Extraordinary people

In all, 500 hand-painted tiles from various institutions and Portuguese schools will transform Albufeira’s drab Balaia roundabout into something very special. “The idea is to show local Algarvians and Portuguese people in general that handicapped people have great potential.

They can make things just like so-called “normal” people. In spite of their challenges, they’re effective!” These words come from Nuno Neto, 50, the businessman who in 2003 founded APEXA - the association for the support of exceptional people in the Algarve.

Displayed over a series of walls three metres high, the tiles have all been decorated by handicapped people. “If we didn’t have things like this, society would forget - as they really don’t “see” handicapped people, and so are unaware of the reality. I have to admit that, in the old days, I missed a lot of what was out there as well,” explains Neto, who woke up to the challenges facing handicapped people as a result of developments within his own family.

“I had the misfortune, or luck, you could say, of having a child with Spina Bifida. Therefore, I thought I should create something for him so that there’d be a support structure in the future – one that would also help others. In a way, this association has become a second parent for my son – helping him through life according to his own potential. I joined a group of parents and friends, spoke with town councillors and things moved on from there”, Neto adds.

APEXA currently has 300 members of all ages – most of them from the borough of Albufeira. Starting up was hard, and the biggest problem remains the running of various activities in “loaned spaces”. Another obstacle is the desperate pace and weight of institutional bureaucracy.

Even so, APEXA manages to provide a number of services to the community – including early intervention (from birth to 6 years old, currently involving 30 youngsters). In Oura, there’s a “socio-professional” project ongoing, and in Ferreiras one to help stem scholastic problems. Both have had “great results”. There’s also an arts workshop in Algoz.

Nonetheless, Nuno Neto says there’s still much that needs doing. “I’m sure that if I was in Lisbon, Oporto or Coimbra everything would be different, because in this area of handicaps, everything is centralised. In the Algarve, money’s almost non-existent. But happily we have businesspeople and civil society that likes to support causes such as this, and this is what has saved us.

Only a few days ago we had two Dutch couples helping us by buying €2.000-worth of physiotherapy equipment for the children we help in the early intervention scheme”.

Mentalities also need to change. “Yes. I am from the era when you never saw a handicapped child in the schools. They were simply left to one side – never getting a chance. Not now. There’s an educational strategy to integrate these young people into the school system – and this means in the future, things will be different. But the change in mentalities is still a generation away, that’s for sure”, he says.

“I used to feel very uncomfortable when I realised that everyone was looking at me for the simple fact that I had a handicapped child in a wheelchair. I had to learn to disconnect. Now, I never leave him at home. It’s a pleasure to take him out – even though it was hard at the outset. Painful, even. Sometimes you’re somewhere and you hear people saying “poor little thing”. We’re still in this phase. It’s our culture…” Neto laments.

The mural was a project that began at the end of 2010. To wake people up a bit, APEXA also organised a national competition: “Rehabilitation through Art”, involving photography, painting and sculpture. This year, 42 institutions are taking part and there’ll be 95 works to choose from. Fifteen will win prizes. “We asked hotels in the Algarve to offer weekends – and they really need congratulating, because, despite the difficult times, they all get involved in social projects”.

Nuno Neto concludes: “I have to say that all this has been a very enriching experience. Everyone involved is really exceptional, different and equal” to anyone else…

Filipe Santos – a champ to support!

Paulo Alexandre, 39, is the swimming coach for the borough of Portimão. He’s one of the founders of the association “O2”, set up to work with handicapped people and a more diverse public. Since 2005, Filipe Santos - a young man with Down’s Syndrome - has practised swimming several hours a day. “I saw that he could learn quickly. It’s been a natural process”, tells Alexandre.

National record holder of the 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400-metres freestyle, Filipe Bjorke dos Santos also holds the national records for the 100 and 200-metre butterfly. It’s his dream to keep on swimming. His most recent award was the Gold Medal for the 200-metre butterfly discipline at the 2011 European Swimming Championships.

According to his trainer, this young athlete “understands the importance of competitions, and always wants to win”. The problem is that up until now, in spite of his impressive potential “he has no sponsor, when it comes to funding”.

Paulo Alexandre reckons that each competition on national territory costs a minimum of €500 – “to cover travelling, accommodation and equipment” costs.

“I’ve been dreaming, and have managed to take Filipe up the levels. He’s gone right to the top – he’s currently the best in Europe!

But to win anything at in 2012, we’ll have to go to a gym and develop a more professional routine”.

“He used to be chubby, but he’s developed a lot – on a social level as well. I started by making him run. After almost a year of training on the beach, I thought of taking him to a national athletics championship – and he won the bronze medal for the 200-metres!”

“Sport for handicapped people isn’t really rated, and in the Algarve the situation is even worse – even though there are all the conditions to promote it. I had an autistic lad, Rui, who I trained – and he’s honestly the best at the 25-metre back-stroke in Portugal. But he’s stuck now. Nowhere to go…” Alexandre laments.

“There’s prejudice and a lot of ignorance in Portugal.

The idea is that they’re “poor things” “sick people” “abnormal people”. But they’re nothing of the kind. They’re challenged – and they win competitions because they work hard!”

“I had one youngster, Gustavo, who no-one would take on, and I got him swimming. It wasn’t easy – but I’m used to that now. Of course, everything depends on the kind of challenge the youngsters have, and its level of seriousness. We have to work that part out, and from then on, everything’s possible”, he guarantees.

Portimão’s Centro Commercial Continente has decided to help Alexandre and his rising swimming star. From 1st to 4th December there’ll be a special sales drives on the 1st floor from which all monies will go towards funding Filipe so that he can get to the World Masters Championships in Italy in 2012.