Spend time looking after our 2 year old and help in a carpentry veranda project in Den Helder, The Netherlands

Infos

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  Description

  Hello Travellers,
  
  Melle and I bought our first house about five years ago, in 2018. We spent the five years prior (2013-2018) together working and travelling around the world.
  Now that we have settled down and have our own space, we'd like to welcome people to come to our little patch of paradise.
  About four years ago we extended our family with a Bearded Collie dog called Lunita.
  February 2021 we welcomed a little baby boy (Arie Sequoia) into this world and into our lives. In March of 2024 we are expecting a little baby girl!
  
  
  Here's a little introduction:
  Melle is Dutch, so he is pretty good with languages (German, Spanish, English and a little of French and Italian). When he is not fixing up the house, he can be found reading, training the dog or helping me in the garden.
  I (Rebecca) am English and I'm trying very hard to learn a different language: currently studying Dutch and I can understand some German.
  When I'm not studying, 9 times out of 10 I'll be working away in our front garden or back garden.
  We don't have a television, but do have good internet connection. We like to play board games, watch documentaries and spend plenty of time outside (walking or relaxing in the sun). We try our best to live life creating as little waste as possible, but we are far from perfect and still learning.
  We have a cute dog called Lunita. Just as the moon, she has an enormous impact on our life :) She's a two year old Bearded Collie. She is always happy, energetic and very social!
  
  We dreamed of a patch of land and house that was completely overgrown and needed a lot of love and attention.
  But life doesn't always work out the way you hope or dream :)
  Our house is a completely normal terrace house, on the edge of a completely normal neighborhood. From our living room we look out to the dunes and see wild cattle grazing. Within five minutes on a bicycle we are at the beach. It's a great spot for going on walks either through the dunes, where you can see more wild cattle and horses, along the beach or through the woods.
  We inherited a pond in the back garden which, at the moment, holds a whole heap of frogs and a dozen fish; we now consider them our pets!
  Living in Den Helder means the Island of Texel is only a 20 minute boat ride away. Den Helder is a small town but has everything you could possibly need (train stations, markets, supermarkets, cinema, sports centers, libraries, hospital, chemists, shops, pubs and coffee shops). We have bikes for you to use during your stay with us, we don't own a car- we really don't need one here.
  
  
  Here’s a little more information about the way we like to live, what is important to us and what we expect of volunteers.
  
  The main thing we are looking for with all volunteers is to reach balance and harmony. For us that comes in two main forms.
  The first: Balance between work and free time and harmony between all people in the house.
  Being fair, honest and respectful to each other. We are inviting you in to our home, where you will have your own bedroom, use of a bike, plenty to eat and free time. We expect in return that you can help us out for about 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. Sometimes we are very busy, so you will have to regulate that yourself. For this reason, we are looking for mature and independent volunteers that can handle the responsibility.
  We have had volunteers that gave more than they took and others that took more than they gave. We would prefer that it feels fair from both sides and that by the end of the stay there is a good feeling for everyone 😊
  
  The second: Aiming for balance and harmony with nature.
  We are working towards creating as little waste as possible. Water, food, energy (especially gas); we are reusing and recycling as much as we can. Here are some of examples: We don’t use any chemicals for our laundry, so we harvest the water to water our plants :) We have solar panels. Our kitchen runs on electricity. We use reusable nappies for our little guy.
  We all have different habits but during your stay we would like you to work with us on low waste goals. Here are some things that came up in previous stays that don’t fit: long hot showers every day, electronics left plugged in, lights left on. We don’t want is volunteers to feel uncomfortable about using the resources in the house, but we would like it that volunteers are conscious about what they are using to try avoid wasteful behaviors.
  
  We are still learning and developing our ideas. If you see other solutions during your stay, we are happy to hear them.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  You can try a variety of Dutch meals as well as international dishes. We enjoy food from many different places where we have lived. In some places we learned how to prepare food in a special way and we are happy to share that with you!

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  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

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  Aide

  Spring/Summer 2024:
  
  We are looking for two types of volunteer:
  
  1) A carpenter / handy person for building a wooden frame veranda in June-July. (short-term stay: 1-2weeks )
  
  
  2) A nanny /au-pair for our son Arie Sequoia and our daughter from mid April onwards (long term stay: 1 month +)
  Arie Sequoia is a jolly and active 2 year old. He likes to run around outside and messy play :)
  We are looking for someone that is experienced with looking after children and can be flexible: some days your free time will be during the day and others in the evenings.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Hollandais: Courant
  Allemand: Intermédiaire

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  We are interested in learning or improving several languages such as Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian and maybe a new one! We are happy to teach you some Dutch or English if you would like that.
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  Hébergement

  You will have your own bedroom in our house, with a comfortable bed and a wardrobe to put your things in. The bathroom and bedrooms are all upstairs. We like to think that we're considerate about usage of energy (water/gas/electricity) and would ask you to do the same.
  The WC, kitchen and living room are downstairs and are all shared.
  
  
  Food: We have plenty. Help with preparing and conserving food is always welcome!
  Assume that breakfast and lunch you will have to serve yourself (but you are welcome to take from the cupboards and fridge), for dinner we'd like to eat together (if you would like to cook, we'd like that too, but if you don't enjoy cooking there's no obligation). Normally, dinner is prepared around 17:30.

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  Autres infos...

  Safe travels!

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il aimait accueillir les digital nomads.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We have a normal size parking spot in front of our house. Big vehicles, unfortunately, won't work..

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  We have a dog and she is very social! If it fits, your pet is welcome.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Un

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  About 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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