The regional director for Communities and External Cooperation, Sancho Gomes, was at the Christmas Village this Friday, at the invitation of the Funchal City Council (CMF), as part of the International Migration Day celebrations, which included an intercultural moment reserved for Christmas stories for migrant children living in the region.

Sancho Gomes and the CMF councilor for Communities, Ana Bracamonte, read the story by Maria Aurora Carvalho Homem, ‘O Anjo Tobias e a Rochinha de Natal,’ and delighted the audience of dozens of children present in the ‘Aldeia,’ who heard the story in Portuguese and Spanish.

There was no shortage of other Christmas tales from Cape Verde, Romania, Russia, and Guinea Bissau, told in other languages such as Creole, Romanian, Russian, and Portuguese.

“Giving children and their families the chance to read Christmas stories in Portuguese, Spanish, Ukrainian, English and other languages” with a view to the full integration of foreign citizens living in the region was the aim of this initiative by the Funchal local authority, which is based on values such as equality, fairness, respect and peaceful dialogue between peoples.

Sancho Gomes praised CMF, pointing out that this initiative is also in line with the migration policies carried out by the Regional Government and the campaign for the equality of migrants, launched this month by the Regional Directorate for Communities and External Cooperation, called “Immigrants – Welcoming, Protecting, Integrating, Promoting.”

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES