Help us in the Czech countryside, Havlíčkova Borová

Details

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  Description

  --- LAST NEWS!
  The foraging season has started! Everything is growing and blooming, we need an extra pair of helping hands to harvest all this abundance!
  
  ---- UPDATE!
  Dear volunteers, at the moment we are looking for a possibily-good-English-speaking girl/woman who is sincerely passionate about children and (healthy) cooking. We need one pair of extra helping hands around the house/with the kids etc., since little Saša was born (last August) our daily life is very busy! ----
  
  ---- We always give volunteers an "introduction" to our life and family and to the tasks we need to be done, we express our needs and you too and talk together, trying to be both flexible. However, for us it is very important that you are an independent person who:
  - likes being active
  - takes the initiative and does not always need us to tell you everything to start doing something
  - sees what needs to be done - and just goes and does it :-)
  - is able to entertain herself and able to spend time alone since we don´t always have time or energy
  - likes nature
  - has a positive ans respectful approach to people, including kids
  
  ---- We don´t need our place to be super clean or our food to be at the level of a 5-stars-restaurant, however it is very appreciated if you are just used to keeo clean and tidy the space you live in and the common spaces. A passion for (healthy) cooking/baking is a great plus and a knowledge of foraging and preserving food is very appreciated, not a condition though - if you are an eager and quick learner! Previous experience with kids is not needed, but if you don´t have any, keep very open and just treat them as normal humans, as we all are ----
  
  ---- We would like our kids to learn English so if you are willing to play with them in English and invent/organise some games and activities they can learn new words through in a playful way, we will be very happy!
  
  _____________________
  
  Hello dear people,
  here is Marta (36) + Michal (41) + Mia (born September 2017), Elio (born April 2020)...and Saša (born August 2023).
  
  We are a Czech - Italian family living in the Czech countryside in a region called Vysočina - "the Highlands" - near the more knowned Moravia, two hours of train South-East from Prague.
  
  We have volunteered for many years on this platform, so we know "both sides of the coin" - volunteer and host :-)
  
  Michal is a musician (piano teacher and choir director) and teaches in a school about 20 minutes of car from our village. He is also working at an online project - materials and classes for piano teachers.
  If he says he doesn´t like people, don´t believe him! He´s the only one to say that in the world and he is very friendly instead :-)
  
  Marta: I worked as an Italian teacher, but studied Mathematics ;-) ... Now I am a full time mom (our kids don´t go to school) - with the dream of becoming a writer and illustrator of children´s books. I am also a passionate yoga practicer and this year started to teach in our village. I am also studying to become a "Loona dance" teacher (kind of meditative dance for women), I love foraging, making food, creating stuff with my hands and singing.
  
  Our kids --- they are just fantastic, of course :-) (also very good at making us crazy sometimes, yet fantastic).
  
  After living in Prague for some years, we went back to Michal´s village Havlíčkova Borová, where we live in the same house with his parents - in separate flats with shared garden all around. The nature around is wonderful. In one minute you are in the middle of a meadow and in ten minutes by foot in the forest, surrounded by trees, animals, small lakes, streams and the smell of the pine trees...
  
  We definitely prefer country life and don´t want to live in the city, but Marta lately understood she cannot spend here the rest of her life (too long winters, short summers, no sea). That´s why we decided to move somewhere to the South during next school year - might be Greece, Croatia or...who knows - we spend every summer travelling in some South-European country in order to search for "our own place" to settle down one day.
  
  Since Mia and Elio were born we have little time for our own projects and sometimes even for the household in general, so what we need is some help with the kids and in/around the house. Maybe the tasks we will give you may sound too "basic" (like keeping an eye on the kids while they are playing around, doing the washing-up, preparing some tea, hanging of folding clothes, cook, take care of the sprouts, keeping the house tidy, but believe us - every little thing is welcome like a precious help!
  
  In general we enjoy a lot sharing with volunteers our daily life and passions (music, languages, cooking, paiting, making barefoot shoes or stamps, sewing...) and that´s actually the main reasn why we are here - we like to have company around and for the kids it is a great enrichment. On the other hand, we need a person who is able to be independent and "have fun" by herself since many times we just don´t have time of energy.
  
