The Vice-Presidency of the Government of the Azores, through the Regional Directorate for the Communities, starts this month a new cycle of the initiative “Conversations of the Diaspora”, dedicated to highlight the organization from the United States of America, Canada, Brazil and Bermuda that have cooperation protocols with the Regional Government and that develop their work in the areas of migrants’ social support and integration, Portuguese language promotion and the dissemination and preservation of the Azorean cultural identity.
After the success achieved with the first three cycles of the “Conversations of the Diaspora”, dedicated namely to the Houses of the Azores, to the Azorean Diaspora Councilors and to the Media, this initiative returns to make known the faces, the work, the resources and the challenges of the institutions from the communities mentioned and that have protocols established with the Government of the Azores.
The first session of this cycle is scheduled to January 31st, with the association Abrigo Centre, of Toronto, Canada, followed by the Catholic Social Services (from Fall River, USA), on February 7th, the Socio-community Centre of Montreal (from Canada) on February 14th, POSSO- Portuguese Organization for Social Services and Opportunities (from San José, USA) on February 21st and Vasco da Gama School (from Hamilton, Bermuda) on February 28th.
In March, the “Conversations of the Diaspora” give voice to the Immigrants Assistance Centre, on the 7th, the Working Women Community Centre (from Toronto, Canada) on the 14th, VALER – Valley Area Living Enabling Resources (from Turlock, USA) on the 21st and Mission Santa Cruz (from Montreal, Canada) on the 28th.
During the month of April, the guests for “Conversations of the Diaspora” will be MAPS – Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (from Cambridge, USA) on the 4th, the Centre of Azorean Studies of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (from Florianopolis, Brazil) on the 11th and SER Jobs for Progress (from Fall River, USA) on the 18th.
Finally, the highlight goes to the Luso Canadian Charitable Society (from Hamilton, Canada) on May 2nd, the Centro Comunitário Amigos da Terceira (from Pawtucket, USA) on May 9th, the Portuguese Cultural Centre (Mississauga, Canada) on May 16th, the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture from the University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth, USA) on May 23rd and Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute from the University of California (from Fresno, USA) on May 30th.
The “Conversations of the Diaspora” will be streamed live on the official webpage of the Regional Directorate for the Communities on the social media Facebook, Mondays at 6pm Azorean time, conducted by the Regional Director José Andrade.
