Area: Saaremaa

We are taking care of a horsefarm with over 80 horses on Saaremaa, with beautiful and distinctive nature. We are looking forward to start some more tourism activities here and hope to find some interesting, hard-working and pleasent people to help us out starting from May 2013 and forward. For an exchange we like to offer a good host and some activities to make it memorable!

Area: Alentejo

In Oct 2009 I acquired a renovated farmhouse which has nearly 8 acres of land with beautiful views situated near Marvao. The land is varied & consists of terraces, some flat & rocky areas with 320 olive trees, cork & fruit trees, vineyard, 4 bullrush ponds, stream and plenty of space for the chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, pigs and donkeys I plan to keep. Some of the Jobs that need doing are:- ~ painting inside & outside of house ~ Help keep the land clear ~ weeding of flower area ~ build a safe pen for ducks & geese. ~ create a colourful garden that can cope with dry weather ~ start a vegetable garden ~ watering plants ~ clear out the ponds ~ restore stone walls ~ lay paths & create steps ~ restore & thatch chossa (outhouse) ~ build fencing & gates ~ Nov/Dec I will need help again with picking the olives pruning the trees.. ~ and a whole host of other things that I haven't thought of..... yet! What has worked well is that we all share the tasks of cooking & clearing up afterwards and the basics of keeping the house clean. I have a huge interest in dog / animal behaviour and training & have spent many happy years attending courses, seminars & conferences in the UK, America and Belgium learning from many inspiring & wonderful people. I'd now like to find the time for us to have fun putting into practice what I've learnt! Anyone coming to stay would need to be happy to spend time in very quiet peaceful surroundings (the Algarve this is not! Hence, no discos or heaving sardine packed bars!!). There are however lots of places of interest to visit, beautiful walks, quiet roads for cycling and a very eclectic, friendly & sociable international community. It is important that sometimes you are able to work independently & with initiative. I will be happy to show you around the area & include you in any social events but I do appreciate people who are also comfortable with & able to entertain & amuse themselves!! Experience has taught me that a minimum 2 weeks stay works best. I'm also open to people staying for longer periods of several months and already have one Helpxer friend who is coming back to do so for the winter period in October. I am Dutch but English is my first language having lived most of my life in England. I'm currently working hard to learn Portuguese and brushing up my Dutch, French and German! If you are learning languages I have lots of language resources & would be happy to language 'buddy' with you. A non-smoker, enjoy wine & good conversation accompanied with tasty food. Eclectic taste in music (but I have an aversion to most Opera though!) and dance**. On recent visits to the UK I bought some African drums but as yet have not had chance to learn how to play them. Any HelpX djembe drumming teachers out there?. I now have 4 drums for jamming sessions. Accommodation consist of ensuite bedrooms or 2 very cosy caravans situated in the olive orchard. My current wonderful long stay Helpxers are planning on building themselves a treehouse. A belltent, tipi & yurt are planned for the future! There is of course plenty of space if you want to pitch up a tent or park up a small camper! ** As from March '11 I will be starting to teach dance classes & promoting dance in general as I was missing the extensive opportunities to dance that we have the luxury of in England. Guest teachers & dancers will be arriving to help my quest March - June so we will be having a lot of fun!! Styles of dance will include:- Modern Jive, Salsa, Lindy Hop and many more. I have a blog about my dance quest - dancinginportugal.blogspot.com This is intended to be a funny read, has photos & video clips and also info about things that are going on in the area. Facebook - Gecko Dance for Dancing in Portugal I am also a Helpx host & have lots of reviews on my profile there - host no. 6376. ADDITIONS TO THE FAMILY ~ 2nd April 2011 - 2 more lambs, a baby lop eared rabbit, 5 chicks, 3 teenage chickens and 4 goslings....... so no time to get bored!! ~ June 2nd '10- 'Titch' female kitten. Titch is a mouser-to-be and Elvis's adoring groupie. WE think she may be having a litter of kittens soon. ~ 17th April '10- hens & guinea fowl - much to the dogs & Elvis's amusement! ~ 26th Jan '10 we were joined by Tina (Turner) and Diana (Ross) the two Portuguese lambs who have been hand reared. ~ Dec '09 Elvis (December time) the rumbuctious rescue kitten who is still keeping all of us entertained with his antics.

Area: Regen

We are a German couple Lucky and Evy with two boys Darge and Molla 10 and 13. We live in Bavaria next to the Czech border and only 10 minutes to the skiing region Bodenmais-Bayerwald. 2011 we opened a guesthouse with restaurant. Our 5 dogs, two lamas , hennes, rabbits and some guinea pigs need daily care. In winter snow has to be shoveled nearly every day. We want to get on, nevertheless enjoying the present. We need a helping hand.

