Help with farm stay and spend time with kids in our community home in Arcidosso, Italy

Detalles

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  Descripción

  My name is Irene, I'm 23 years old, I study Science of Education and since I live in another city, I try to help my family keeping in touch with workawayers.
  We live in a small village in the south of Tuscany on the slopes of Monte Amiata and our family life consists mainly of two aspects: we are a private homestead and a community home (taking in people in need).
  Right now there are ten of us in the family: Alessia and Antonio (aged 50) are the parents; after studying economics they decided to get married, to leave everything and go to live in the countryside where they learned from the basis how to cultivate fields and manage animals, essentially they chose for the life to be mum, dad and farmers. In 2012, they were asked to take in a child who had been abandoned in hospital, from that moment on, they decided to open the doors of their home to welcome those who need a family above all, as well as a roof and food. The idea is simply to share everyday life together, each with their own abilities, difficulties and history. Over the years many people have been our brothers and sisters and today we are: Michele, Irene, Letizia (currently we are all living in university towns), Benedetta (18 years old), Giuseppe (11 years old), Luca (he is 11 years old, blind and he has some autistic traits), Gary (9 years old he had a cerebral paralysis at birth and he does not speak -but he communicates!- or walk) and Marco (65 years old, a dear friend of ours, who after a mountain accident has become quadriplegic).
  We currently live in a disused convent in Arcidosso (GR), which instead of closing has been given to our family to carry out social projects. Here we have a part of our farm: a large vegetable garden, fruit trees, chickens and goats, dogs and cats. While the cowshed and the olive grove are in the farm built by my parents in the valley 'la conca d'oro' in Seggiano.
  We only produce for our own consumption vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, chestnuts, lavender essential oil, eggs… and we make jams, fresh and seasoned cheeses, bread and biscuits... If you choose to live with us for a period of your life, you will eat what we produce.
  If you are an adaptable person, it will take you a moment to settle in - we are used to and happy to welcome new people!
  We are looking for people who want to stay for at least 15 days, it is important for us to get to know each other and establish a relationship of trust.
  Whenever possible we prefer people who know the basics of Italian or want to learn it because my mum doesn't speak English and my dad doesn't practice it much.

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  Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  Ayuda en una granja

  Cuidado de niños y juegos creativos
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  Objetivos de sostenibilidad de las NU que intenta conseguir este anfitrión

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  ¿Que es esto?
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  Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  If you like Italy and the Tuscan countryside then you will love where we live; it is an area of small medieval villages surrounded by woods, chestnut groves, olive groves and small cultivated lands.
  If you want to discover Italian cuisine, with us you will eat simple but typical dishes cooked with our own products.
  If you want to improve your Italian, we would be very happy to help you!
  
  There are certainly many things you can learn during our time together and it depends on how much you choose to get involved. If you want, you can ask my mum to learn how to make fresh cheese, bread and pizza or my dad to milk the goats by hand...
  You will surely learn how to live a community life, with its beauties and hardships. You will learn to relate to children with disabilities, discovering that being with them is an endless joy. You will learn that it is possible to live a dignified and sober life without a salary...
  
  If you want to have a relaxing time, then this experience is not for you!... The house is always bustling with people, the doorbell rings at all hours, and the children play.
  If you are searching and wondering if and how you can live a life different from what we have always been told: work, home, partner, children, holidays, retirement... Yes! I really think getting to know our way of life could be a great opportunity for you; to discover new horizons and be inspired!

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  Proyectos con niños

  En este proyecto podría haber niños. Para obtener más información, consulta nuestras directrices y consejos aquí.

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  Ayuda

  If you come to live with us for a while, we will ask you to help both on the farm and with the people living in the house.
  The work on the farm depends on the season in which you come. For example, all year round there is work in the vegetable garden (hoeing the soil, weeding, sowing, harvesting), in September and October we clean the chestnut grove and harvest chestnuts, in November we harvest olives, in May and June we make hay, in August we prepare wood for the winter. You are not required to know how to use farm implements and we will offer you jobs that are within your grasp, if you already have experience of manual work that's better! Otherwise all you need is a willingness to learn and get your hands dirty.
  At home, we can ask you to spend some time entertaining the children; naturally we will accompany you to get to know them and understand how to relate to them. This involves playing together, colouring, going for walks, playing and singing according to your talents.
  Then we can ask you to spend a few hours with Marco (the man in the wheelchair), he loves going for walks, playing chess and is trying to learn English by reading a few books.
  If you are already sensitive to disability you will be advantaged, if you don't know it but you want to discover this very beautiful world, then you are welcome! You just need a lot of willingness to relate, to get involved and patience.

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  Idiomas hablados

  Italiano: Fluido
  Inglés: Principiante

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  Alojamiento

  You will live in our same house, on the first floor there are all the bedrooms and you will have your own room with bed, bedside table, wardrobe and desk; the bathrooms are shared. The convent is very large and outside there is plenty of space for the vegetable garden and garden, there is a grove and a small football and volleyball field.
  Concerning food, we are very happy if you share meals with us. Those are always very nice moments to get to know each other better; we tend to cook what we produce from the farm. If you are vegetarian there is no problem, we eat very little meat and there is always an alternative; if you are vegan we ask you to help us prepare your food when you cannot eat what we cook for everyone.

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  Algo más...

  The places to see in the surroundings are many and very beautiful! But I can say right away that public transport is few and poorly organised.
  There is no railway station, but there is a bus stop right in front of the house. With buses you can reach all the small villages of the Amiata (among the most beautiful are Santa Fiora, Abbadia San Salvatore, Piancastagnaio...) and you can get to the most famous cities in Tuscany: Siena, one of the most beautiful medieval cities, and Florence, one of the most important art cities in Italy. In summer there are buses that take you to the beautiful natural coastlines in the province of Grosseto.
  When you need it, we can lend you an electric bike to visit the surroundings and get to the rivers that create beautiful pools for swimming.
  If you are a lover of trekking, there are many paths to take and you can reach the summit of Monte Amiata, an ancient volcano that in its eruptions has thrown large blocks of stone embedded in the vegetation (e.g. the Sasso della Vettoraia a few minutes' walk from our house).
  If you are interested in spirituality nearby there is Merigar, the first Dzogchen Buddhist centre founded in Europe and the remains of David Lazzaretti's community on Monte Labbro.
  Beyond the mountains is the Val d'Orcia, renowned for its wine, landscapes and there are some natural spas, but you need a car to get there… Our life is very busy and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to take you to many places, but we will try to go out with you at least once.
  The two villages within walking distance are small and do not offer much entertainment for young people neither cultural or social activities; but there are bars, banks, supermarkets, post office, parks, a hospital, gyms and shops...

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  Un poco más de información

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    Acceso a Internet

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    Acceso a Internet limitado

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    Tenemos animales

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    Somos fumadores

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    Puede alojar familias

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  ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

  Uno

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  Horas esperadas

  Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week