Ella

Netherlands
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Profile information

Travel information
I am currently
At home
Description
Hi all! I'm currently a Psychology student at the University of Glasgow seeking to explore the world and myself at the same time. I'm an avid nature lover and will run to any opportunity that lets me do meaningful work outdoors. When the weather permits, I head to the Highlands for a hike with my friends or practice natural horsemanship with my loan horse. I've been a horse lover and rider since I could walk, so any placement where I can work with horses will be my absolute dream. I'm keen to get my hands dirty helping with building works, farming or animal care. I care deeply about the environment, animals and meaningful social connections. Any project where I can combine these passions, while being able to expand my personal skills and help you with whatever you are working towards, will be a dream. I also work as a video editor and would be happy to help on the promotional side of things :)
Interests
Beach
Fitness
Dancing
Outdoor activities
Hiking
Farming
Gardening
Sustainability
Animals
Pets
Blogging
Vegetarian or vegan
Culture
Plant care
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Hebrew: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
More details about my language interests
I'm desperately trying to find opportunities to practice my Spanish! Took it in IB (high school) and the first year of university but wanting to immerse myself in the culture and language to further improve my skills.
Find a language buddy
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
I'm interested in:
General Maintenance
Life at a Farmstay
Eco Projects
Some knowledge of:
Animal Care
More details about your skills
VIDEO EDITING/ SOCIAL MEDIA:
- Student Vlogger: While in Glasgow I am employed by the University to create content for prospective and current students. From this I have gained significant filming and editing experience which could be beneficial to any small business wishing to improve their platform.
- YouTube channel manager: Volunteered at Tenerife Horse Rescue for three months and ran the YT channel.
- Social media secretary: In my position as the social sec for the Glasgow University Gymnastics Club, I manage all of the club's social media accounts and engage with prospective members.
- Video editor: I currently work as a video editor for a sports scholarship company.

HORSES
- Stablehand: I've worked in various stables across the world, spanning from the Netherlands to Israel where I've honed my skills at horse care, stable management and physical labour.
- I currently have my own loan horse who I train with natural horsemanship and clicker training!
Age
21
What else ...
I love reading, dancing and music... but who doesn't?? I've recently become very interested in therapeutic psychedelics, positive reinforcement training and natural horsemanship.
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements
  Vegetarian

Feedback

04/09/2022

(Live in a volcano, work with ...)

Pululahua (the crater this workaway is in) is possibly the most beautiful place I’ve seen in my life. I came to the crater for 5 weeks to work with the horses and feel really lucky to have had the opportunity. The work was hard but gratifying and for someone who has quite a lot of horse experience I feel like I learned so much from being here.… read more Laeo is a really knowledgeable horse person who definitely made me feel like my work was appreciated, was open to suggestions and made the process feel collaborative. A lot of the work we did was positive reinforcement and when it couldn’t be, we tried to work with the least possible force necessary. Depending on your role and experience, expect a lot of groundwork, problem solving and trail riding.

In terms of the schedule: it usually ran from about 8 in the morning till around 2-4 depending on the day. When I was there the mornings were beautiful, with the sun shining above you and the whole valley spread out in front of you. Around 2pm, the fog starts rolling in and the weather changes completely. It gets cold, might even rain and sometimes the fog is so thick you can’t see 2 meters in front of you. And by around 7pm it’s pitch black outside. Evenings were for communal cooking, reading and watching shows (there’s a projector in the ranch house).

I got lucky with the people while I was down in the crater, as I was there with at least three other people at all times. I will say for anyone thinking of coming, this place is pretty secluded. The people who live with you in the ranch house are your breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is just something to keep in mind when you’re considering the amount of social interaction or personal space you need. It takes about an hour to drive to the ranch from the nearest town (San Antonio), and will take you about 2+ hours to reach (by public transport and taxi) if you don’t get lucky enough to hitch a ride down with Lief or Raf. When we needed groceries we would get a ride up but you are very dependent on whenever a ranch car can leave the crater. There were a fair share of technical issues while I was there (no hot water, no WiFi for a while, saddle room under construction, delayed farrier day), but these were all eventually sorted and Lief made a big effort to fix the property related things when he was around. More than that, Lief also organized a really lovely weekend out to Quito and Papallacta with all the volunteers so we could see a bit of Ecuador outside of the crater.

If you ask me whether I would recommend this place then 1000000%, as long as you can come to terms with the fact that living in the crater is not a breeze at all times. I’m very very grateful to the people I was with there, the ranch team and of course the incredible horses down here. It’s impossible to sum up such a unique experience in so few words, so if any future volunteers have more questions then feel free to reach out :) lots of love xxxxxx

(Excellent )

18/01/2022

Left by host (Help us create a sustainable ...) for Workawayer ()

We loved having Ella here, so much so that she came back twice. Ella is a great worker and has lots of fun ideas, she was here helping us with our youtube channel. The videos she made were really great, but what we love most about her is her community spirit, always bringing the group together with fun games and team building activities. Helping… read more

(Excellent )

26/08/2021

(Help us create a sustainable ...)

I came for two months in the summer of 2021 as the Youtube girl. After the best two months of my life I returned home only to realise that the finca was the place I wanted to be- so I came back for a final month. This project is incredible. It attracts amazing people from all over the world and serves as a place for learning, resting, working and… read more

(Excellent )

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