25/12/2024
Portugal
participants
Since its first edition in 2019, the main aim of the "Christmas with Portuguese Families" project has been to promote an authentic cultural exchange between the local and international communities during the holidays. By matching lonely or isolated international students with generous Portuguese families, ready to host them with open arms during Christmas, this project enables the meaningful celebration of Portuguese traditions and customs, through food, music, dance, etc.
Every year, during the holiday season, Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Portugal promotes and manages the "Christmas with Portuguese Families" project. As the name suggests, this annual national project consists in matching local Portuguese families with international students during the Christmas holidays, providing a warm and festive experience for those who might otherwise spend the holidays alone. More specifically, in this year’s edition, between the 24th and 25th of December, 50 Portuguese families, from 10 different districts, and 78 international students, from 37 different countries, celebrated a typical Portuguese Christmas together thanks to this project.
The matching process was done using the Papaya app, an ESN matching system created by ESN Italy, which is perfect for this initiative. To ensure the best compatibility between participants, the matches were chosen based on location (district and city), date and time availability, possible food restrictions, spoken languages and, for the Portuguese families, how many students they were able to host (on average, two international students per family).
The highlight of this initiative is definitely its warm and personal approach. Oftentimes, throughout the year, international students are “outside observers” of Portuguese culture, mainly getting into contact with it through events hosted by local ESN sections, or with social media campaigns, or by participating in other initiatives organised by their Higher Education Institutions. However, with “Christmas with Portuguese Families”, international students get to “live” and “be a part of” Portuguese culture. With this project they get the chance to sit down to a large family meal, join in the family’s holiday traditions, and experience an authentic Christmas as part of a Portuguese family. For many international students this represents a rare chance to connect with the “real Portugal” in a way they otherwise could not during their exchange period.
In sum, “Christmas with Portuguese Families” helps promote cultural exchange by allowing international students to immerse themselves in Portuguese customs, traditions, gastronomy and culture, during Christmas. This project is the perfect example of how small, personal connections can leave a lasting impact, strengthening intercultural understanding between the local and international community in Portugal.
