Past Movements and new Visions

For the past 14 years, the Escola da Esperança Project has carried the vision of creating a regional and international school on the land of Tamera. During this time, the project has gone through many different phases of growth, learning, and transformation. In recent years, however, the dream of building an international school on Tamera’s land has gradually come to a pause, while a new vision has begun to emerge.

During this period, our main focus has been on strengthening our team and deepening our integration into the surrounding region.

Today, we are proud to say that we have built a dedicated and stable team of Portuguese educators who work hand in hand with co-workers from the Tamera community. At the same time, more and more families from the surrounding region have joined our learning community. Together, we have created a solid educational framework for children between the ages of 3 and 11.

In December last year, we celebrated an important milestone: we found a new partner school for the families of our learning community.

We are especially happy about this partnership because, for the first time, we have found a school whose educational values and vision closely align with our own. This marks a significant new step in the development of our project.

Throughout this process, our original dream has naturally evolved in a new direction. It became clear that Tamera currently does not have the capacity to build and sustain such a large educational institution. Last year we also received a definitive decision from the Portuguese authorities that a school cannot be built on Tamera’s land.

At the same time, we have come to recognize that it may be even more meaningful for this initiative to grow into a truly regional project, with Tamera as an active partner rather than its physical location.

Today, our goal is to continue developing our learning community as a nurturing educational space for children from 1 to 11 years of age.

Meanwhile a new team – formed by parents and teachers from our learning community – has come together to work towards opening a school for students 11-15 year of age. It shall be Portuguese private school that is deeply rooted in the region and shaped through regional collaboration.

Overview of the Different Phases of the Project:

  • 2001 – Creation of the Children’s Place in Tamera: a communal living and learning space for the children of the community. The project also hosted children’s camps and welcomed guest children from outside the community.
  • 2012 – Formation of a strong team around the vision of Escola da Esperança. During this period, the educational concept was developed, a website and promotional film were created, and the proposal was submitted to the Portuguese educational authorities. Unfortunately, the application received a negative response due to the existing building restrictions on Tamera’s land. Meanwhile, the children of the community attended the local public school, strengthening both their Portuguese language skills and their connection with the surrounding region.
  • 2013 – The community children returned to a learning environment within Tamera through the framework of Portuguese homeschooling. The first families from the surrounding region joined the learning community, and the first Portuguese teacher became part of the team. At the same time, Tamera initiated the PIER process, a legal procedure aimed at changing the official land designation from agricultural land to that of a village.
  • 2014–2023 – Continuous development and consolidation of the communal learning space. More families and professional educators from the region joined the project, and the age range expanded from children aged 1 to young people up to 16 years old. During this time, a strong youth team was established, offering Political Journeys and regular youth camps, while the long-term vision of creating Escola da Esperança remained alive.
  • 2024 – A challenging year marked by the departure of several team members, and the growing demands of the portuguese homeschooling system, requiring the learning community to reduce its educational offer to children between the ages of 3 and 11.
  • 2025 – While Tamera’s PIER process finally began to make significant progress, we received a definitive refusal from the Portuguese authorities regarding the construction of a school on Tamera’s land. At the same time, our team grew into a committed and stable group of educators from both the region and Tamera, and we reopened our doors to an increasing number of regional families.
  • 2026 – A major milestone was reached with the establishment of a partnership with Teia Multicultural, enabling families to officially register their children within the Portuguese homeschooling framework in a school which closely enlines with our values. At the same time, a new initiative was launched by parents and educators to develop a Portuguese private school in the area surrounding Tamera, while our learning community continues to welcome more families from the region.