Are the people here ready to try something NOT on Facebook? It's time to find out! I am living in Penamacor, Portugal and share this great land with many Portuguese and international people. In fact International people are soon to make up 50% of the population in this region, sped up by COVID and Brexit. Let me say that moving here is HARD, even if you speak the language. There is so much to deal with, and the bureaucracy is quite bewildering at times. We all push through it and somehow manage to figure it all out.. only with the amazing support of this growing and very beautiful and diverse community. We are, NEW. We are HERE. We are together laying the foundations for a great new place and world for people to come to. What I have realised after 7 months is that we need a resource that is better than Facebook, and can offer so much more functionality. Seeing as Im a web developer since 1998, I have taken it upon myself to create this new website and very local and decentralised www.penamacor.network (not yet live).

As winter sets in there is no better task for me! When its too cold to go outside i will be keeping busy evolving this website. I have already made great progress and am using open source software and code to drive this website. It is really great code, and Im very happy that after much much searching I found it. It works much like Facebook, but it is also very different and with so many great resources. The focus is on non commercial trade, exchange, and much more. We are about collaboration, service, and helping each other to flourish. I hope to have V1 ready for testing with some volunteers within two weeks, after which time I can keep developing it and adding new features.

Here is a list of some of the features that I am going to be offering:

- Welcome page and guide for newcomers

- Ride sharing using a third party free app (decentralised approach with http://www.liftshare.com)

- Market for exchange and trade as well as sales. All payments are made directly to each seller via paypal. No commissions etc.

- Google map pin overlays for all things, as recommended by the local community.

- Land help exchange (many people are working alone or in two's)

- Unwell support - food etc

- Emergency Portuguese translation by phone

- Events

- Discussions

- Groups

HERE'S THE COOL PART!

Once this system has been built, tested, and well received I will make it available to others for free to copy and use. There are some minor associated costs, but i will be happy to help anyone who wishes to implement the same system for their community. This approach feels so much better than one website or group trying to cater and hold the reigns for many locations. That is one reason why I believe this network will be a safe and often used one by the peoples. Its run for the people, by the people, and led by people who do not do it for personal gain.

So, with that all said, here is some more detail on the network and what it is all about for us who live here.

What is the penamacor.network?

This network will be many things to many different people. We are here for each other, to help, support, connect, and much more. If you are new to the Penamacor area then a HUGE welcome to you! I am also relatively new here, and have managed to jump through the various hoops to get my life restarted. There were so many things to think about, to know, and to get to grips with. Many people are not only moving here, but are also buying land and learning the many aspects of starting an off grid life from scratch.

Many of us are alone or with just one person, and it can be difficult to find out all the things we need to know! This is especially so for those who don't yet speak Portuguese, which adds a layer of disconnection and frustration whilst going about our most basic daily tasks. I have come to learn that the Portuguese are such beautiful sweet people, and as a result many of them find it quite uncomfortable when you speak another language such as English. SO much so that they may refuse to even serve you or help. What to do? Learn Portuguese of course, but that takes time and right now it is even harder to find classes and ways to interact with locals.

There are many reasons why people may want to use this website in addition to Facebook and the many groups. There is the simple fact that more and more people have stopped using Facebook, and miss out on a great valuable resource. But more than that, this network is designed to really help people, bring people together, and make so many things SO SO much easier. It's not just about having the information here, its also about having it organised and stored in a way that it is easy to find and engage with. It is easy to follow people and make friends because you don’t have share your most personal Facebook profile with people you do not know.

The Penamacor network is decentralised and a place that is safe, private, and i hope very cozy indeed. This means that your information is private and will never be sold or used in any way. Your account is safe and you will not be censored. Free speech is very important, as is hearing every opinion no matter what it is. What is important is how we speak and how we listen. None violent communication is very important and will be encouraged by our community when needed. A decentralised system means that no one person has control or decision making about what is permitted or not. No one person needs to spend their days scanning and reading to check for any kind of abuse or problems. This is our network, and we can all speak up when we see something that needs attention. At this early stage I am steering the creation of this network until it is birthed and established. I welcome the support of anyone and everyone who wishes to be involved or has any ideas or suggestions. Making decisions by consensus is easy and it works well. In that way we can have minimal rules and an open mind. It is a kind of an anarcho-social network with no single person reaping the rewards of everyone’s inputs.

Any abundance generated by this network will be used and shared as we see fit. This is not a commercial endeavour and it will be free for all to use. I will be happy receive any donations from others to help me cover the costs, more in the spirit of natural giving rather than any required payment. I am happy to do this as a great service to us all, it feels to me that its so needed.. and even more so with brexit and covid!

You can see the current state of this system in the thumbnail. Here it is below without the text on the top. The design hasn't really been done yet, but it gives you a sense of how it will work and some of the options and pages. The hard part is done really now, and once its all working I will do my best to make it look beautiful, give it a nice logo, and LAUNCH!