Canada
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Thanks for taking the time to review our profile! Our WorkAway schedule is full for the remainder of 2019, we will start our next Workaway in April of 2020. Please contact us if you are looking for spring or summer volunteering opportunities
Happy travels!
Hi there, let me introduce you to our family! Me (mama) works from home while also homeschooling our two children who are 7 and 5 years old 😊 My husband works as an IT Engineer, which keeps him very busy at times, but he loves the job and the challenges that come with it! This will be our 4th year of living in the Westshore of Victoria, we previously lived in hectic, but lovely, Vancouver. One of our family’s interests is enjoying the nature that surrounds us as we live close to beaches, parks, forests, and trails. We're keen on welcoming a new friend into our home while also learning about your culture, language, and hopefully food 😉 We have traveled a great deal and always enjoyed meeting people from other countries, and hope others will also enjoy experiencing all that our part of Canada has to offer!
Gardening
Babysitting / child care
Cooking / shopping
Help in the house
Language practice
Teaching
We would like our Workawayer to feel comfortable while staying with us, so please feel free to join in any of our family’s activities. Our home is a mix of Canadian and South-Asian roots, which allows for a unique cultural exchange. My husband and I are bilingual - both of us speak English and Urdu/Hindi. I am trying to encourage our children to learn our mother language, but this can be a challenge, as many children find English the an easier language to speak 😉 If you have interest in education this is also a great learning opportunity to observe our homeschooling culture and see how children learn through various activities and lessons.
Victoria offers a variety of events which suit different tastes, so there is a little something for everyone. We have cultural celebrations, nature exploration, seasonal festivals, historic landmarks, farmers markets, volunteering opportunities, libraries, and recreation centers – just to name a few. There are local buses and ferries which allow you to explore the city or venture out and discover more of the West Coast region. If you enjoy nature there are many possibilities, some of which include hiking, kayaking, berry picking, and cycling. For those who like to keep busy in a city setting, we are about 30-45 minutes away (by bus) from downtown Victoria, the capital of BC. Finally, if you are a Workawayer who is hoping to improve their English, I have years of teaching experience and could help with lessons or examination study (TOEFL, IELTS, SAT). If there is anything you would like to teach us such as a new language, recipes, art, handicrafts, sports, we always love learning!
We would really like someone who can be like a friend of the family whilst providing help with childcare and assisting with various household responsibilities. So far we've found that having 2 volunteers at a time has been extremely helpful as tasks can be divided between indoors and outside, but we are also open to single travelers too!
We require someone who enjoys being around children and engaging with them. We're looking for mature, enthusiastic, and responsible Workawayers. Our kids are fun, social and silly! As homeschoolers, help with teaching is welcome, you do not need teaching experience just a good, open attitude.
No two days are the same here, so you will not need to do all tasks listed below, but it will give you an idea of what other Workawayers have helped us with.
Childcare: reading books, teaching phonics, playing sports, foreign language learning, baking, arts and crafts
Kitchen: snack and meal preparation, keeping kitchen tidy
Yard work: pulling weeds, cutting grass, pruning plants
General household: cleaning, organization, general maintenance
We are flexible, but our ideal help schedule would be 5 hours per day, five days a week.
Lastly and most importantly, we are flexible, honest, and considerate people - we expect the same from others in our home. If we feel the volunteer has no interest in the Workaway exchange then we will be forced to ask them to leave. We have always had great interactions with our volunteers and hope to continue these lovely exchanges.
English, Urdu, Hindi
You will have a medium size bedroom with a detached washroom on the ground floor. Our rooms are upstairs, so you will have a reasonable amount of privacy. There is a shared office/playroom on the ground floor which is only used occasionally during the day. Your bedroom has a comfy, clean queen size bed with a medium size closet. You will have access to all food/ingredients in the kitchen, which is a shared space on the upper floor, so please feel free to make any snacks or meals you like. We ask that volunteers feel comfortable preparing meals if they do not like some of my cooking (I'm unfortunately not a gourmet chef 😂). Please note as we do not consume alcohol and pork, we kindly ask volunteers to respect our wishes and also not consume these items in the house. At this time, we can only accept non-smoker guests. As we try to model and teach our children about tidiness, we hope that our guest will also keep their living area in a neat manner. We also have 1 bicycle and helmet which you can use at your convenience. We live in an uphill, quiet residential area with the closest bus stop a 1km walk away. The bus comes once an hour - however, most times we are able to drop volunteers to a main transportation (bus) location, which is about a 5-7min drive away.
Workawayers can also explore further away places in our region such as Tofino, Port Renfrew and the Gulf Islands. With the mildest climate in Canada, you will also see gardens bloom year-round in the Greater Victoria area. The city is tied closely to both land and sea and the rugged natural beauty of the Pacific Coast encourages all-season adventures in the great outdoors. Easy to explore by foot and at your own pace, a visit to Victoria can be as relaxing and rejuvenating as it is educational and exciting. Take advantage of the diverse historical, architectural and multicultural makeup that comes from being the oldest city in the Pacific Northwest. From First Nations history to British colonial and Asian traditions, and the landmarks, culture, cuisine, festivals and vibrant atmosphere that come with them, Victoria, B.C. is one of the world's favorite destinations. Volunteers may want to also visit the big city of Vancouver on a weekend too. As a traveler you will also cross paths with many tourists from other different cultures who visit this beautiful area of Canada.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Two
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
