Help at a vegan animal sanctuary in Palmela, Portugal

Infos

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  Description

  PLEASE READ THE WHOLE PROFILE 🙏
  
  Hi everyone,
  We are a couple of animal rights activists running a vegan activist non-profit NGO in Portugal.
  As part of our organization's work we run an Animal Sanctuary where we have our multispecies family, and where we accommodate animals that we rescue from abuse, abandonment or death, permanently or temporarily, until we find them suitable homes where they can live forever safe and loved. We have now over 150 animals, around 50 pigs, chickens, ducks, 1 turkey, sheep, horses, goats, rabbits, some street cats that have decided to live with us and 2 tiny dogs😊

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Bénévolat

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide dans une ferme

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

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  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  The “cultural exchange” happens here between species. If you truly love animals and see them as equals it will be an amazing experience to be able to care for them and learn how wonderful individuals they all are, as complex and unique as any of you.
  “Culturally” speaking, we don’t live according to the tradicional Portuguese ways, so there isn’t a lot of cultural exchange here, living in the sanctuary is like living in a different world.

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  Aide

  We are looking to have between 6 to 10 volunteers at any given time to help us with animal care and tasks related to construction work, general maintenance of the spaces and our food garden. Important to underline that we are an alcohol and drug-free animal sanctuary, and that our main focus is the care we give to all living beings. Our project has the care of all the animals at the centre and as they are not things, it is not like volunteering at a hostel where you clean a room and you’re done with the task. Doing volunteering here is a live in experience where your family is all the habitants of the sanctuary. Which means that if you are present and someone needs help, you can’t ignore her/him just because it’s past your “working hours”.
  Saying this, it’s important to keep in mind that only people that truly care deeply about animals should come to us. If you want to come here to count as work every single minute you stop your tasks to give a cuddle or love to an animal, then this is really not the place for you.
  
  This is the home of the animals first and we are all guests in their home. The humans that come to us will be sharing their spaces with animals from other species, meaning, for example, in the kitchen there will be cats, or dogs, or baby lambs or baby pigs, or all of them together if necessary. What we mean by this is that whoever comes to volunteer with us needs to feel comfortable with the fact that we practice and live equality within all species. The only place that will not have other animals will be the bedrooms of the volunteers, any other place, as it’s the only safe home they have, belongs to them, and their needs of wellbeing or comfort are always put first.
  
  We are looking for volunteers that would be responsible for helping out with animal care - there is a lot of small things to take in and we prefer that the animals also have time to relate to the person caring for them daily so 1 month period is the minimum stay 🙏
  
  ALSO, APART FROM THE OTHER VOLUNTEERS, WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO STAY WITH US FOR A 6 MONTHS PERIOD.
  
  MOST IMPORTANT:
  PLEASE, please, please do not even write us if you are expecting to come to a petting zoo, we area an animal rescue organisation not a holiday campsite 🙏🏻
  The work is physical, you will need to learn a lot of small details to do the daily animal care routine, and of course, it's a farm, so you will get dirty, and clean a lot of poop everyday.
  In order for you to be happy here you will need to be a practical person that doesn't get tired very quickly and is ready to put an extra effort into helping animals.
  As a non-profit that runs itself of donations from kind people, we really can only host people that can commit to the project truly and fully for a minimum of one month.
  Some people commit to us and then leave us after two days because they didn't realise that working with animals in a farm requires responsability, dedication and a selfless spirit. Farm life is not for everyone, volunteering with us is an amazing experience but only if you truly, TRULY, love animals and understand fully the amount of daily work involved in caring for them. Farms are not apartments in cities where everything is sterilised. We have fleas around the areas, and we need to put product on a daily or weekly basis, it’s nature, we can’t eliminate all parasites, sometimes it rains and everything gets muddy, you will get dirty, it will be super hot during the summer months and it will be tough to endure, you will be in contact with life in its rawest form, and for us that’s why all of it is so magical.
  If you are ready for all of this, please get in touch with us, if there are any doubts in you, please, we beg you, do not, we have been lied to by many workawayers. The sanctuary really needs the support of volunteers that understand the dedication required by those that truly understand what animals need and require to be happy and live full filing lives, if you can’t commit to them the time you come to us, than this won’t be the place for you 🙏🏻

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  Langues parlées

  Anglais: Courant
  Portugais: Courant

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  Hébergement

  For sleeping we have two tiny houses, a big tent/tiny house with two rooms, a caravan with two beds, a leisure area, and a campervan which is the volunteers kitchen where they have their breakfast and dinner. During the week, lunch is always together in a communal shared area.
  We offer food for all the meals for the 5 working days, if people have very specific diets, tolerances or need to eat huge quantities of food every day, then they are expected to by their extra food items - we run fully on donations from kind people that support our rescue work, and we are in a poor country, so running a sanctuary is not an easy task and requires a lot of work to get the funds every month to keep things running - people need to be reasonable and mindful with the food they eat. We kindly ask that the volunteers cover their food costs for their days off.
  
  We have a normal hot shower and a compost toilet.
  
  We will give preference to people that already follow a vegan lifestyle as we won't allow any non-vegan products to enter the sanctuary or be consumed within the property and we don't wish people to suffer for being here.

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  Autres infos...

  Working with animals requires love, compassion and dedication. We wish that people applying to come support the project realise that the time they will be asked to help out is an important time to truly be present with the animals and give them the care and help they need, being with feeding, maintenance, cleaning, etc.
  We need support from people that really want to help animals and are ready to give them the time and love they need 😊
  If you are not prepared to give all your love to them, and learn to really understand the purpose behind the project, then please don’t come 🙏🏻
  Caring for lives requires you to be selfless, empathic and compassionate - we are not a business, so you shouldn’t see the animals home as a work, but as love that you give and receive.
  
  On another note, we are very close to lisbon, 30 minutes on the train, and not very far from beaches if you have your own transport.
  
  It will be an experience of a lifetime if you enjoy learning more about animals, selfless service, compassion and activism. We breathe and live animal rights Activism here 😊❤

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We have space to accomodate campervans, but we cannot supply electricity to them as our energy is limited to our solar panels and we need to be able to have enough for all the structures and appliances.

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  We can accept dogs, but only if they are used to being around birds, sheep, and other animals in a peaceful way, without chasing them, otherwise the ones we protect will not feel safe in their own home.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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