Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
4 Jul 2025
Reply rate
80.4 %
Usually responds within 2 days
Feedback
33
Email verified
Badges (4)
Details
Description
CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR LAST MINUTE VOLUNTEERS TO ARRIVE ASAP
———————
PLEASE READ THE WHOLE PROFILE BEFORE APPLYING 🙏
Hi everyone,
We are a couple of animal rights activists running a vegan activist non-profit NGO in Portugal.
As part of our organization's work we run an Animal Sanctuary where we have our multispecies family, and where we accommodate animals that we rescue from abuse, abandonment or death, permanently or temporarily, until we find them suitable homes where they can live forever safe and loved. We have now over 160 animals, around 50 pigs, chickens, ducks, 2 turkeys, sheep, horses, goats, rabbits, chickens, pigeons, quails, Guinea pigs and a couple of dozens of street cats that have decided to live with us and 2 tiny dogs😊
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Self development
Music
Carpentry
Hiking
Cycling
Camping
Beach
Outdoor activities
Architecture
Art & design
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Gardening
Plant care
Photography
Farming
Vegetarian or vegan
Politics / Social justice
Sustainability
Pets
Charity work
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
The “cultural exchange” happens here between species. If you truly love animals and see them as equals it will be an amazing experience to be able to care for them and learn how wonderful individuals they all are, as complex and unique as any of you.
“Culturally” speaking, we don’t live according to the tradicional Portuguese ways, so there isn’t a lot of cultural exchange here, living in the sanctuary is like living in a different world.
Help
We are looking to have between 6 to 10 volunteers at any given time to help us with animal care and tasks related to construction work, general maintenance of the spaces and our food garden. Important to underline that we are an alcohol and drug-free animal sanctuary, and that our main focus is the care we give to all living beings. Our project has the care of all the animals at the centre and as they are not things, it is not like volunteering at a hostel where you clean a room and you’re done with the task. Doing volunteering here is a live-in experience where your family is all the habitants of the sanctuary. Which means that if you are present and someone needs help, you can’t ignore her/him just because it’s past your “working hours”.
Saying this, it’s important to keep in mind that only people that truly care deeply about animals should come to us. If you want to come here to count as work every single minute you stop your tasks to give a cuddle or love to an animal, then this is really not the place for you.
This is the home of the animals first and we are all guests in their home. The humans that come to us will be sharing their spaces with animals from other species, meaning, for example, in the kitchen there will be cats, or dogs, or baby lambs or baby pigs, or all of them together if necessary. What we mean by this is that whoever comes to volunteer with us needs to feel comfortable with the fact that we practice and live equality with all species. The only place that will not have other animals will be the bedrooms of the volunteers, any other place, as it’s the only safe home they have, belongs to them, and their needs of wellbeing and comfort are always put first.
We are looking for volunteers that would be responsible for helping out with animal care - there is a lot of small things to take in and we prefer that the animals also have time to relate to the person caring for them daily so 1 month period is the minimum stay 🙏
ALSO, APART FROM THE OTHER VOLUNTEERS, WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO STAY WITH US FOR A 6 MONTHS PERIOD.
MOST IMPORTANT:
PLEASE, please, please do not even write us if you are expecting to come to a petting zoo, we area an animal rescue organisation not a holiday campsite 🙏🏻
The work is physical, you will need to learn a lot of small details to do the daily animal care routine, and of course, it's a farm, so you will get dirty, and clean a lot of poop everyday.
In order for you to be happy here you will need to be a practical person that doesn't get tired very quickly and is ready to put an extra effort into helping animals.
As a non-profit that runs itself of donations from kind people, we really can only host people that can commit to the project truly and fully for a minimum of one month.
Some people commit to us and then leave us after two days because they didn't realise that working with animals in a farm requires responsability, dedication and a selfless spirit. Farm life is not for everyone, volunteering with us is an amazing experience but only if you truly, TRULY, love animals and understand fully the amount of daily work involved in caring for them. Farms are not apartments in cities where everything is sterilised. We have fleas around the areas, and we need to put product on a daily or weekly basis, it’s nature, we can’t eliminate all parasites, sometimes it rains and everything gets muddy, you will get dirty, it will be super hot during the summer months and it will be tough to endure, you will be in contact with life in its rawest form, and for us that’s why all of it is so magical.
If you are ready for all of this, please get in touch with us, if there are any doubts in you, please, we beg you, do not, we have been lied to by many workawayers. The sanctuary really needs the support of volunteers that understand the dedication required by those that truly understand what animals need and require to be happy and live full filing lives, if you can’t commit to them the time you come to us, than this won’t be the place for you 🙏🏻
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
Accommodation
For sleeping we have two wooden tiny houses, a big wooden house with three bedrooms, a caravan with two beds, a leisure area, and a big communal kitchen which is where the volunteers have all their meals. During the week, lunch is always together in the hosts area on Mondays, and we prepare food for everyone, after the meal we always do a sharing circle. Over the rest of the week all the meals are prepared by the volunteers themselves.
