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Description
❁ Dear travelers, I am not currently hosting any volunteers due to other life projects but hopefully will be back in Summer 2023! ❁
Workaway has given me as a host amazing experience and beautiful friendships, so it is even hard to imagine life without workawaying :)
My current renovation project takes place in North Latvia, in a town called Valmiera. It's a house built by my great-grandparents and we are planning to turn it into a co-working place for freelancers (upper floor) and a yoga-wellness center (ground floor). As it's a DIY project, still hard to put a certain date for its final but we just follow the flow of life - it will be finished, when it will be finished :))
We usually have 2-10 Workawayers at the same time and there is a lot of fun of working together and in free time, not only work :) The team consists of several longer term workawayers (staying 2-3 months) and shorter term help coming for 1 - 4 weeks.
We need help 5 days a week, 5 hours a day (lunch breaks apart, small household duties apart), usually from 10:00 - 16:00 but the hours might be different according to the plans/tasks/workaway preferences. The tasks might be challenging as well as the living conditions - there is mostly cold water, limited access to shower (but planning to organize a proper shower soon), firewood heating, most of the rooms are shared. in summer we have a nice garden to chill out and also to grow our own vegetables.
The rough living conditions offer to experience another life style and make new meaningful friendships, gain a decent renovation/handy work experience and have a remarkable experience for your life!
For occasional weekends, I can offer you to stay in Riga and explore the capital but that greatly depends on the availability of any free room in my apartment there. Most often the weekends are free and can be spent just chilling out, reading a book, watching a movie (big screen available), visiting nearby cities, going for a walk in forest etc.
Please feel free to message if you have any questions. We can provide a safe environment for a 10 day self isolation (required in Latvia currently).
LIST OF WORKS:
demolishing walls, cutting firewood, washing the dishes, taking off old layers of paint, plaster work, painting, woodwork, sanding, flexing, cutting firewood, work with electricity, cleaning, removing building garbage, separating waste, cleaning the garden, cooking etc.Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
First of all, I will try to introduce you to the Latvian culture, history, nature taking into account the current covid conditions (we are organizing some excursions and tours as well). Secondly, the team consists of people from different cultures and backgrounds so its a great opporunity to learn about other cultures without travelling to them (espcially in this time).
Help
I expect Workawayers to be able to help out physically, to be able to do the renovation (cleaning, painting, building, carpentry, handle powertools (we can teach))
Help includes A-Z renovation for a house, currently working on cleaning the walls from old pain, recently renovated doors, vintage heaters, there is a lot of cleaning constantly.
Help in garden - picking apples, cleaning out old leaves, cutting the grass.
Cooking - to be able to cook for up to 10 people on a small, improvised kitchen (no running water). Dishwashing is always an important task!Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Latvian (Lettish): Fluent
Russian: IntermediateAccommodation
Single and shared basic rooms in Valmiera, fire heating.
Limited access to shower!!! Basically in the summer we have a cold shower outdoor and swimming in the lake.
For 3 euros you can visit the nearby gym and shower there if needed.
Simple WC without a lot of comfort
Be prepared for rough, challenging living conditions - make your own fire heating in the room.
In spring 2021 due to some electricity work we might also experience some shortages in electricity, but we hope to fix them soon!What else ...
From Valmiera you can easily reach:
- beautiful and historical city of Cēsis (30min bus)
- Estonian border city Valga (1h on bus)
- Riga (1,5h hour on bus, possible to host you in Riga too for a weekend)A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We do have a basic WIFI and workdesks so its possible to work on your own projects in the free time. Also Valmiera librart is open (check for updates regarding any government restriction due to Covid 10 pandemic)
Space for parking camper vans
There is enough space to park your car/caravan. But no speciall connections (electricy/water)
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
5 hours a day, 5 days a week (flexible)
Feedback (41)
I stayed almost 1 year! Felt very much part of the house (if you know what I mean)
Met and made unforgettable memories, even in -25 degrees.
Baiba, where do I start..... from helpful empathetic, fun, talented, driven young woman with much more to express.
We still keep in touch and will continue to.
I'm very much… read more
There was always time for some fun like going swimm in the River.
If you need any kind of support Baiba will do her best to help you.
Thank you for this amazing time bin Valmiera.
During their stay in Latvia, we developed a special bond and now I miss these guys a lot! ♥
Long story short: Leonardo came to Latvia as a workaway helper, meanwhile Regina arrived here as an guest, but she also ended up doing workaway with me in… read more
Regina (duration 2 weeks) For me it was absolutely the right thing! Valmiera is really calm but still offers a lot to people who are open to discover whatever they find next. Riga is also not so far as well the Estonian border.
