Our dream
Daniel and I both have a deep desire to leave the world better than we were born in to it. We are convinced that when you live from your own hart and strength. Your own true essence: you will place your own unique, indispensable contribution to the world.
It is clear that we as a society still have to grow and develop ourselves in this area. (This so that everyone will soon be able to express his or her heart's desire as an equal world citizen.) Our place TERRA FIRME is a place where we can support this growth. This through workshops, coaching, retreats, ceremonies, sweat lodges, bodywork and much more.
TERRA FIRME is a place that brings you back to your true self and makes you stand firmly in your own power again. Terra Firme means "FIRM GROUND" in Portuguese. And firm ground is what everyone needs in his/her life: Because if you stand firmly with your feet on the earth. Then you are able to face everything your heart desires and life has to offer you.
Our story
When I met Daniel, Daniel quickly told me about the house where he grew up as a child. He inherited this place (at a much too young age) from his father. This place lights up a few miles away from a remote village. The whole house was built with his father's hands. It was his dream to revive this place and built it so that 2 families could live there. However, that never happened: The house was never finished. He did, however, live in it with Daniel himself. After the death of Daniel's father, nothing really happened to the house.
The fond memories of childhood with his father also brought feelings as loss and pain. For this reason, Daniel himself initially did not want to acknowledge that he would love to make this house liveable again in the future. (or even wanted to go back to Portugal) So when Daniel first showed me this place, it was actually more about get to know and understand him and his past better... But when we walked around on this ground together, we immediately felt together that this was not only a place of Daniel's past: But also the place of our future!?!
For this reason we emigrated and started to make our house a liveable place. But we want to achieve more than just this. Me and Daniel are not "wealthy" as it is called in nice financial terms. We have each other and our talents. (and an empty bank account;-). But still, we embraced this adventure. Sometimes you can feel that you are given a special opportunity and the moment is "NOW". That waiting would mean that this opportunity would pass. This was also true:
Out of nowhere, dear friends joined our dream. When Rik and Rozemarijn heard our plans, they also felt the call to live in this place. I'll never forget how they said, "We're going with you. Sit down for a moment. Listen and then afterwards you can say if it's a good idea or not." We feel a deep gratitude that cannot be expressed in words for this. Without them, we would never have gotten this far in our current living conditions at TERA FIRME, as we are today. Their support is invaluable. And we now live with them in our place.
The Road
And only then does the adventure truly begins. The moment you packed the house. All your belongings on transport to Portugal are in a truck. You get waved off by your parent and you close the car-door and starts to drive. (Or it’s the moment you arrive at your new home. It is just how you look at it)
Life without electricity. No running water. All the comfort you were used to is gone. Even the supermarket offers a challenge because not all products are in stock that you normally have within reach. You adjust your diet and your life rhythm to the new place. Because it is simply not possible to carry out the same structure here in Portugal.
And than a period of searching for resources begins: Whare are locations where we can find building materials? Where can you find your stocks for healthy food? How do I ensure that I stay fit and healthy and can exercise? What do we do with the laundry? And much more of this. In addition to these daily worries. The system and bureaucracy also seem to be working against everything. Everything is terribly slow. And our health is failing us...
For 2 months Daniel walked around with the symptoms of an imminent hard atac. This was because his treatment could not /refused to be carried out. This caused enormous stress. I also show some worrisome fiscal complaints. Regular visits to doctor hospitals and authorities are daily life now. It's very hard for us. Even more than I can describe here. In addition to feeling vulnerable and worried. We are confronted with fear, pain, sadness and anger. The relationship is under enormous pressure. And winter begins.
It's so cold!!! There is nowhere to be found shelter in our un-insulated house without Electra. We walk around in our house in down jackets, ski suits with hot jars of water. When we wake up you can see your own breath against the cold air. (like a kind of cloud of smoke) It takes us so much energy to endure all this. But we keep on building
Our situation now:
We have running water. And in the bathroom even hot water. (If it doesn't freeze outside) We have a kitchen and during the day we have power when we turn on the generator. (We are still waiting to be connected to the power network) We are also busy with a lot of preparatory work for the B&B and activities that we want to offer.
However, we run into the problem that our house is situated in such a way that me and Daniel live in a public open space: Without any form of Privacy. This is due to the layout of the house: both the kitchen and bathroom are located on the ground floor in our apartment. We can never withdraw ourselfs because of this.
For this reason, it is important to create extra space whare we canlive next to our house. For me personally, it's not just about the "lack of space" we experience. But deeper still, it's about basic safety: I can't experience this anywhere in my house right now.
And this really touches very deeply: Every person has needs for basic safety. Being able to retreat into your own safe bubble. Recharging yourself, resting, feeding, thinking, giving space, you name it. This so that after that rest, you can continue working full of energy.
If that space isn't there, you're burning up inside. This causes stress. And when you are exposed to that pressure and stress long enough, illness follows automatically. Both our relationship and our health are coming under pressure. This is what I experience right now in my house. Its a painful, but also teachable situation.
What we need
What we see as a solution is to place a Yurt next to the house to live in. So that we can make a quiet safe home place here that offers peace and quiet. We did a lot of research. And the estimate is that all costs together amount to 28000,-. (yes, we thought that was a large amount too).
Surely that should be able to do cheaper? We thought immediately. However, with only the costs for a Yurt, the plan is not covered. For example, an insulated deck must be built. Good fire stove have to be purchased. And the transport picture to Portugal is also on top of it.
We are creative. Of course, we looked at temporary low-cost solutions to alleviate the problem. But those are not helpful constructive solutions to the real problem: at the moment there is no place in the house where me and Daniel can really come home in peace. As a result, we do not experience having a "home". And having our own "home" place to relax is a prerequisite for further realizing our dreams.
Call to action
And that's why we now ask for your financial support: And really every little bit helps!
If you cannot contribute financially. But do you have another way to contribute? That too is welcome. Sharing our story and this message via socials. Can be just that extra push so that we can reach enough peapol willing to help us. And helps us manifest our Yurt. Do you have another golden tip on solution: Let us know.
With a lot of love. Thank you for listening
