Join our homeschooling community centre in deep nature connection in Tomar, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  After a long silence we are back!!!
  We live in the heart of Portugal, in Tomar, and are building our house surrounded by 4ha of autochthonous vegetation and trees, part of it is inserted in the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world "Natura 2000". Tomar is a beautiful town, home of the Templars with it's magnificent "Convento de Cristo" and many other interesting monuments not only in the town center but also in the surrounding areas. It's not far from the Zêzere river and "Castelo de Bode" dam, where you can have a refreshing swim during the long warm summery days. Our land has been in our family for a long time (since 1803) and we already benefit from it's olive trees and produce every year olive oil, we have a wide variety of fruit trees such as figs, pomegranate, apples, pears, peaches, passion fruit among others. We have bees but only take honey for ourselves and friends. We have a vegetable garden although we are not self-sufficient yet. Nevertheless, as we are planning to be moving there as soon as our house is ready, and we are developing a lot of projects that we had in mind for a long time. We are building facilities to have more animals, such as goats (to help us keep the forest clean and safe from fire), pigs, ducks, and more hens, which we already have. We had a beautiful spiral with many herbs but was destroyed by the wild boars during one of our trips to South America. We do organic farming but more than permaculture or any other modern concept of agriculture, we use the local and traditional and ancestral methods which respect the local geography and natural nature cycles, without using any kind of synthetic chemicals.
  We are rebuilding a ruin to create a space for communitarian learning center. We run an NGO and among other projects we have a circus school/company.
  We are a family of four, Julia and Pedro are 36 and 39 respectively, Abril 3 and Artur, a newborn. Pedro's mother is the only one living in the land, and you will live in a small independent studio. Although we still live in the town center, we go there everyday and spend most of our time working in the land and in our projects.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Help around the house
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are Portuguese and have been traveling around the world for some years, collecting knowledge from other cultures. In our land we still use the same methods and instruments from our ancestors, avoiding all mechanization.
  
  Please notice that it is a cultural exchange not a one way relationship. We also want to experiment things from your country and learn with your life experience.

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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

  We would like you to understand that this is more of an intercultural experience than anything else. We treat volunteers as friends, we have had volunteers spending Christmas with our family, birthdays, and other celebrations and we love to know about you, your experiences, your travels, your stories. We have two kids and want to give them this sense of universal culture and a welcoming home. So we expect a bit more engagement than just coming here for a free holiday. We love teaching what we know and love showing our way of living but also want to know things about you.
  Regardless on the season we always have plenty to do. Besides the daily tasks of a little farm, feeding the animals, taking care of the vegetables and trees, visiting the bees once in a while, we also have daily construction work and regular maintenance in the forest.
  We have a homeschooling community centre that would also enrich with the presence of volunteers for different activities, games or just to play!
  
  Free days are important for you but also for us. Of course it depends on the type of relationship we will develop during your stay but a day or two per week where we can all rest from each other seems like a good idea. So we kindly ask you to respect that.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent
  French: Intermediate
  German: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  We can accommodate one or two volunteers at the same time. You will stay in an independent studio in the farm, next to Pedro mother's house, with a bathroom with hot shower, a small kitchen where you can cook your meals.
  During work days you will have lunch in the school and breakfast and dinner on your own. We provide you with veggies and cereals and breakfast stuff as well. We are in the process of moving to the land, after that you're welcome to join us for dinner!
  Half the family follows a plant-based diet (we include eggs from our chickens, when we have them, and honey from our bees) and the other has a Mediterranean diet so you can choose from both as you desire.
  This is a two way relationship so it would be nice to try some tradicional dishes from your country.

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  What else ...

  The farm is 4Km away from the center of the town, that you can easily access by bike (which we have) or even walking. We also have cars and do this trip several times a day. There is also a bus from the town's center which will leave you close to the land. We might not always be available to give you a ride so don't get moody if you decide to go to the center and then don't get a ride back up!
  The land is near the St. James Way "Caminho de Santiago" where you can walk some routes and we'll pick you up by car when you get tired. At a walking distance there is a beautiful roman bridge and a stone stairway in the river called "Açude de Pedra".
  Mostly during the summer there are plenty of cultural activities in the town and surrounding villages. Every year, in August, a village nearby hosts a big music festival called "Bons sons" and in town there is a Templar festival with historical recreations. Every four years there is a pagan festivity called "Festa dos Tabuleiros".
  As said previously, the river and the dam are pretty close and we go there regularly during the summer.
  Our NGO also hosts many seasonal festivities and celebrations and cultural events. You will be more than welcome to join 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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  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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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?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Max 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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