Who we are

Tom is educated as a historian and as such he was a teacher for some years. Since 1992 he works as a comedian. Together with two colleagues he runs a comedy business in Holland which is called “De Gemeentereiniging”. They perform up to 80 times a year on congresses, meetings, parties, fairs of institutions, governements and companies. Besides this Tom, as a scriptwriter, lead some video projects on demand for businesses. As a singer-songwriter he published his own album and together with the Gemeentereiniging he made a special album about and in cooperation with handicapped people, see http://www.alle13goed.eu/. In 2011 he wrote and directed a small portuguese comedy (“Sopa de Pedreira”) for the “Nossa Terra” movement in Monchique. Together with his partner Monique he developped a managementttrainingcourse “Playing the manager in a laughing chair.” Together, Monique and Tom built the house at Terra do Milho and cultivated the land there. More about Tom, see www.tomstobbelaar.nl and www.gemeentereiniging.nl

Monique, Tom’s wife, worked in the Netherlands as a project manager at the Dutch Refugee Council for some years. During her work she experienced how to apply her knowledge of meditation in an every day work situation. In 2006 she attended a three years training programme at The Five Wisdoms Institute, Wisdom@Work. This is a training program that combines personal and professional development for those in the service of others. Through this education she became specialised in 5 wisdoms in teamwork and she became a 5 wisdoms meditation instructor. Appart from this she is following teachings of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism, which offer great meditation techniques. She is a member of the Shambhala community, where she is a meditation guide.

Hannie, Monique’s mother, has been living in Monchique for the past 10 years. She is what in Holland is called: a pensionado. She enjoys living in the village Monchique and has many friends in the area. Sometimes you can find her on feiras, large typically Portuguese markets, selling her beautiful self-made Raku pottery.

Fana, Monique’s daughter, is 18 years old and has just finished her International Baccalaureat course at Arnhem International School in Holland. She is now taking a gap year to explore what she wants to do in the future. During this gap year she wants to learn as many languages as possible, visit Nepal, Portugal and Tanzania. Her passion is to write fiction books.

These are Tibby and Tobias. Tibby travelled with us from Holland. She feels at home on the farm. She loves browsing around on the terraces . A while ago Monique found Tobias laying on the road. He was hit by a car and badly wounded. She took him to the vat and she could help him. From that time on Tobias is a member of our family. He is young and playful but also a bit lazy.