O testemunho final da Leila (SPEM)

Time flies, you have to enjoy every moment, every day.

It’s probably the advice most people give when someone is having an experience abroad, or at least out of their hometown.

I tried to apply this advice every day since I arrived in Portugal. Enjoy every little thing, can be going to work, going out with friends, a coffee under the sunlight, or just on Sunday watching movies in bed.Living abroad taught me this, taking the time to enjoy valuable moments, to take time for myself and the things that matter to me. When people give the advice of “enjoy every day”, maybe they think more about going on weekend trip or going out. And it’s true, it is part of it. But it’s also about making a place that at first, you knew nothing about, home. It’s to make all the little things that were strange or incommun to you before, habits. Lisbon now is home. 

Now, it’s habit to take tremoços with my imperial, to ask for a coffee “cheio”, to see the old men of the neighborhood meeting at the end of the afternoon and seat in plastic chairs just around the corner, to spend most of my time outside, to go listen to jam session at A70 or Arroz Estudio, to eat soup as a starter at every meal, to know some of the songs of Tony Carreira by heart, to not be afraid of the hill or not to be out of breath when you arrive on top, to see trees with flowers all year long or even just to speak Portuguese. It’s also habits to complain about the buses always being late, or about the winter without heating. But there is also things we never get use too, we are always amazed, such as the orange light of the sun that makes all the city golden, the blue sky, the beautiful landscapes, and the amazing people we meet.

My experience was, in the major part, about meeting people. About making myself a new home and a new “everyday” life. I’m so grateful for what I have and what i built here. Indeed, I’m staying to live in Lisbon for a bit longer, I’m not ready to leave this life behind me. With the group of volunteers (at people that we met along the way), we created an amazing group.

It’s like family and I know that I built a friendship that will last forever. We can be separated, not be living in the same country, we will never lose each other. Maybe you create an even stronger relationship because we know that “time is flying”. My experience was also about my work. Even though I arrived in the middle of the pandemic, I had the chance to be in one of the few projects where we were still working “off-line”.

I loved my experience working in SPEM. I was sad and nostalgic to leave this work where I was finally feeling part of the team and part of the project. “Finally”, because, of course, it takes time, especially with the language barriers but also just because it takes time to enter a team and to feel comfortable. I learned a lot with the team, but also with the beneficiaries and I’m truly grateful.

Maybe I’m not a volunteer anymore, but I think I will feel like being one for still a while. It was an amazing experience that changed me and pushed me to achieve personal goals and to grow in a way that I’m happy and proud with. I would recommend to anyway to do this kind of experience, and I will. I would also recommend Lisbon of course, which completely took my heart. I’m writing this lines seated in a café in Paris, I’m there to visit friends and family. But then, I will go back home.

O testemunho No. 2 da Leila (SPEM)

Today, the 6th of July 2021, it has been 36 weeks that I´m in Lisbon. 257 days, 6 168 hours.

And for all those tiny minutes, those hours, those 257 sunsets and sunrises, I'm thankful. I'm thankful to Lisbon that welcomed me in all its beauty. I´m thankful to my friends that I met here, who are now my portuguese family. I'm thankful for my work which helps me to figure out what I want in life and to focus on what matters to me. And I'm thankful to myself for the opportunity that I took by coming here.

Everyday has not been easy since January ; we had a lock-down and a hard winter. But I have to say that I can hardly remember the bad days. Their memories have been replaced by the good days. Even though the lock-down was tough, I feel that I came out of it even more motivated to do stuff, to travel, to go out, to live, to not miss another day. And I believe that I´m not the only one who reacted like this, because since the end of the lock-down our group of volunteers is even more strong and has the will to do and organize stuff. We explored Portugal, passing by Algarve for a work-away, Porto, Evora, Setubal, Alentejo, the region of Lisbon… Portugal is a beautiful country and I can't wait to continue the exploration, even if now it is again a little bit complicated. But it also forces me to discover the region of Lisbon that is already super beautiful and full of places to discover. 

Often at my work, they tell me “ You do love Portugal”, they are right. I needed this time away from France, from what I know, maybe to come back later, stronger and more aware of what I want. To express this, I want to share words that are not mine :

Mais les vrais voyageurs sont ceux-là seuls qui partent

Pour partir, coeurs légers, semblables aux ballons,

De leur fatalité jamais ils ne s’écartent,

Et sans savoir pourquoi, disent toujours : Allons !

L´appel du Large, Les fleurs du mal, Baudelaire

A traveler maybe, but a traveler who also works ! My work interests me a lot, it helps me to learn portuguese (since I have to speak it everyday there) and helps me to build my creativity by creating activities that could be beneficial to all the usuaries. Before arriving there, I was afraid to not be able to work with people with disabilities. I was afraid to not understand their needs, to not be there for them. And, of course it takes time to understand how they work, what they need and want. But everyday I learn something and I make progress. We do a lot of different activities ; manual work, games, exercises for the memory, physical exercises, cultural dynamics…

I help the animator to prepare and to lead the activities. I'm also starting to help them with the communication by creating some content for their social media, like videos and pictures. It is part of my personal project and I'm really happy to do it. I would like to film or take pictures of them where they find themselves pretty and touching, because they are !

O testemunho no. 1 da Leila (SPEM)

Olá! I’m Leïla, and I arrived in Lisboa at the end of October. 

I felt in love with the city on the first day, and I’m really happy to know that I am gonna live in this amazing city for a year. I love its atmosphere (before coming here, I was living in Paris and it’s so different !), I love being near the Atlantic Ocean, the miradouros, the little streets, the food, the blue sky, the sunset...

I’m a volunteer in SPEM, Sociedade Portuguesa de Sclerosis Múltipla, so basically I’m working with disabled people and my missions are to organize and lead activities with them during the day. I really like it, it is really interesting because I get to know new people, their story, but also their disease and how to work with it, how to help them on their daily life routine, and how to make them happy with activities that they would like. And also, really important, their language (which they are really happy to teach me, cause I wasn’t speaking a word of Portuguese before coming here). My motivation for the project was the fact that I will work with people and for them. And that is exactly what this association is about !

But the life as a volunteer isn’t just about work, it is also about meeting new people, making new friends and discover the city. I didn’t know that we were so many volunteers here in Lisbon, and it was a really good surprise when I discovered it. Even with the pandemic, we are still lucky enough to be able to see each other ! 

It’s been only two months, but I already feel like home !