My main working tasks… read more
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.8)
Cultural exchange:
(4.7)
Communication:
(4.7)
I stayed almost 1 year! Felt very much part of the house (if you know what I mean)
Met and made unforgettable memories, even in -25 degrees.
Baiba, where do I start..... from helpful empathetic, fun, talented, driven young woman with much more to express.
We still keep in touch and will continue to.
I'm very much… read more
There was always time for some fun like going swimm in the River.
If you need any kind of support Baiba will do her best to help you.
Thank you for this amazing time bin Valmiera.
During their stay in Latvia, we developed a special bond and now I miss these guys a lot! ♥
Long story short: Leonardo came to Latvia as a workaway helper, meanwhile Regina arrived here as an guest, but she also ended up doing workaway with me in… read more
Regina (duration 2 weeks) For me it was absolutely the right thing! Valmiera is really calm but still offers a lot to people who are open to discover whatever they find next. Riga is also not so far as well the Estonian border.
My main working tasks… read more
My main task was to prepare… read more
Not… read more
It was an inspiring experience to be in Baibas company, since there's so much that can be learnt from her.
It's amazing how she's creating and leading such a considerable project on her own, and doing it successfully.
I was doing not the most… read more
I spent the whole winter in Valmiera welcomed by a lively and stimulating environment, meeting people from all over the world.
I rediscovered the pleasure of working and creating something with my hands and I felt a strong… read more
Baiba is a very welcoming and good host, always with a positive attitude. We were also seven volunteers from six different countries, so there was no lack of social life at the place.
Recommended!
Iʼve been part of this team for two weeks and a half last July and it was such an amazing experience! I was among the first workawayers to start the Valmiera project, which I'd found challenging at the beginning, before we made it more comfortable and I eventually couldn't wait to get back there, a quiet… read more
Baiba is a very cool and accommodating, it was a pleasure to talk with her.
The work is quite easy and depending of your capacity, there is always something to do !
We definitely advise you to meet her
Claudio arrived for a 3 week stay in Valmiera and during this time he was an active, helpful, friendly, funny person in our international team. In spite of the very basic living conditions here, Claudio always stayed patient and accepted the… read more
I stayed two weeks, I shared a nice room with an other workawayer for a week, and another week just by my own in the room.
Working hours were fair, never were more than 5 hours. I like when hosts respect the 25 hours per week rule and Baiba fulfilled this area fully. Altough you need… read more
He arrived to Riga right in the moment when my leg got injured and I was in a big need for help. He helped me a lot with various tasks in the student flatshare.
Simon worked on fixing, plastering and painting a drywall and the result was great. I was lucky to have a workawayer with such positive, always hands-on… read more
It was a pleasure staying with you :slight_smile:
Instantly I felt comfortable with Baiba.
She is kind, interesting and very helpful.
The conversations are great and the food
Is delicious! The work is also fun!
It's also a unique workaway ,in that you are close to the city which leaves you very independent to explore!
Look… read more
I have been grateful for the ability to work independently, generate ideas and complete tasks effectively. They are both strongly motivated, friendly, precise, hard workers and beautiful personalities. Thank you for staying and… read more
Although we were only there 10 days, everyone in the apartment was warm, welcoming and felt like a new family! Baiba herself was amazing - lively, Interesting and involved. We decorated the hall, help build the majority of the second kitchen, and helped a friend with a charity event, all of which were fun… read more
She is carrying with the workawayers needs and tries and offered as much free time we needed to visit the city. Plus she gave us advice about Riga. She is very flexible and she planned our working hours… read more
Baiba is really nice, it's a pleasure to tchat with her.
She is flexible, she enabled us to mix working time and leisure time.
She gave us a lot of advice to discover the country.
We wish you to meet her ! :)
We got along pretty well and I felt like home during my stay. Thank you for the opportunity Baiba, hopefully to come back to meet you… read more
Thank you for this… read more
I stayed with her for two weeks in the end of my Europe trip. Her project is the happiest one in my experience!
She knows what to do making a good looking room, which really amaze me.
Her working schedule is more than flexable; it allows you to arrange your travelling plan easily. She also knows where to go, that save… read more
What can i to say about baiba? She is an amazing hostes. I never will forget this experience!
Thank you for everything that you did for me!
Wherever I am, I'll always have you in my heart.
I love you my sister!
take care and wish you the best
We renovated a flat pretty close to Rigas City Centre, I… read more
PS: a love for sweet chili sauce required for this position