We met Paula Morgado in the old district of Sacor, now known as Petrogal. This neighbourhood, built in Bobadela-Sacavém in the 1960s for workers from the oil company that gave rise to Galp, is still her “home” today. She moved there when she was just five years old and attended kindergarten and school; as a teenager, it was there that she met her future husband, also a Petrogal employee, and then got married, in the same church at which she would baptise her children born in the meantime. The district doesn´t belong to the company anymore, but everyone - now in their fourth generation - still lives there. There are many memories of times gone by, of a lifetime really, from the social gatherings to the holiday camps and summers spent playing in the street, where she made friends who are still around today. “It is great to meet up with colleagues from that time, people I´ve been friends with for so many years, and to uphold the spirit of neighbourliness and togetherness that has always existed between us. One of my best friends went to kindergarten with me”, says the Galp social responsibility project manager, who compares living in the neighbourhood to living in a small village where everyone knows each other and helps each other out.
“The area of social impact is my cup of tea”
Paula Morgado’s connection to Galp has been running in her blood since she was a child, with several family members having worked for the company. The story of this social responsibility project manager is a testament to her dedication to the company and the community that shaped her professional and personal identity, and is really worth hearing
The district of Petrogal, in Bobadela, where Paula Morgado grew up and still lives, holds all her lifetime memories
FROM EDUCATION TO ENERGY
Her destiny seemed to be sealed, and as such Paula’s connection to the company is deep rooted. These roots became even stronger when, one day, while she was teaching Workshop classes at Maria Amália Secondary School, her father, a Petrogal employee, challenged her to join the energy company, which was advertising job vacancies at the time, 43 years ago. The search for the stability with which to start a family, which the teaching profession didn´t offer her, led her to making up her mind and setting forth on the path to a completely different career, with the guarantee of the security she needed: “Galp was a company that afforded you a sense of trust and security”, even back then, she emphasises.
She applied and was hired. The Pátio do Pimenta facilities in Lisbon then opened their doors to her to work at the Documentation Centre, “to help with whatever was needed”, recalls Paula Morgado, who still remembers the fact that all the work was highly manual, involving typing on “old” typewriters, and the first time that she sat in front of a computer, a challenging new feature in the early 1990s. It was a time of great change. She also has fond memories of the people who welcomed her: “We were a big family that cared about each other on a daily basis, and spent time together on special occasions, such as birthdays, when there was always a cake to celebrate together. I made some great friends over the years”. After the Documentation Centre, she moved to the External Relations department, working at the headquarters, located on Rua das Flores at the time, then to Mouzinho da Silveira, Marquês de Pombal, Tomás Ribeiro, Torres de Lisboa and, more recently, the Allo building in Alcântara. She began working in the department of external communications, which included advertising, trade fairs, reports and accounts, among other tasks, a job she says was demanding, but to which she dedicated herself body and soul until taking on a new challenge in 2018: volunteering, which she says is a “true passion”. “I really enjoyed working in social communications, which requires a lot of experience in dealing with situations. It was a difficult and at the same time fun experience, but it was through volunteering that I discovered my calling. It´s so gratifying to see the smiles on the faces of the people we´re helping through the initiatives we carry out and that bring them a little happiness”, she says, with the pride of someone who loves what she does with all her heart. “Being familiar with the reality of what is happening in Portugal today in social terms is startling, so knowing that we´re making a positive contribution to a cause or to someone makes us very happy”, she concludes.
Paula is a member of the local parish choir, to which she dedicates much of her free time
ALMA SOLIDÁRIA (CHARITABLE SOUL)
Outside the Galp offices, Paula Morgado dedicates much of her free time to the community in her district, Petrogal, more specifically to the local parish, where she is a member of the choir. “I love singing, not that I have a great voice [she laughs]. We have a spectacular group, including a drummer, which is rare for a choir”, she explains, adding that she hasn´t missed a pilgrimage to Fatima organised by the same parish for nine years. Furthermore, she supports her two grandchildren, enjoys reading, watching films and crocheting, an art she hopes to be able to teach her granddaughter, “because my daughter didn’t want to learn”.
The Galp social responsibility project manager found her true calling in volunteering, a vocational area she undertakes with a passion
Paula hasn´t even started thinking about retiring, but when it happens, she's sure of one thing: “I intend to continue supporting people in need. I don’t think I’ll ever stop volunteering, there are so many institutions that need volunteers and I want to be there”.
