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19 Apr 2025
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Description
Hi! My name is Ralf. I worked as a human rights advocate for the most marginalized people, mostly in poor countries, for most of my life. In 2024, I relocated to an amazing property in Palas de Rei, Galicia, where I opened a non-profit artist residency program. I just can't do it all, alone, and need help with various tasks, including preparing the arrival of artists, social media related to the program, assisting the artists during their stay, supporting events, maintenance of the garden and grounds, etc. I speak English, German, Italian, French and Spanish and am a 63-year-old gay man who values respect, honesty, openness and tolerance and is passionate about music and the arts in general.
Workawayers have their own room and bathroom, outside the main house and the artist residence, and benefit from a beautiful garden.
Palas de Rei is located on the Camino de Santiago, between Lugo and Santiago, and is very lively and full of caminantes from April to the end of October, but it is also threatened by a project to build a huge pulp factory, which would be an environmental disaster and destroy the way of life of many people in the center of Galicia. Workawayers would at a minimum be expected to engage with the challenges posed by the project and could actively participate in the movement that has built to fight the project.
For more info, please ask us for the website link and follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Interests
Self development
Videography
Politics / Social justice
Pets
LGBTQ
Culture
Charity work
Beach
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Fitness
Performing arts
Photography
Languages
Music
Gardening
Animals
Art & design
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
There will be many opportunities for cultural exchanges:
1. through contact with the artists from various countries and cultures (artists have already come from many countries, including South Africa, Germany, Columbia, Canada, the United States, Indonesia)
2. through involvement with the local and regional environmental activism
3. through engagement with people walking the Camino de Santiago, with new people arriving in the village every day
4. through discussions about the human rights work I've done and will continue to do
5. through active learning, through exchanges, about how to make the Workaway experience most useful, relevant, appropriate and fun as possible, with learning by the host translating immediately into an even better experience for Workawayers.
Help
Depending on their skills, Workawayers could focus on one or several of the following tasks:
1. maintaining and updating the website and FB and Instagram pages about the artist residency program and exploring and implementing other ways of communicating about the project and the artists involved; as part of this, taking photos and filming (semi-) professional videos;
2. developing and/or strengthening relationships with local, regional, national and international organizations and agencies that the artist residency program could collaborate with;
3. exploring and pursuing funding opportunities;
4. supporting the artists in many different ways, from preparing their arrival to ensuring their needs are met while they are in residency, to follow-up to the residency;
5. developing or supporting events, such as, e.g., open house days at the residency itself, events in schools and universities or other spaces that "bring the artist and their work" into the local community;
6. helping maintain the garden and improving it by planting new plants and trees
7. preparing meals for the artists and small team
7. helping with upkeep and maintenance of the entire grounds.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Spanish: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
I'd be keen to continue learning Spanish and to start learning Portuguese, and to help Workawayers with the other languages I speak fluently.
Accommodation
Workawayers will stay in a small, but comfortable (and heated in winter) accommodation with its own bathroom, separate from the main house and from the artist residence, with its own entrance, adjacent to the main house.
They will have access to the kitchen in the main house, and will be expected to prepare their own meals or participate in the preparation of joint meals.
What else ...
The house is a 25-minute walk from the village, or a 5-minute bike ride (on a public road, without bike path). A bike will be available. Public transport is available in the village, with several options for trips to Santiago, Lugo, Coruna etc. A drivers license is a definite asset and would allow Workawayers to use a small, manual car.
The main house rule is openness and respect and willingness to listen and learn, on both sides.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
There are lots of opportunities for digital nomads to contribute to the activities that are needed.
Can possibly accept pets
Cats and dogs may be accommodated, if they are respectful of my cats :)
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
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