Sandra has four children. The subsistence of the six-person household requires Sandra and her husband to make extreme daily efforts. In case of long term unemployment, their greatest worry is getting food and medication for their youngest daughter.
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The inner north of Portugal has been forgotten and neglected for a long time and is currently one of the poorest regions of the country.
Its landscape is marked by the abandonment of the lands, villages and factories, ruins which evoke memories of better times, job opportunities, more people and children.
Life here seems overshadowed by loneliness, apathy, emptiness, hopelessness and uncertainty regarding the future.
When confronted with the difficulties of the hard rural life, most young people dream about leaving the region and country. Those who stay, face the monotony and days that repeat themselves over and over again.
Portugal crosses one of the toughest moments since the end of the dictatorship in 1974. The austerity policies, adopted by the Portuguese government, drove many families into poverty, mortgaging the country’s future.