We offer food for all the meals for the 5 working days, if people have very specific diets, tolerances or need to eat huge quantities of food every day, then they are expected to buy their extra food items - we run fully on donations from kind people that support our rescue work, and we are in a poor country, so running a sanctuary is not an easy task and requires a lot of work to get the funds every month to keep things running - people need to be reasonable and mindful with the food they eat. We kindly ask that the volunteers cover their food costs for their days off.
We have a normal hot shower and a compost toilet.
We welcome everyone, but we will give preference to people that already follow a vegan lifestyle as we won't allow any non-vegan products to enter the sanctuary or be consumed within the property and we don't wish people to suffer for being here, or feel that they are not having everything they need to feel well fed and nurished.
What else ...
Working with animals requires love, compassion and dedication. We wish that people applying to come support the project realise that the time they will be asked to help out is an important time to truly be present with the animals and give them the care and help they need, being with feeding, maintenance, cleaning, etc.
We need support from people that really want to help animals and are ready to give them the time and love they need 😊
If you are not prepared to give all your love to them, and learn to really understand the purpose behind the project, then please don’t come 🙏🏻
Caring for lives requires you to be selfless, empathic and compassionate - we are not a business, so you shouldn’t see the animals home as a work, but as love that you give and receive.
On another note, we are very close to lisbon, 30 minutes on the train, and not very far from beaches if you have your own transport.
It will be an experience of a lifetime if you enjoy learning more about animals, selfless service, compassion and activism. We breathe and live animal rights Activism here 😊❤
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We have space to accomodate campervans, but we cannot supply electricity to them as our energy is limited to our solar panels and we need to be able to have enough for all the structures and appliances.
Can possibly accept pets
We can accept small dogs, but only if they are used to being around birds, sheep, and other animals in a peaceful way, without chasing them, otherwise the ones we protect will not feel safe in their own home.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Feedback (23)
With amazing Poeple and beatiful Animals.
Thank you and hope to see you again soon😊
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.8)
Communication:
(5.0)
With amazing Poeple and beatiful Animals.
Thank you and hope to see you again soon😊
If you want to meet amazing people and make memories while helping with animal… read more
The structure of the work was great and the sense of community was incredible.
We loved every minute, even the compostable toilet. We would highly recommend this project to anyone looking to give back to the beautiful animals and the community. The vegan food and lunches were fab and we loved the… read more
I spent most of my working time in the veggie garden or cooking which I enjoyed a… read more
We are always happy when we meet people like her that are conscious and aware of others needs and willing to be there for them when necessary.
She is very friendly, social and got along with… read more
I learnt a lot about animals, about myself and they helped me with my fears of the pigs.
I was helping Noel mainly in the garden, but I also did the routine with the animals when somebody had her dayoff.
On my dayoffs I travelled a lot.
The weather was a bit cold at… read more
When we arrived we were still scarred by a difficult experience… read more
We were lucky to receive him and have his… read more
Even though the first days of work have been quite difficult and challenging for me as Alice already wrote i am super glad that we always found a solution for upcoming problems and had… read more
Although the first days were a bit challenging for her, specially because of the heat of summer, she just fit right into the routine after a few days and took care of all her responsibilities with great care and attention. The animals were lucky to have her… read more
It's such a special place for the animals 🐖🐑🐓 but also for the volunteers 🙆🏼♀️ Alice and Noel are awesome and I'm happy I could make great memories, learn new things and be part of that farm project 🐣
For me as a vegan it felt so nice being surrounded… read more
There were many new things for me to learn. Sometimes it was challenging but it was absolutetly worth it. I had an amazing time with all the living beings of the sanctuary. Living together with and taking care of all the wonderful animals was a great pleasure for me. To make sure that the… read more
She came from a very different background life experience, but nonetheless she was very dedicated to learn and challenge herself until she was completely independent and managed to do everything with great responsability and care.
We were glad to have her around and are very grateful for her help and dedication to… read more
As an individual she takes her responsibilities very seriously and does them with great atention to detail and willingness do help.
Any project that has her will be lucy to receive her help, time and… read more
Her heart is enormous, her soul is so beautiful and just made of pure goodness. There is not a pinch of judgement in her and she is so deeply… read more
Every single day has been amazing and an opportunity to learn something.
The entire project is incredible and everyone, animals and people, is fantastic.
Alice and Noel are incredible and the work they are doing is something truly unique and the passion they put… read more
She appeared when we were struggling to find a suitable volunteer to help us. She has lots of experience with a lot of different jobs and learns very quickly whatever else there is to learn. She is kind, present, compassionate, dedicated… read more
The time i spent at the project was truly blissful, to know that your your effort make a difference feels great, spending time with animal friends,… read more
We care enormously for the quality time that the people that come to help us spend with the animals and she always made sure to give them the time and love they needed.
I hope she comes… read more
Alice became part of the family, we can only hope that she returns soon as we already… read more
In feeding, cleaning and spending time with the animals I found myself living in the present. Each one of them has a different personality and needs, so it takes a while to remember… read more
