From: Germany & United Kingdom
Couple account
Portugal
12/07/2019 - 15/08/2019
Big part of our inspiration to volunteer through this platform came from an experience at a music festival in Bulgaria this June. We spent 6 days volunteering as part of an "Eco team" which meant helping out recycling and raising awareness by talking to fellow festival-goers. The festival's local sustainability concept included dry toilets, showers heated by compost, as much as recycling as possible in rural Bulgaria and on-site composting with the purpose of starting tiny food gardens for the coming years. Even though many things did not yet work well, seeing the techniques and their educational effect in action as well as witnessing the enthusiasm of everyone involved really inspired us to go out there and do and learn stuff ourselves. Circumstances luckily permit it:
Jess:
Hi, I’m Jessica! I’m from the UK but I’m studying for my master degree in the Netherlands. My degree - Tourism Society and Environment - has taught me about the world of tourism through different perspectives, mostly relating to local development and social and environmental sustainability. I am currently in Portugal for two months writing my thesis about tourism in Lisbon. I am an open minded person and I am curious to learn new things from the people I meet. This is my first work away experience but I have been wanting to do it for a while, mostly because I love to learn about other people’s lives and enjoy becoming inspired by the different ways people like to live. I have spent much of my free time throughout my life taking different dancing classes such as ballet and contemporary, but I also enjoy travelling, cooking, walking and cycling to name a few 🙂
Flo:
I finished studying in February and have since been lucky enough to be able to pursue my hobbies and interests without too much worry for a while: Converting my station wagon, camping, climbing, travelling, learning how to program and lots more. Jess suggested workaway as an option for us to spend time together in Portugal and it seems like exactly the right thing at the right time. Because of my love of the outdoors, my academic background in agriculture and plants and a refreshed motivation from the festival experience described above, I am psyched to help out in a project which I can whole-heartedly support and where I can develop personally. I am very grateful for the opportunity to take time to reflect on how to spend the next chapters of my life. I'd be happy to get lost in some manual work and learn more about practical small-scale farming and how to turn as many processes into locally perpetuable systems as possible (I want those things for myself at some point in my life).
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Farmstay
Help with Eco project
Animal care
Helping with Tourists
Language practice
Help with Computers / internet
Teaching
Jess:
Digital marketing (for tourism)
Customer service
Hospitality service
English teaching
Flo:
Anything DIY and in the garden, bring it on
Some background knowledge in agriculture
English, French, German, Learning Spanish
26 & 26
Smoker
Driver's licence
Allergies
Special dietary requirements
