Help with a renovation project in a building in North Latvia, Valmiera

  • Latvia
  • Favourited 429 times
  • Last activity: 17 Mar 2023

Availability

  2023 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    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

    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

    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

    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: Intermediate

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    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 ...

    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

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    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

    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?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    5 hours a day, 5 days a week (flexible)

Host ref number: 334688925492

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