities in order to make the world a better place? We allowed these questions and more to guide us through a module week. We heard many stories from an activist from Israel-Palestine who gave many vivid examples of what it means to stand up for the rights of others who are under oppression.  more...

Sailing school and life on board

Daniel and Amelie organized with 4 of our students (Liam, Simon, Luka and Mante) a 6-day sailing school on the yacht Kalimba in the port of Sines. We anchored in the bay of Sines - cooking, living, sleeping, learning, playing - everything took place on board. Even though some of us got seasick on our day trip, our encounter with the dolphins was one of the highlights of the whole time. more...

The youth came back from their political journey to the U.S.

In autumn 2019, we – the youth group of the Escola de Esperança Project – made a political education trip to the USA. Now we are back, full of new experiences, gratitude and ideas for the future. You can download and read the beautiful report that the youth created with many pictures and testimonies as well as deep content about the relevance of each day they lived and project they visited. more...

Everyone in the garden

One of the gifts that our community has taken from the Covid-19 period is the decision to work together in our gardens. Since March we have met 3 times a week – adults and youngsters, gardeners and those with no experience of this work. We took this decision in support of the region’s food autonomy as well as for the joy of coming together. more...

A week in nature

We had a nature “survival week”. We were at the Sanctuary Lake in the south valley of Tamera for four days and three nights, equipped with our knives and a few other hand tools. We made our fire with a hand drill set and this was important because we didn’t bring any lighters or matches to start the fires. Besides gathering, cooking and eating food we practiced some hard skills, such as making atlatls, wooden bowls by using embers to burn into them, rope, fire sets and more. more...

Exploring creativity through intense theatre work

Theatre was the headline for our coming together  after the Christmas holidays.
We immersed ourselves into a fantastic journey of discovery into theatre and its potential for revealing individual and collective expressions of what is most intimate to us and which does not always find the right space to be seen - our creativity. more...

The forest as a space for learning and experience

In February and March 2020, our kindergarten was transformed into a forest kindergarten for a few weeks. Every day we were out in nature with our 7 children. Today their task is to listen. "What did you hear and perceive?" The children have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the countless possibilities that the forest offers them. Alone or in small groups. The curiosity and enthusiasm brings the children together again and again. more...

Favela da Paz from São Paulo in internship at our school

The group of Escola da Esperança was blessed to receive for one month Pikeno, a member of the Instituto Favela da Paz in São Paulo, Brazil. He grew up there and co-created a socio-cultural Institute in the middle of what was in the 1990s one of the most dangerous slum of the world. He works with children and youth in the favela Jardim Ângela using drums and music as a tool to create community experiences, social knowledge and support them creating the lives they dream of. more...

Political Journey to the US

For one month during fall 2019 Tamera’s youth group is on a “political journey” to the US where they can gain insights into the current environmental, socio-political and economic crises and to visit local projects which create hope in their surroundings by providing intelligent answers and practical help. Our students will explore what the transition to a peaceful world could look like. In Tamera we followed closely events at the Standing Rock protest camp and were fascinated by the connection between spirituality and political activism... more...

By canoe on the Mira from Milfontes to Odemira

In recent years, it has become a tradition for us to start the new school year with a special week. This first week of school helps teachers and students to get in touch with each other in a different way than on normal school days and get to know each other more deeply.
We use this time, among other things, to ask the children what they want to learn and do in this school year and why they want to do it. more...

Youth Camp 2019 - There is no Planet B

Our annual youth camp took place in Tamera from August 2nd until August 15th. 43 young people aged 13 to 18, from 8 different countries including Portugal, Germany, Brazil, and the US took part. In connection with the slogan of the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement ‘system change not climate change’ we dedicated our time to questions like: What does system change mean? Can we find a picture, a vision of life, that we can love and that together we can take a stand for? more...

We were on a treasure hunt!

What is a treasure for you? With this circle we started our gathering under the shade roof. Each participant explained what item he had brought and why it was precious to her/him. “My family, my school class” “my power feather”, “my bracelet”.  “The fun we will have during looking for the big treasure, will be the real treasure”. Those were the answers in the beginning of the camp.
A different kind of treasure- a big treasure box, wanted to be moved and stolen by the different group of thieves. more...

Easter Youth Camp

In the Easter holidays we had a beautiful youth time with some of the teenagers who grew up in Tamera and are now going to school in Lisbon, Austria, Germany and other places. Our wish was to meet in a smaller frame and to get into deeper exchange about political issues like the climate change and the very needed system change we are working on. To hear more intimately about their life's and most current questions and on a practical level to work with the horses. more...