Area: Central Bulgaria

Urgent Help Needed! Our pregnant rabbit has arrived, we need to finish building the rabbit's hutch/pen with separated areas. We have 2 piglets arriving at the beginning of April...we're half way through building the pig sty! We have day old baby chicks arriving early in April & also some 1 month old chooks (luckily, we have an existing hen house, but the chicks need constant attention with food/water/poop scooping!) We're planting seeds like crazy & trying to prep everything, spring is most definitely springing!! May/June; We're going to replace the main house roof & also the main house roof of Darren's brother's holiday home over the road...obviously this is an all hands on deck job, so if you have any experience, great, if not...still great, there's plenty else to do. After that, over the summer we intend to box in the staircase so that when it's -15 in winter I don't have to go outside to get to my bed!! It seemed quaint when we moved in, but having to put my wellys on after a bath to go to bed doesn't seem quaint anymore! So...if you fancy a laugh for a week (or 2 if you can manage the craziness) you're very welcome to come & join in. There's plenty space to pitch a tent weather permitting & there's an outdoor loo, or we can put you on the bed settee indoors if it's cold/wet. We can BBQ, or cook something up between us. We're happy to feed you & provide our meager accommodation in return for a bit of help around the place. We certainly don't do 10 hour labour intensive days & are quite social creatures with other English speakers in neighbouring villages that you'd be welcome to join in or not, whatever you wish. Sense of humour is a must & if you're at all interested in martial arts Darren would love to take you along to a local 'sambo' Russian based martial art class, or to teach you basic self defense, or you can put your feet up & watch the sunset with a beer like Mel does! If you like to fish, we try to go regularly & take a BBQ along for grilled fish later. We often break open the home brew vino & play cards in the evenings. Wi-Fi is available in the house & in the garden for you to use as you please. We have 2 very friendly cats so any allergies would be difficult. We don't smoke but you're welcome to do so outside. If you know anything about solar power/wind turbines we'd love to hear from you & learn all about it before trying to get 'off the grid'. Happy Travelling... Update Spring 2013: We've rescued a gorgeous puppy that escaped from a neighbour's house, she was 6 kg when we found her hiding in our cabbage patch late on last year, now she's 17 kg! She's super friendly & we call her Molly. Update Summer 2012: We have a fully operational solar shower & are currently working on a solar dehydrator to do sun dried tomatoes etc. The mud-brick wall is progressing nicely as is the stash of home made vino! Update Spring 2012: We're gradually coming out of hibernation & have started planting like crazy. We now have a poly-tunnel that is amazing at growing weeds & not a lot else so far! Daz's brother, Martin bought a house over the road so we have an extra garden to tend...which we intend to keep pigs in! Our chooks are all doing well, the 2 teeny chicks grew up huge, much bigger than the others so we figure that the early months are vital to size & are encouraging our cockerel to get down to business, the incubator & nursery are built, ready! Update Summer 2011: We got another 9 chickens, quite young, & 2 teeny chicks :o) Update Spring 2011: We are now proud owners of 3 chickens and a cockerel!! Hoorah! They are laying eggs regularly which is really rather exciting :o) We are hoping to get more in the coming weeks now the weather is better....bring on the summer!! A bit about us; We are an English couple who moved here in 2009 for a slower lifestyle. Darren was a landscape gardener in the UK & an avid martial arts fan who taught various styles of martial arts & also arranged competitions. Mel was a shopkeeper in the UK & operated a strict fitness programme of walking to the pub & back regularly with mates! It's so very different here, we were digging & creating veggie plots, coppicing our many fruit trees & trying our hand at building mudbrick walls instead of Daz laying patios! Life here goes at about 5 miles per hour, as opposed to 80 mph in the UK, everyone is so laid back and it feels very much 1970's England we think. Anyhoo, now we're at the point where we're tending 4 large veg plots and a greehouse full of seedlings whilst trying to re-build our perimeter walls, help our friends tend an organic garlic field, oh and there's a huge barn that we took the roof off that needs demolishing & re-built as well as a bungalow on the next door plot to also demolish & re-build. We have a real kitchen now & we also have a working indoor bathroom with hot water & everything!!

Area: North Western US

"Resident volunteers" have been a Godsend to our non-profit working ranch serving children and animals on our 15 acre ranch. When we lost our site development funding the day after 9-11, we thought the ranch would go under. But the children who had been coming to the ranch during after school programs and summer camps refused to let that happen. They gave up their fun time on the ranch riding horses and driving go-carts to work every minute they could to keep the ranch going. They hand dug fence posts, built shelters for the animals and did whatever was needed. In as much as they loved the ranch, they missed their fun times on the ranch until we got our first "resident volunteer" The ranch has continually progressed forward thanks to some wonderful help from around the world. When a new resident volunteer arrives here on the ranch, I warn them to get their feet well planted on the ground because they will be knocked over with kids running to hug and greet them. The kids are so very grateful for all who have come and who have left them with wonderful memories as well as fences, buildings, repairs, etc. The kids are fascinated by the different stories resident volunteers bring from around the world and they love listening to the different accents. Resident volunteers who come here work hard but go away knowing they made a difference in the lives of children, animals we care for and in our environment. Your help is considered to be a great gift to all of us and has given more free time to the children so they can go back to riding horses, go-carts, and doing the other wonderful things this ranch was built to provide. However, you will also find the kids to be a great help on the ranch as well because they believe in the ranch and in themselves. They know they have, can and always will make a difference. If you are looking for a worthwhile experience and enjoy children and animals, this is the place to come.