I remember it so well when I went to the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP).

I rode in a car, so much, without seeing anything from the Almeirim Agricultural Training Center, that I thought I was deceived and lost.

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      And then I hate being late. I thought I had gone to where Judas lost his boots and couldn't find them. But finally there he was, on my left side. The Center that was to be my professional home for 14 years.

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      I went to open a Centre for Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences. We were part of 5 pilot centers that were supervised by ANEFA, the National Agency for Adult Education and Training. I had intense training with the founders of the company and I learned a lot, with all the hope, anxiety, doubts, determination and discipline of those who do and see the birth of something new.

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      We had ambitious goals set by ANEFA. 120 enrollees and 360 certificates per year. In the first year, I RVCC Professional and 4 trainers, in the area of Mathematics for Life, Language and Communication, Citizenship and Employability and Information and Communication Technologies, we certified 9 people. Dr. Clara Guerreiro, the Director of the RVCC Centre, sent for me to find out the reasons for such a setback. I asked him to give me permission to go and talk to people, make the project known and establish partnerships. So I did.

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We establish partnerships with:

     - Cadaval Business Association

     - Murteira Business Association

     - AREPA in Porto Alto

     - Paulo Freire Center in Marinhais

     - Volunteer Firefighters

     - Parish Councils

     - Town Halls

     - INCOMPOL

     - White Couple

     - GET FORMED

  

       In the following years, we exceeded all the targets set by the European Union.

So much I've done in the 14 years I've worked on this project. Here are just a few summary topics.

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     - Formed groups of trainees

     - Organized schedules

     - Developed pedagogical methodologies

     - Trained trainers

     - Listened to and analysed life stories

     - Prepared validation juries

     - Chaired validation juries

     - Worked with amazing teams and colleagues

        

​     I can say that I miss those who still feel part of a house that made me LOVE the training, CAP and its people.