  Feel free to speak English (or even your own language) with our kids! They will learn thanks to you :-)
  
  Please note: we live in wonderful nature and like going to trips sometimes (however - kid-friendly trips which may sound a little boring for "normal people"...), so we are willing to show you the surroundings and take with us at any occasion of "life" we´ll have. However remember in our village not much is happening, especially in winter, so if you are not a nature lover and need city life, this place is not for you.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Gardening

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Maybe we are not the most demanded destination in Europe - "just" a small village in the Czech countryside - but we are an open, playful family, willing to take you as a member of us and to share life, talks, trips, friends, games, music, languages...and whatever will come out "naturally" during our time together, as long as our energy-level allows however...
  You will also learn much about small children, too - does it sound boring? I can ensure you it is a very exciting, funny, adventurous world! Maybe you will even learn some (Czech or) Italian by listening to us speaking to the kids.
  Together we can do plenty of nice stuff, like practicing yoga, baking cookies with the kids, painting, playing music and singing, making barefoot shoes or stamps, talk in front of a hot tea or glass of wine in the cold and long winter evenings.

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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 mostly need some help with the kids and even more with basic household. Every day tasks include being with the children, going for walks with them (as soon as they start feeling at ease with you...and you with them!), caressing the cats from time to time :-), preparing breakfast, cooking, spending some time every day trying to prevent the house from "exploding" with stuff everywhere, doing the washing-up, helping us with simple everyday house-tasks in and around the house...
  
  Actually - (almost) all the work is simple and fun and there is always place for talking and taking decisions about your work together.
  
  You don´t need any specific skills, just the will to help our family, to share everyday life and to truly love children - for me this means to really, sincerely have fun with them and not to treat them as "only a small child", talking to them seriously, too, and speak to them like to a human being (unfortunately this is very rare in adults...). It is also very important that you are able to set your own rules and boundaries with them.
  We believe in investing a lot of time and energy into parenting and for us it is very important to behave to the children just normally and truly. We try not to scream at them (not always we succeed...) , to treat them with respect and to find solutions together.
  
  We know you need some time to get used to a new place and people, and to get to know the children, too (they need the same!) - so don´t be afraid - we don´t expect everything to work perfectly from the beginning, just give it a try with good will and heart.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  Czech: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  German: Beginner
  Greek: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  We live in a house with Michal´s grandparents and our two cats(who are mostly outside or watching tv with grandparents). The flats are separate however, so you will live together with us (Marta, Michal, Mia, Elio, sometimes the cats also appear) in our house which is in the upper floor. You will have a room on your own with sight on the garden and the whole village. We cook mostly vegetarian, but Michal´s mom will be happy to cook for you some not vegetarian Czech meal if you wish :-)

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  What else ...

  We are other platforms and Workaway in the past years (Greece, Czech Republic). This means we know a little what volunteering is - and is not - about.
  
  We will welcome you as a member of our family and we need from you...to behave like that.
  This means we share everyday life, have fun together but also that we all have some "roles" or "duties" in the household and we really ask you to be active in trying to see what needs to be done. Sometimes we just do´t have the time to follow you and tell you step by step what needs to be done...if you see something you think needs to be done, just go for it!
  So in general we need responsible, independent and active people.
  
  Also, we try to be flexible with you and discuss everyone´s needs and we don´t like to "count the working hours".
  
  However, after some not very good experiences with volunteers in the past, we feel to say - we need you to fulfill more or less that working time and stay open to discussion. We like to talk very openly also about problems that might show up and things we don´t like or we think do´t work in order to make them better, find solutions together and avoid misunderstandings or frustration - we expect you do the same with us! We believe that´s the only way this interaction and sharing can work well.
  :-)
  ________
  
  If you have any questions, feel free to ask whatever you´d like to know.
  Thank you for reading us!
  M+M+M+E

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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

  We don´t have wi-fi in our house, but in your room there is a LAN cable you can use to connect your laptop.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  5 hour a day, 5 days a week

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