A Portuguese Transformer Group Bridges Social Differences

Joana is dedicated to improving peoples' lives through teaching. And anything goes. From skating to knitting, if you have a skill then you're welcome to join the transformers and improve social conditions in Portugal.

In Portugal, there is still a lot of social difference, and in fact, there are two parallel realities. And there is a possibility for all of this to change and this is what Joana Moreira, a 28 year-old from Portugal and her team are doing every day. She is calling herself a ‘transformer’.

Transformers use their skills to make a difference. They consider every skill a superpower and that super power can be translated as cooking, skating, rollerblading, swimming. All you have to do is share that super power with a group of apprentices.

Their apprentices are mostly people in difficult situations. She is part of a national voluntary movement where people apply to be transformers. The volunteers have one weekend of compulsory training and then they start teaching once a week. Through activities, the Transformers try to fix social problems in the community and they have determined that their efforts pay off – they can see payback.
What is this payback? All the apprentice groups, throughout the year, have to identify a social problem that bothers them and find a way to fix it. Joana’s main motivation in the process is actually being with the kids and seeing the difference they are making.

This project shouldn’t be limited to Portugal; it should be implemented all over the world.

Joana’s wish as a transformer is to reach that moment when you forget you are volunteering to help change lives because it’s changing yours.