As the day falls to give way to the following night, and the incredible twilight takes on unique contours, between the blue of the morning and the pitch black of the night, I observe the twilight of the hour through the landscape that blurs in front of where I am, from Porto Judeu to the Ilhéus das Cabras. I take the liberty of asking a group of people who are observing the view next to me. I ask them what images they associate with the silhouette of those two sister islets, floating with the arrival of darkness. And, in a matter of seconds, someone responds by invoking literature and the literary ode represented by the hat of our beloved Little Prince.
That was also my perception, but my first reaction was to question the logic behind such a statement. However, I backed off, allowing myself to base my feelings on my professional experience and personal development. We don’t always need explanations. How many times do we just need an opportunity to think? How many days of our journey wouldn’t be easier if we were free to feel and be without justifying who we are?
Facing these challenges is a Herculean task, so often unjustly forgotten and usually drowned out by the traffic noise and the hustle and bustle of life that has become conventionalized daily. That’s how I feel about Sérgio Nascimento’s efforts, and I recognize in him a merit that I’m happy to highlight in the first lines 2025.
Sérgio was (and always will be) one of the driving forces behind the institution “Olhar Poente,” an organization that opens up equal flows for all the rivers that flow from the heads of children and teenagers. There, differences are just starting points for building bridges that connect each of these rivers, forming a great ocean with its inherent complexity but based on morality and mutual recognition.
“Olhar Poente” recently celebrated fifteen years of existence under Sérgio’s leadership and with a prepared team that is its greatest ally in developing a visionary and innovative project. It has brought together workers, fathers, and mothers from an expanding community, building a common dream of pedagogical familiarity that is truly outside the box that we have become accustomed to. This team prepares and focuses on inclusion with an operational genius that deserves highlighting.
Every child who passes through there will abandon adult concepts of discrimination and class distinctions. Each reborn person there knows that no skin color, religion, or social background separates us. What unites us is the freedom of our thinking, where we don’t need a reason to justify what our gaze interprets in each landscape we observe.
“Olhar Poente” promotes a work of individual valorization for the construction of the collective. It invests in training, qualification, and team cohesion, understanding that this permanent construction is essential for the success of the multiple responses needed for each challenge that arises. Cooperation is the foundational pillar for each child to understand the community in unity and realize that this is the main way to respond to the future.
I recognize a worthy effort, starting from the parish of Vila Nova on Terceira island, to encompass a large part of the municipality of Praia da Vitória, creating learning spaces where the playful and the pedagogical mix commune in harmony. We’re not talking about boxes to house children while their parents work. We’re not talking about a makeshift prison, as discussed in political circles. This is a permanent interaction between adults and children, where those who learn also teach.
Olha Poente” has been promoting work in various parallel projects, creating more than sixty jobs, including ‘SOS Casa’, ‘Babysitting & Event Animation’, among others. In addition, partnerships have made it possible to deepen knowledge and promote sharing in initiatives such as the “1st Insular Congress on Looking to the Future”, which brought together specialists in Education and Health.
It has received several distinctions, including the “Healthy Workplaces” Award, the only one in the Autonomous Regions, and the Protective Seal of the National Commission for the Promotion of the Rights and Protection of Children and Young People, awarded for the first time in the Azores.
I have no doubt about the merit of the work promoted by “Olhar Poente,” which has now been recognized again, this time by the Vila Nova Parish Council, as an entity of merit and excellence.
In a recent democratic election, the institution’s new governing bodies were elected. This time, it will be a woman – Sandra Serpa – who will be President and Francisco Melo, who will be Vice-President.
I publicly acknowledge Sandra’s determination, strength, and dedication, who has been involved with this institution since its inception. Francisco’s knowledge, pragmatism, commitment, and sensitivity to social issues, as well as the availability of the whole team, make me convinced about the future of “Olhar Poente,” the continuation and expansion of this institution.
I can’t mention everyone who is part of this team for the sake of space. Still, Marina, Vânia, Josefa, Fabiana, Carlota, Gabriel, Valdemar, and the rest, your work is the happiness of many families.
To Sérgio, who has always acknowledged the efforts of the team, I would like to use the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to thank you for everything that has been done and to say that it was a mirror of his beautiful thought: “Grown-ups always need explanations. They never understand anything on their own and it’s exhausting for children to be constantly tutored.”
Thank you. Hugs to Sérgio, Sara, and Manuel; after all, it was from a family dream that all this came true.
Happy 2025!

From Olhar Poente’s Facebook page

Alexandra Manes is from Flores Island but lives in Terceira Island, Azores. She is a regular contributing writer for several Azorean newspapers. She is a political and cultural activist and has served in the Azorean Parliament.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers from the Azores to give the diaspora and those interested in the current Azores a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

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)