Help us rescue, foster and rehome dogs in a sanctuary in Palamut, Turkey

Details

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  Description

  [PLEASE NOTE: WE ONLY TAKE VOLUNTEERS FOR MINIMUM 1 MONTH STAY — the work is pretty easy, but it takes a little while to get to know the dogs, which is an essential part of the work (:]
  
  We are an English family of 3 running a dog sanctuary in Palamut, a small Turkish village in the Mediterranean region. Our mission started in 2018 when we, Sara and Mike, met 4 street dogs in Turkey and fell in love with them – in a few months time, we gave the first big step buying a cottage in a village and, with the help of our son who moved there, started fostering dogs who'd be traveling to their forever homes in Europe. After some time commuting from the UK to Turkey to help him, we decided to dive in completely to our mission and move permanently to Turkey. By the end of 2019 our house and sanctuary was finished building.
  
  We have 7 big compounds, plus an area for quarantined dogs – besides the three houses with our own home dogs. The numbers vary, but we usually have between 80 to 130 dogs in total.
  
  We do rescuing and fostering, working on getting our dogs adopted and sent to their forever homes throughout Europe. A lot of work, obviously, but the most fulfilling and rewarding one!
  
  The sanctuary is located near the mountains and we are privileged to have the most gorgeous view, besides living 20 minutes away from the spectacular Patara Beach, the lovely and lively town Kalkan and 30 minutes away from the stunning Saklikent Canyon.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Language practice

  Gardening

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  This part of Turkey is full of historical places, a short drive away, and also lovely traditional villages. The local people are very welcoming and will definitely encourage you to learn their language! We have two weekly street markets around, where you can find many fruits, vegetables and traditional Turkish ingredients, besides a variety of clothes, perfume, etc.
  
  Sara loves cooking and is always keen on making new dishes– if you like cooking, be sure to be able to explore that a lot! We often carry out some gardening and maintenance work as well, so it could be an opportunity to learn that for those who are interested.
  
  Of course, most importantly, you'll learn a lot about dog language, behaviour and care!

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  Help

  Caring for dogs is an essential part of your visit, so experience is good but a love of animals is more important. Though we can be flexible depending on circumstances, our daily routine (which is shared among everyone) is usually:
  
  - cleaning the areas and feeding the dogs in the morning;
  - checking on them in the afternoon, making sure they have water;
  - walking them in the beautiful area that surrounds the sanctuary;
  - putting them inside the depots to sleep.
  
  There are also some extra tasks, such as taking dogs to the vets, bathing them, giving treatment to those who need it, basic cleaning in the main house, a bit of gardening or maintenance. When dealing with so many dogs it's hard to set specific times for work — apart from the morning work, which is always basically the same, during the day we do the tasks in different times.
  
  Please note that for this kind of work it's essential that you are fully *comfortable with dogs*, specially knowing it's a big group of them! The work also does require a bit of "weight lifting", such as picking up bags of food, dogs, water tanks -- nothing too strenuous though! Our pups are early risers, meaning so are we — work starts when the sun is up, but then that also means we get the main tasks out of the way pretty early!
  Our expected work schedule is 3 to 4 hours a day.
  
  We're looking for people that are CRAZY about dogs, that will enjoy spending quality time with them and will be truly dedicated to the work. You can be sure our permanent staff will always be giving 150% of themselves too (:

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  In the main house we have 2 bedrooms for volunteers – each with a double bed – with private bathrooms. We have another cottage with two other rooms with private bathrooms. Everyone is welcome in our big kitchen and we provide all the food – mostly vegan/vegetarian, but other food can also be available occasionally and you are free to cook what you wish. Sara cooks amazing food, specially vegan, but not every night — sometimes we have just DIY dinners too (:

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  What else ...

  This part of Turkey is unspoiled and most Turkish families live as they have always done, with goats, sheep, chickens roaming fairly freely and living off the land. It is a place of amazing beauty, with beaches, ruins, underwater towns, harbour towns and chic shopping, so covering all bases for exploring and adventures. The local cuisine is created using locally produced fresh produce, and the vegetables taste as they should, so you will never go hungry ! The local markets are both interesting and entertaining, it is certainly worth a visit to all of them. Overall it is a beautiful warm and welcoming place.

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have space outside and inside the Sanctuary to accommodate campervans

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  About 3-4 hours a day, 5 days out of 7

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