In August 2018 wildfires tore through a large area of the Serra de Monchique region in Southern Portugal where I live. I spent the next eight months recording interviews with people who were directly affected. The aim was to share people’s stories as a way of healing and to help us learn about ways to prevent fires in the future. People talked about their loss of possessions, property, land and in some cases animals. They showed great resilience and a love for this area of natural beauty and a coming together of the community that lives within it.
The website Voices From The Fire, Stories from Monchique was created with photographs by Michael Mardon and useful links and expert advice on fire prevention and protection.
Below are clips from some of the podcasts and you can hear all of the interviews in full at Voices From The Fire.
Penny and Tim talking about the moment they thought they might not make ithttps://suzanneradford.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/pt-sample.mp3
Robert and how his only thought was what was best for his donkeyshttps://suzanneradford.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/robert-short-clip.mp3
A year on and it is good to see the land is recovering and so are the people. There is still an abundance of nature to explore and appreciate in this national forest.
Do you have a story to share from your local community?
Suzanne.x
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