Centre le Bambou: A place to be free.

 Readingtime: 4 minutes

 

 

 

 

Freedom. It is our greatest good.

My daughter is disabled. The hardest thing of all for me has always been the thought that she will be locked up when I'm gone. Of course, you have to make sure in time that your child lives somewhere, because imagine that something happens to you. And besides, if she lives at home for too long she won't be able to get used to a care facility. Then it is very hard, such a transition.

But I don't want her to live in a care institution. I don't want the door to close and someone to decide for her when she can go out, or when she has to help with the cooking, or when it's her turn to do the washing up. I want her to have freedom, choices, a life like mine. And I don't know how.

 

Françoise is mother of a twenty-year-old son with autism. They come from French-speaking Belgium. I found her by chance through an article in a newspaper. A Belgian who travels all the way to Portugal to create a place for her son. A place where he can live in freedom, where the door doesn't close. Yes, that is exactly what I am looking for, for Cato. I must speak to her, I thought.

She promptly responded to my email. After our visit in Salamanca, Cato and I left for Monçāo, exactly on the border of Portugal and Spain.

Françoise has bought an enormous piece of land in Portugal, in Badim, near Monçāo. There are four dilapidated farmhouses on it and for the rest it is a lot of land, up against a mountain. This is where a community for people with autism must emerge, to live and work. It is called: Centre le Bambou.

Françoise dreams of a multifunctional center that people from the area will also frequent. There will for example be paint and dancing lessons, but also therapeutic offer such as yoga workshops and GAPS diet courses. GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) is a diet for a healthy body and mind. Her son Felix has been following this diet for 13 years now and Françoise says it has made a huge difference. She herself has been a GAPS diet specialist for several years.

There will be animals to look after, a vegetable and herb garden. I can see it before me.

 

On the other side downhill are two brand new tiny houses for rent to tourists. Françoise tells me that someone is going to build a large hotel nearby. ‘That's so good for my project’, she says. ‘People will come to visit this area and see what we do. There may be people amongst them who will support it.’

I dream with her. Perhaps residents of her project can get a sheltered workplace in the hotel. I tell her about La Bourguette (see post: a Pearl in the French Landscape) and the wonderful restaurant they run there. She immediately gets excited.

 

 

 

We're sitting in the shade of a few beautiful trees that provide a closed roof, next to a large basin in which water is constantly flowing. ‘Groundwater from the mountain', Françoise explains and she holds a jug under it. Clear water that you can drink right away.

Françoise is a social businesswoman, a social marketer. She works as a salesperson for the company Modere that sells natural products. She was the first representative (Modere) in France.

In doing so, she made so much money that she was able to buy this piece of land. Now she wants to make it available to an association to be set up to run the project. Money is needed to build the houses and the cultural centre. She wants a swimming pool for the residents. There are many plans.

 

But first the association has to be set up and that is not so easy because in Portugal you have to choose the right form, Françoise explains. She has gathered a group of parents around her who support the project and help her. There are different kinds of associations and they have to find out which would be the right one, so that they won’t find out afterwards that they are not allowed to do certain activities. She hopes the association will be established in the autumn. Then they can start collecting money from the government. It is not too difficult to get money for social projects in Portugal, Françoise says.

 

I immediately feel the impatience waking up in me. It has to be now, tomorrow. Yes, Françoise understands me. ‘Everything takes time', she says. And Portugal, of course, has rules which mean you're not completely free in your choices. Françoise has to build a normal house near the tiny houses, for instance. So now she has given up her flat in Monçāo and will build a small house on the mountain. She will have to drive further to Felix's school. But she shrugs her shoulders. She is used to the narrow, steep roads on the mountain. ‘And then we can start keeping animals, goats and chickens, and that will give Felix something to do. And then children from the neighbourhood can come here too.’ Françoise is a jack-of-all-trades. Apart from driving this project, she represents Modere in Portugal and Spain, she guides parents online with a special diet for a healthy body and mind (GAP), she drives children to school in her car, of course she takes care of Felix and she travels to Belgium to be near her daughter as often as possible.

The school Felix visits is just over the border In Spain. I will tell about this school in my next post.

 

I believe the Centre Le Bambou  to be a wonderful project and I wish for Françoise lots of support!

 

To summarize:

If you would like to meet or to support this new project in Portugal:

 

You can rent the tiny houses for a week-end or a week. You will enjoy the beautiful nature, and the great view.

O refugio: reservation on fhanoul@skynet.be

Facebook page of the tiny houses : Centre le Bambou

 

You can support Françoise’s business that will finance the project: GAPS & Modere

Or start your own revenue through partnership with Françoise.

 

Françoise will be very happy to respond to your questions:

Whatsapp: 0032478546361

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Just near the school in Spain you can take a dive in the river. On the other side is Portugal.