Help around the house, garden, forest and with kids and animals in Wallonia near Maastricht, Belgium

Details

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  Description

  We are: Anouk & Maarten with teenage triplets Nina, Chet & Miles (14) and our 3 dogs (Bink, Kiki en Meiske). Our older children Hugo (24), Lily (22) and Jules (21) live, study and work in Amsterdam.
  
  We're an Euregion (dutch-german) busy-buzzing family living on the Belgium french-speaking countryside next to 3 cities (Maastricht, Liege and Aachen).
  
  We are non-religious (although we’ve adopted a lot of crucifixes from the thrift shop - Anouks hobby), liberal ‘Dutch’, humanistic and down to earth.
  
  Our language at home is Dutch.
  
  Anouk works fulltime for the city of Maastricht as a landscape policy advisor and Maarten has his own company, they produce a 100% recycled stroller in Maastricht. He is also financial director of a chip manufactor and works mainly at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven.
  
  We live in a small village in a charming beautiful big old 18th century house named Villa des Roses with a tower, congiergerie, orangerie, pigeonnaire, cabin in the woods, a big ecological style garden, vegetable patches and a forest with pathways on 20.000m2 of our own.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are a non-religious, liberal, open-minded, pro-active, positive, busy-buzzing and out-going ‘Dutch’ family.
  
  We also welcome workaways with disabilities or issues like asperger, hypersensitiveness, anxiety, adhd. But we would like to be noticed in advance, so we can adapt.
  
  We respect all religions/orientations/genders and would never try to convince/persuade/change a lifestyle or a person. We also respect nature and sustainability a lot. We expect the same attitude of you.
  
  But we never mind a good discussion which ends in an agree to disagree or maybe an understanding and another perspective of how someone else lives their life.
  
  During dinner we speak dutch, that can be challenging at first, but after a short while you will understand the basics :)

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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

  Our ideal workawayer is >25 years old and wants to stay at least a month. Proactivity and independency towards the help you provide is really important to us. You see where help is needed without us asking. We also use an organizing app called Trello.
  
  Because we work fulltime, we have weekdays chores: helping with easy householdtasks like cleaning & arranging, picking up the triplets from school or fieldhockey in Maastricht; dogcare; some cooking if your good at it (we have a huge woodoven outside): Anouk is a flex-vegan although the rest of the family isn’t. We cook healthy, fresh food. We also have two Thermomixes/Bimbi’s so that’s an easy helper in the kitchen!
  
  Then there are some special projects depending your interest and skills like creating an outside groundfridge, some inside/outside painting and vintage wallpapering in the house. Woodchopping, Forest/garden maintenance and clearing pathway. Removing invasive brambles (removing the CO2 deposit) and cutting hedges. Helping rearrange/sorting out ‘stuff’.
  
  A drivers license is a must, because school and fieldhockey is a 20k oneway distant drive. We have an automatic 8 persons Hyundai minivan and a manual 3+ persons (fit the triplets + driver) Toyota iQ at your disposal.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent

  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 have a nice workawayroom with a double bed/entresol and living space. Here you share the bathroom with the triplets. Sometimes the workaways overlap, therefore we use a spare guestroom, with a double bed. We’ll provide food and beverages, you can choose them in the supermarket if you have special requests. Happy to join us for meals or let us know in you have other plans.

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  What else ...

  During the weekends you can do your thing. Antwerp, Bruges, Brussel, Köln, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam and even Paris and Berlin are easy to reach by public transport. But you are also welcome to chill at the property.
  
  Sometimes we need to be ‘just the two of us’ and go on a trip for a couple of days, then you run the ‘menagerie’. This could be during a long weekend, but we schedule this together with your plans and change it for days off during the week.
  
  During weekends/weekdays when the kids are off to school or the evenings you can visit the cities/areas/points of interest close by, go for numerous hikes around the Natura2000 valley surrounding our village, go urban exploring at the immense abandoned steelfactory opposite the river ‘Maas/Meuse’, the abandoned castles and colemines in the neighbourhood.
  
  Furthermore, we have a yogaroom/gym, meditate in our ‘cabin in the woods, or try out your creative talents in our atelier!
  
  If your in the music, go ahead and use the piano, grab a guitar or try the violin.

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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 have wifi and 4g connection, but when everybody is online, the wifi can slow down.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have a beautiful area for a mobile home/caravan near our 'congiergerie', with water and electricity.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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