Be part of our family as we transform our country home in the Mantiqueira Mountains into a thriving homestead, Brazil

Details

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  Description

  PLEASE, READ THE PROFILE UNTIL THE END
  
  *We are looking for a reliable family or couple for August/September 2026 for housesitting and petsitting*
  
  Hello and Welcome to our profile!!
  
  I'm Mickaela (35 yo), my husband is Fernando (37 yo), and we have a little daughter (2 yo toddler). We also have 2 dogs and and 1 cat in their elderly ages, 3 little kittens we are giving a temporary home ultil adopted... 2 ducks and lots of hens.
  
  We live in São Paulo countryside, up in the mountains of Mantiqueira, in a very cute and touristic little town.
  
  Here we need help with the everyday life, chicken coop,vegetable garden, fruit trees, cooking, organization, light cleaning, etc (more details below). We have a goal to use concepts of Permaculture and self sustentability in every aspect of our lives. I hope we can call ourselves a Homestead one day.
  The house is 30 years old, so we are always with some project going in renovation, building or painting.
  
  There's a big playroom upstairs to be shared with my child (only to play, she sleeps downstairs), so that's a point we need you to be confortable with (the stairs... and the sharing).
  Anybody is welcome in our household, as long as you like animals and children, but we will give priority to host families when they apply to come, as it's beautiful when my daughter can have some company to play.
  
  We also have an apartment located in a busy city, with lots to do (walking distance from an avenue full of amazing restaurants, ice crem shops, cafes and pubs) , but with some peace at the same time, as we are close to everything (few minutes walk from big supermarkets, Mall, great bakery, gym, drugstore), but in front of our building is a big green area, and 10 min walk from a beautiful park). Fernando still works 3 days a week in the city, so, sometimes we go to our apartment to spend the day. And we come back in the evening.
  
  We've been workawayers for a while, we traveled a little bit before having our 1st child and we intend to keep traveling, but not right now. We thought could be really nice to our daughter to have contact in her early years with different people, cultures and languages, and to us keep learning and practicing other languages, so we decided to open to workawayers too!
  
  We are open to people who wants to stay at least 4 weeks. If you want to stay longer, would be amazing, let's talk further about the possibility.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House & pet sitting
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  Interests

  

  Camping

  

  Beach

  

  Self development

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Farming

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  Languages

  

  Hitchhiking

  

  Gardening

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Animals

  

  Dancing

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Nature

  

  Mountain
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We have lots of stories to share about our trips. We love traveling and love knowing other people and other cultures. We love to sit by the fire and have a good conversation, good food, good music.
  
  You will learn about brazilian cuisine, will get some experience with husbandry and the veggie garden and other things related with the help we need.
  
  We can teach you Portuguese of course, but we have to organize it in advance, as I'd like to speak English most of the time and in the busy routine I find myself forgetting to help with Portuguese in daily life. Let us know if you want Portuguese lessons.
  
  Sometimes, depending on how long you will stay, we can organize to bring you to beautiful and touristic places around, as we live close to the beach and the Mantiqueira mountains.
  
  The nightlife in Taubaté (where the apartment is) is quite nice as well, to those who like it. And Santo Antonio do Pinhal (where the countryside house is) is a touristic village, cute, with amazing cuisine to try out and nature walks, hiking, waterfalls and other adventure things to do.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We are interested in people who can speak another language all the time with us and our little girl, specially English, German or Italian. Would be very nice to us if you have a drive license valid in Brazil or speak Gaelic (Irish).
  
  The help is (shared room avaiable for 2 or even 3 people)
  *5 hours a day, 5 days a week, 2 days free*
  
  *Cooking everyday meals and keeping the kitchen clean and organized.
  
  *Homestead activities: preserving food for long term storage (canning, cooking and baking for freezing food, fermenting, drying herbs and fruits), composting, harvesting and seed saving, firewood preparation.
  
  *Chicken coop: cleaning, keeping water recipients clean, feeding, collecting eggs.
  
  *Garden: mowing grass, taking care of flowers, herbs and fruit trees (pruning, watering, etc).
  
  *Vegetable garden: sowing, watering, pruning, weeding, cleaning the surroundings.
  
  *House renovation: painting, diy renovation, wall art, other small projects, etc (the house is 30 years old and there are lots to do).
  
  *Ocasionally creative play (2 yo old very active toddler) and pet sitting/playing.
  
  *If you practice Yoga or TaiChi, would be lovely to TRY to practice together.
  
  (We expect from you to keep the house as it was yours. If you do a mess, you organize and clean after yourself.)
  
  About the PAID position:
  
  Payment will be for a person who would like to stay 6 months or 1 year, already has a visa to stay in Brazil, and could help with light housekeeping and homeschooling. You can request more information by message.
  
  Another possibility for being paid is if you are interested in doing HEAVY work in the garden or house renovation. We can provide more details if asked.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  German, Italian, Gaelic.
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  Accommodation

  The room and bathroom in the house will be shared, so just come if you are really confortable with this situation.
  We can set the room with double beds or single beds, depending on the situation.
  Important: the room is upstairs and the bathroom downstairs. If you have any trouble with going up and down stairs, let us know in advance.

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  What else ...

  We are looking for kind and reliable people, who love children and pets and can understand their responsabilities without being told all the time.
  
  It's important to be communicative, and be happy with the tasks to be done. If you're not happy for any reason, you must talk to us and we can think about changes together.
  
  It's essential for us that the volunteers can communicate at least in English.
  
  We would like to TRY, at least once a week, having a meal all together, alright? Even better by the fire with some music.
  
  If you are a smoker, it's ok. But I must ask you to smoke only outside the house/car, and never near my daughter, please

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  If you are a digital nomad, that's fine too, if you can still help us part time. We can provide a desk and chair, and good internet cable connection.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

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