Help us renovate an old school above the Arctic Circle in Muonio, Finland

Details

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  Description

  Hei and welcome to the most multi-cultural house above the Arctic Circle!
  
  As former volunteers and still active travellers, my partner Viktor and I, Pauline, started renovating an old school in the Muonio area located in Finnish Lapland, and this is where we need your help!
  
  The building itself is in a very good state so no actual building skill is required. However we have so many ideas to upgrade it and make it a pleasant place to live and welcome people from all over the world that a little extra help would most appreciated. But have no worries – it will be well compensated.
  
  Indeed if you love wilderness, outdoor activities, extreme cold weather, meeting new people from different cultures or learning new skills and developing your creativity, then this is the right place for you.
  
  This is our first time on this side of the Workaway world! So we are very excited and would be delighted to host you in this project which is also our home.
  
  We opened this Workaway page to have the chance to host people and get some help renovating our school, on a non-business level.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are always happy to share stories around a good meal, drink or sauna and this any time of the year, no matter the language!

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  The help we need varies a lot depending on your own skills and on the duration and time of year of your stay. To give you an idea, we might ask you to:
  
  - Help building wooden furniture/dock/terrace
  - Clean snow in the yard
  - Make firewood
  - Organize resources
  - Help gardening
  - Clean the common areas
  - Feed the birds and nearby animals
  - Painting
  
  And for sure a bunch of other chores that we can’t yet think of, so be ready for the unexpected!
  
  As long as you are willing to learn, we are ready to teach! There's about a million ways to help.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Russian: Fluent
  Ukrainian: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  So far we can only offer a bed in a dorm room or a camping spot in the yard in summertime, both with access to all common areas which include cozy room, kitchen, shower and toilets.
  
  Luckily with your help a private room might be ready sooner that expected!
  
  All breakfasts are included.

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  What else ...

  The closest town from our place is 33km South. We do groceries about once per week and we can always take you with us. Know that it’s very easy to hitch-hike on this road – we both did it.
  
  How to get here? There's direct flights from Helsinki and other cities inside Europe landing at Rovaniemi or Kittila. From both these cities you will find daily buses going to Muonio and Kolari, where we can pick you up. You can also arrive at Kolari by train.
  
  We are looking for people ready to help about 3h/d, 5 days a week, but for most tasks you can arrange your schedule as you see fit – we are very flexible. This will leave you a lot of time to discover our stunning surroundings where you can:
  
  In summer go hiking, fishing, paddling on our lake, rafting in the river, play ping pong in the yard while trying to spot our reindeer neighbours, or just chill and enjoy the midnight sun.
  
  In winter you can go skiing, ice fishing, ice skating, snowshoeing and not far from our place you can also go on reindeer, husky or snowmobile safaris. And if you’re lucky enough you’ll get to see northern lights! When you live as remote as we do the brightest light preventing from seeing them is that of the moon...
  
  Also for book nerds: the Library bus stops at our place about once per month, and you can read books from our own library or play boardgames with us.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 3 hours a day, 5 days a week