The idea might seem utopic, but the project is real and is already ongoing in Aveiro. As part of our Projeto Valentino (Valentino Project), we’ve placed tags reading “Agora Beija-me” (“kiss me now”) and “Agora Abraça-me” (“hug me now”) all over the city. The goal is clear: to spread and share love and friendship!

Valentino is one of the projects to be developed by our international volunteers. They will be in Portugal for seven months to help us in our activities, as well as to learn the Portuguese language and culture and to develop their own projects. Their top priority is, however, to create more Kissing Spots and Hugging Spots in the center of the city.

We have sent a press release to our local newspaper, Diário de Aveiro. They quickly published an article on the activity, the European Voluntary Service and active citizenship. We were already thinking about our next projects when, without waiting, more and more Portuguese newspapers began to show interest in our idea. In a short time, we were featured in Diário de Notícias and Público.

It was incredible that our little activity attracted so much interest. Thanks to this, we had the opportunity to talk about Agora Aveiro, the European Voluntary Service, youth initiatives, active citizenship and other areas of interest our association cares about.