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Description
Hi! We are Anna and Sergio. We run a small, non-profit, rural project with a herd of 20 "firefighter goats" in the village of Alfafar, Portugal.
We are ideally situated . 25 minutes from Coimbra, 8 minutes from both Condeixa-a-Nova and Penela, and a 45-minute drive from the sea at Figueira da Foz.
The area is rich in history and nature, featuring:
Numerous river beaches, waterfalls, walking trails, and caves.
The famous Roman ruins of Conímbriga. Castle of Penela or wonderful city of Coimbra.
A swimming pond just 4km away belonging to our friends at the Tergar meditation community, who also offers free meditation sessions.
Culture: We co-founded the cultural association, which brings live music and dance performances right here to the village.
Our Big Mission: Addressing Rural Depopulation
Portugal faces a significant challenge with rural depopulation. Many villages lack the resources to manage private land, creating a massive fire risk for the remaining elderly population. Our project addresses this through three main pillars:
Fire Prevention: We use goats to clear undergrowth on abandoned land. Our goal is to restore these terrains, eventually creating a small nature reserve and a permaculture forest.
Restoring the Landscape: The region is famous for its dry stone walls, but this vernacular architecture is falling apart. We aim to save and rebuild these centenary walls to preserve the landscape.
Preserving Traditions: Alfafar has a long history of winemaking and olive harvesting. As the elderly population finds it harder to maintain their land, we aim to create a support network to ensure these beautiful traditions and orchards do not disappear.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House & pet sitting
Interests
Culture
Pets
Sustainability
Events & social
Farming
Performing arts
Drawing & painting
Plant care
Gardening
Languages
Books
Music
Cooking & food
Art & design
Animals
Hiking
Outdoor activities
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are a very small community but trying our best to animate ourself by organizing concert, movies nights and dinner parties. Together with our neighbours we founded a cultural association.
We are close to Coimbra where there are theaters, concert halls, cinemas .
Help
Please remember we are a non-profit project. That means, all we do - cleaning the terrains around the village - is done for free, this project does not earn profit.
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Who We Are Looking For?
We are seeking handy individuals with a strong work ethic, animal lovers with "can-do" attitude , logical with some experience of DIY, who don´t mind waking up in the morning. We will give preference to 25 y.o. and up.
We need you to be sociable, as we frequently have friends and family staying with us but, at the same time independent, as we divide our time between here and work in Lisbon, that means you will be alone for few days now and then.
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The tasks here are straightforward and rewarding.
A typical day begins by checking on the goats and feeding the guard dog, Nevão. (He is a Serra da Estrela—a beautiful guardian, but still a goofy pup who needs a long daily walk to burn off his energy! ) We ensure the animals have clean water and (depending on our calendar ) we either open the gate of the "home" and let them graze on the terrain directly around or we move the herd to another pasture. Once the goats are out, we prepare their "bed" for the evening. At the end of the day, we check on them again, count the herd to ensure everyone is home, we stay with them a bit to make them feel safe and give them feed (special for goat mothers and general for the rest), some pets as they depend on the relationship with humans, than before leaving we feed Nevão, say goodnight and close the gate.
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Time Commitment: These tasks usually take about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening
Note: While we occasionally milk the goats, we are currently simplifying our system, so milking is mostly off the list for now.
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During the rest of the day (the rest of 5 hour commitment), we focus on work around the house ( in and out).
We may ask for some light house cleaning like loading dishwasher / dusting or hoovering (its a small house).
The goats tend to jump onto the drystone walls around our property and pastures so we try to put the stones that they thrown down, up again. We tending to our small seasonal vegetable garden and greenhouse and pruning or harvesting (depends on the season) our olive trees. Organizing the woodshed /toolshed.
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We would like to ask you for one video call before we make our decision to see if you understand what the project is about and if our thinking aligns.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Polish: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
Accommodation
You will have your own room. There are two bathrooms so no shower or toilet queuing. If you are a person travelling in a van and would like to live off your own vehicle we have space outside for a safe parking and of course you can use the bathroom /kitchen or plug yourself to the electric greed.
Food-wise: We are omnivores, but we cook plenty of meatless dishes. We provide breakfast and 2 home-cooked meals daily, and don't worry—no one ever leaves the table hungry! When we aren't around, we’ll leave the fridge and pantry well-stocked so you can prepare healthy meals for yourself. Please note that wine/ beer and spirits are not included. Sorry but we can´t host anyone with special dietery needs or alergies .
What else ...
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As we are in a rural location the public transport is scare (4 - 5 buses a day ) and we may not have time to give you lifts in your spare time so having your own car would be ideal . we have a work car here but its old geeser that is not super relable so we use it only for short shopping trips .
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We use a mobile hotspot for internet. It handles streaming and video calls for 2–3 devices at once, but it's not super fast. If you have heavy data needs for work, it’s best to bring your own mobile data/router.
Space for parking camper vans
We are able to accommodate small to medium-sized vans. Electricity is available, as well as access to kitchen and bathroom facilities if required.
Can possibly accept pets
Pets are welcome, provided they are house trained, calm, friendly towards cats and goats and well-behaved with other dogs.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Mia, Miinha, Mião, Fusco, Krzysiu, Branquinha, Perola e Suspiro
Photo shows just few of the family. Mia is the queen the rest her children and some local "neighbours" who decide to hang out with us. Our free living friends
Nevão
Serra de Estrela - The guardian dog of our herd of goats
