António was a police officer in Cova da Moura. Now he wants to put affordable wind turbines in every home

We met Antonio Pedro at the Web Summit in November. He was and is a co-founder WindCredible – a company that wants to put affordable wind turbines on every home they can. “It’s free energy,” says Antonio with a smile.

We became more curious about Antonio when he told us that previous to his adventures with WindCredible, he was a police officer for 20 years. “I was more a diplomat than an enforcer,” says Antonio. “People think police just give out parking tickets, but we help a lot of people. That’s the main thing we did.”

Having bonded a little, we take a spontaneous ride with Antonio and team in the WindCredible mobile all the way to their location in Águas Livres (formerly Damaia) where Cova da Moura is located. “They just renamed the area four years ago. It was needed for demystification purposes. The area is flourishing now. ”

We caught the WindCredible group on an exciting day, as they had just secured investment for their startup from Portugal Ventures amongst others. To raise investment for any startup is a huge milestone. There is a buzz in the air as they invite us to celebrate with them by bringing us for lunch to their local restaurant – Casa Nova,  “We always have lunch here. The food is always amazing” – before going to check out their headquarters.

“We still are working on it,” says Antonio showing us around. All we see are wind turbines of all shapes and sizes. They look like big food blenders to us, but they are impressive nevertheless. It’s fun to watch them spin.

It is then our unexpected interview takes an unexpected turn.

Antonio tells us that he grew up in the area, as he points to a nearby school he attended. “Come on, let me show you more.” Suddenly we are in Antonios car navigating some windy roads, in increasingly colorful surroundings. We see a lot of street art. We want to get out. The area is a dream for any documentarian/ photographer. There is a vibrancy in the derelect.

Getting out, Antonio informs us where we actually are.  “We are at Cova da Moura – the most gentrified area in Lisbon.” There is a big laugh as Antonio realizes his mistake. Correction. “The least gentrified area in Lisbon.”

Antonio shows us the street he was born and raised in, and he even takes us into his home to meet his mother. We find her watching TV and in good spirits despite suffering a debilitating stroke 20 years ago, aged just 45. We are shy to speak to her thus is the severity of her condition, but she is enthusiastic to point out family photos on the walls.

“I’m the youngest of 4,” says Antonio. “My parents came to Portugal in 1975 from Cape Verde.. My father was a mailman and my mother was a cleaning lady.”

We are those naive reporters who are diggesting the overall narrative slowly. The gist being that Cova da Moura was a particularly rough and tumble area to grow up in. It probably still is. Built mostly by Angolans, Cape Verdians, people from Mozambique and those from various other Portuguese colonies. The area was built by determination with those who had little. Homes were built by hand, by those who moved to the area. 

“It was a fun area to be brought up in, culturally very rich,” Antonio tells us.

“ You learn from an early age to struggle, and to value the small things in life. We played football on the street, marbles, hide and seek, we had toy gun fights and sword fights. We let our imaginations run wild.”

We ask Antonio what the main problem in the area was as he was growing up. “The drugs” he says in no uncertain terms. “The drugs destroy society. The funny thing is, one day I was telling my parents all about drugs. They wondered why I knew so much. I said, I was born and raised here, and now I’m a police officer. I have to know!”

We wonder was Antonio treated differently once he became a police officer. “Yes, but not the way you think. All my friends were very proud of me. There was no hate that you see in the media.”

Antonio, takes us into a local bar. We see a black and white image of Eusebio on the wall. Antonio seems to know literally everyone in the town, in the streets, in the bar. He kisses every old lady he encounters. He knows the lady in the kitchen.  “They are all my aunties,” he say’s sweetly. But there were some drawbacks growing up to having so many aunties, “if ever I stepped out of line, my mother would say ‘a little bird told me.’ God damn those birds, I’d say.”

Antonio has a big sense of humor to go with his large presence. He gives off comedic expressions and smiles with regularity. He tells us that he once practiced stand up comedy. “I would go bar to bar in Lisbon, until I realized I needed to get a real job to support the family. It’s something people don’t know about me though, I’m a gentle guy, even though I look like this.”

We follow Antonio down what he describes as the narrowest alleyway in the town. “It’s just an alley,” he keeps saying. “It’s just an alley. Nothing weird going on. It’s just an alley.” If alleys could talk.

Antonio encounters some old friends. He tells them about his new company which is only a year old. “Everyone wants a job. But seriously, it’s great to tell them what I’m doing now, and to get their support.”

We encounter a more ‘real’ scene as we turn a corner to find about 4 or 5 patrol cars. Whatever they were checking out is done, and the cops are in a rush to get back into their cars. We spot one cop looking rather nervous in the back seat. We also notice all the cops are white. What is the logic of sending so many cop cars filled with white police officers to such Cova da Moura. It shouldn’t matter of course. But there is a basic stupidity in it. 

“When I was a cop, I was a great mediator, because I’m black of-coarse. You need someone for people to identify with.”

Antonio has the cut of a politician as he walks the streets, shaking hands with people. Did he every consider it?, we ask. ““Yes, I thought about it, but then I went to the cinema,” he says deadpan. We laugh at his delivery. “There is so much more to life than politics. Politics is the narrowing of someone’s capacity.”

We love that quote, but maintain, Antonio would make a good politician.

We ask Antonio why he left the force. “I wanted to see what else I was capable of. Felipe, my co-founder was my captain in the force. He said the world was changing and we had to do something. We had access to all these scrap yards, and thats how we built our first wind turbine. We had the space, and tools to do it. So we are doing it.”

After admiring some of the street art featuring some folk heroes, our brief time in Cova da Moura is done. We jump in the car and head back to WindCredibles HQ to look at some more spinning turbines. “Portugal was one of the first countries to go all over the world. Lets take that example, and go and show the world our new technology. The impossible is not done… yet.”

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