Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Assistant Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Rehabilitation

Mr Mayor

President of Rádio Televisão Portuguesa

President of FENACERCI

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It would not be easy to disguise, nor would we wish to do so, what we all feel about these past 20 years of the Pirilampo Mágico (Magic Firefly). It will be far more difficult to express in a few words what these 20 years represent for the thousand of children and families that, during this time, have been able to enjoy the benefits of the light that the magic of the Pirilampo kindles.

It’s the magic of simple things, of all those small moments that, multiplied to the point where will and love can take us, transform a spot of light lost in the night into an immense, hot day of sunshine that warms and illuminates the lives of these children. It’s the magic of the will of those who of their own free will have taken into their hands responsibility for inventing a better future for the mentally disabled and multi-handicapped children.

We might well think that it would be the natural responsibility of the parents and the public institutions. But we all know that the parents of these children, the institutions devoted to their protection, the specialists who daily endeavour to find new solutions, the friends that share these challenges, fortunately go far beyond such natural responsibilities.

It would be hard, today, to image the wellbeing of these children if their future were merely the result of complying with this natural responsibility. The magic of this will, of the wish for and of the belief in the fact that one can light up the night through our contribution lies exactly in this difference. There is no place in this magic for the word resignation, nor for the conformism that a supposed force of destiny may sometimes want to impose on us. It’s the magic of the gift, of the recognition of the limited and sometimes humble contribution of anonymous citizens who have become accustomed to respect and admire the exceptional work carried out by institutions such as those that are federated under FENACERCI. It has been a period of many years of belief and of daring to go further for a cause that is the responsibility of us all.

Starting off from a solid base, special education, the FENACERCI associate institutions have progressively responded to what we might call an integrated vision, one that is coherent to the extent possible, of the problems of mental disability and of multiple handicaps. From early intervention to protected employment, not forgetting occupational, cultural and leisure activities, vocational training and home care, these organisations have long understood that these problems have to be addressed in a systematic way, involving specialised response that has no truck with caprice, no matter how inclusive, and demands skills we they are to overcome the fundamental challenge of these children: to create in them the capacity to be able to take the utmost advantage of the opportunities that life will provide them.

Material and human resources are required for this, and they cannot eternally be haggled over. Each one of us has a moral obligation to ensure that there is no permanent shortfall of these resources. It is for this reason that it is so important that, at least once a year, we be made aware that we must all contribute to a constant lessening of this deficit, for it is not just a deficit for the children and of the institutions that protect them, it is a deficit of for all, for our society, for our country, for our collective future.

The successive Piriplampo Campaigns are magical for they lend a dimension of solidarity that is not limited to asking or demanding or begging. It’s an attitude that does not hide behind the strict defence of rights and reveals in each and every one of its dimensions the example of those who feel they are bound do something and not just at the request of others.

For me, Pirilampo Mágico represents a little more, something that lies at the threshold of a dream, something to which I shall not stop appealing: seeing the common citizen closer to these children, dedicating more attention to their problems, taking an interest in their difficulties, and in their joys, too, joys that they experience at these social welfare institutions.

It’s a matter of moving on from making a contribution to sharing, from a momentary awakening to committed involvement in making this cause an additional reason to be happier.

I am sure that the Magic of the Pirilampo is strong enough to allow us, little by little, to transform this dream into a reality of which we shall all be proud.

Blessings to all those who come to contribute to bringing about this dream.

You’ll see how good you feel!