March 2019 - A day of magic, building drums in the Kindergarden

The first sound we all experienced was the heartbeat of the mother, as yet unborn in the belly of the mother. The intention for the drums is to keep the connection to the big mother, Mother Earth, open and uncorrupted. Choosing all the parts, from the rim, picking medicine cards and connecting with spirit animals, up to soaking the skin, so it can soften. more...

Jan 2019 - Bem-vindo caro inimigo / Welcome dear enemy

A theater project from children of the primary classes. In our subject “estudo do meio” (which involves history and geography), the primary group, came across human history in Portugal. Who was here before me? What were those people doing? Those were questions the children, between 7- 11 years, were having.  more...

Jan 2019 - Project week about Science & Nutrition

How does the human body works and what do we need to survive? Food and air? And what is our relationship to the food we consume? We started our week, by inviting Irma, a member of our community, to speak about why did she become vegan, sharing with us the violent reality of an animal in the food industry and also showing us how easy it can be to live a healthy and balanced life without causing suffering in other beings.  more...

Dec 2018 - With hands in the earth to save the water

The students of the project Escola da Esperança had a special week, “The Week of the Water”. From the 3rd to the 7th of December, 2018, they learned how to create a water retention landscape with natural systems to capture the rain water with the orientation of the teachers, Benjamin, Marcus and Hugo. more...

Youth Camp 2018 "We Can Make a Difference in the World"

Every summer, for two weeks, Tamera brings together teenagers between 13 and 18 to experience community life, find friends, and discover prospects for a future worth living. This year, we had 43 participants from Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, the United States and Colombia. A time of extraordinary depth – both politically and interpersonally. more...

Field trip - Final week of 2017/2018 School Year

Our school year began with a special time at the coast near Milfontes where we said hello to the new faces and to the coming 10 months we would have together. Our school year ended with a journey into the mountains - into the beautiful Serra de Estrela. From the primary to the youth group to the teachers and school caretakers - 25 people in total more...

Why My Body is a Political Issue

How do you perceive your body and those of others?  Do you feel the need to fit in, to change your body or how you dress in order to be accepted by others?  Why is this a “political issue”?  What is the deeper significance of sports and how can it help us gain more power in our lives?  What about the clothes I wear, how are they produced and how does one’s consumption habits effect the world? more...

Ritual of Transformation in the Kindergarden

The children of the Kindergarden are blossoming and growing. We celebrate the ritual of transformation several times a year. With this, we want to give an opportunity to the parents and caretakers of the children, to see the many steps of development the children make, in a conscious and celebrative way. more...

2017 Student Exchange: Projeto Âncora (São Paulo, Brazil) – Tamera

After two years of intensive preparation we finally made it happen.  From the 1st to the 18th of October, we had eighteen students, two teachers and three parents from the Projeto Âncora visit us in Portugal.  After the political journey with our youth group to São Paulo in 2016, where we stayed for two weeks participating at the Projeto Âncora school and lived with their families, now the second part of the student exchange has been manifested. more...

Youth camp 2017 Youth in Community – Sacred Activism

Dear youth from all over the world,

From July 31st till August 13th 33 teenager from seven different countries met in Tamera to together think about the question: Can we believe that we can positively change something on this planet and if so, how? more...

Children summer camp 2017

The song of Pipi Longstocking was both theme song and guide for the one week Children’s Camp that took place last week in Tamera.  It was a week filled with many activities and cheerful loucura. Wearing costume, taking on a character and silliness were consistently encouraged. more...

European Youth in the Favelas of São Paulo - Final Report

For the month of February 2016, we – a group of young people from Escola da Esperança and our teachers – engaged in a learning exchange with 2 inspiring projects situated in the Favelas of São Paulo: The Projeto Âncora and the Favela da Paz - Slum of Peace. We are back full of new experiences, gratitude, and ideas for the future. In this report we want to let you know what happened during our journey. more...

Youth Camp 2016 in Tamera, Portugal

"Unleash Your Potential“

From the 1st to the 14th of August the youth camp titled “Unleash Your Potential” took place in Tamera. Forty youths between the ages of 12 and 18 from England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, Portugal and Finland came together for 2 weeks of community-building, adventure, and diving into the question: “How do we really want to live? What is our dream for a better future?” more...

Networking and Education Symposium

We want to hold the next International Education Symposium once the Escola da Esperança will have started operations.
For some time, in Portugal newly dedicated initiatives in the area of education have been emerging. Innovative people, teachers, and parents are getting together, new projects emerge and networks are created (for example the Rede da Educação Viva). more...