Mr. Pontinha, a 55-year-old man originally from a small Portuguese village named Cinfães had to leave the local school after only four years of elementary schooling to help his parents in farming. He and his family lived in Montemuro, a poor region in the north of Portugal where life is hard and prosperity modest. Dissatisfied with his situation, Mr. Pontinha took several continuing education courses such as informatics, foreign languages, and auditing. With 15 years of continuous learning and further training, new professional possibilities opened up to Mr. Pontinha: now, he has evolved from the agriculture worker he was 20 years ago to become the director of production and human resources in a medium-sized enterprise with 90 employees.