Island Story

André is an craftsman from the island of Faial, an island located in the Azores
archipelago, more precisely in the central group of the same archipelago, it
has the shape of an irregular pentagon and is separated by a narrow sea
inlet with only 8.3 km of width known as the Faial channel. André's life is
very simple, he wakes up every morning knowing that he will do what he
likes, a taste he inherited from his grandfather, who was also a craftsman.
But not everything is a sea of roses and the island of Faial is no exception.
Recently, the local government issued a warrant to evacuate the island as
the rising sea water will start to endanger the lives of the habitants of Faial.
Dozens of agricultural fields have already been devastated by the winter
floods that are becoming more and more frequent. At the moment the
habitants are surviving on supplies coming by boat from São Miguel, another
island in the archipelago.
Experts predict that in a few years the island will be uninhabitable for
people.
We did a short interview with André to find out his opinion about this big
problem that all the island's habitants face:
- "My family has lived here since the 19th century, so I have the culture of
the island in my blood since I was born, besides all my childhood, friends,
house, everything is here. I won't find a similar place to live.
-Yes, in fact the level of the sea water is rising at an alarming rate and it's all
Man's fault, I'm guilty of it myself and I'm aware of it.
-I think I'll go to mainland Portugal but I'm still not sure of anything since we
were caught a bit by surprise with the warrant, I'll take food, my personal
things, my little dog and my whole family with me because I'll never leave
whoever raised me, I will probably try to sell the most expensive things like
television and other appliances that I won't be able to take on the trip.
I will honestly miss everything, the beach, the landscapes, the calm and
serene island life, my village, basically everything."
Back on the island, André takes one last bike ride to say goodbye to the small
land of Faial. It's the blunt truth of climate change.
André Baiona, 11ºCT3