O testemunho no. 2 da Melissa (JFC - Culture)

Oh how time flies… after almost seven months I cannot even start to describe the great memories I have made. 

Even though the library is still only functioning on a basic level due to the pandemic, my bond with my colleagues has nevertheless gotten so much closer and I still enjoy walking through the door every day! 

On 25 de abril, the national holiday the Junta de Freguesia Carnide organises a concert on wheels and together with a band, my coworkers and a police escort, we drove through the streets of Carnide at night to celebrate the anniversary of the liberation from the dictatorship. I really liked that in this night, I could not only connect more to my coworkers, but also to Portugal’s traditions and history. I already experienced the 25th de abril celebrations in Erasmus, but this was definitely a special moment for me.

The lockdown in January, February and March was hard for all of us I think but it only meant that afterwards, we enjoyed our time outside and together even more. I really feel that together with the other volunteers, we have grown to be a little family, doing trips together, sharing a beer at night and always welcoming new volunteer faces once in a while!

For me, it was also super nice, to see Lisbon nightlife coming back to life! Although we all still need to be careful, it is awesome to rediscover life music in intendente area or meet other international students in Erasmus corner.

A few of my favorite memories are for sure my first surfing lesson in Carcavelos (finally a true Portuguese!) and also our trips to Setúbal or Sintra. I love to see the endless beaches of Portugal and just as much, the beautiful gardens of Sintra. Because the time we spent together is always so full of special moments, I feel like I already made some friends, that will stick with me beyond the time of this volunteering and I am not the only one thinking about staying in Lisbon even longer.

Life does absolutely not get boring here, but only better and better. I am looking forward more than ever to the upcoming summer months, to an already planned trip to Porto and to a lot more afternoons at the beach. Chin chin to volunteering in Lisbon!

O testemunho No. 1 da Julia (SPIN)

Hello, my name is Julia, I’m from Poland, and I arrived on the 1st of May to volunteer at Spin Association.

For me coming here is a very unique experience because I have never lived abroad before, and I have wanted to do it since forever. For this project, I was recruited by a sending organization from Poland. They got to me at the time I was already applying for different projects. I decided to join the project in Lisbon after an online interview with Giulia which I really enjoyed. After a month of taking care of formalities, packing, and saying goodbyes I was finally here.

When I arrived I got very happy and excited but also quite overwhelmed. Considering I didn’t go outside my home country in over a year (covid), that was understandable. Luckily the feeling passed once I met Elisa, one of the volunteers working for the Spin office. She properly took care of me during my first day, showed me around a city, and helped me with some formalities. Afterward, I just felt very warm and safe.

One of the things that filled me with excitement was that the Coronavirus situation is more under control than in Poland and that Portugal will be gone out of the lockdown once I arrive. The first week I tried to make the best use out of It, and as a result, at the beginning of my second week here, I felt a bit burned out and tired since I didn’t go out and socialize that much before coming here.

Once I adjusted more and have learned how to keep exploration and proper rest in balance, what was left for me to relax and enjoy myself. And I think I ended up in just the perfect city for that.

It’s my first time in Lisbon so to be honest I didn’t have any expectations. Well, I was sure that Lisbon is a beautiful city because everyone that visits says so, but I truly got taken by surprise by its diversity (speaking both architecture and culture). It turns out it’s very full of sun, art, music, breathtaking views, and warm, open people.

Anytime you get a bit tired of being in the city, in just 30 minutes you can end up at one of the pretty beaches surrounding Lisbon or one of the charming smaller cities close by f.e. Sintra which is like a fairy tale city full of castles heels and green.

I’m really happy to know that I am going to live in this amazing city for a year, doing amazing things and connecting with beautiful people. 

O testemunho No. 2 da Lucia (Viver Telheiras)

Here we are! As six months have passed since my arrival in Portugal I’m stopping for a moment to evaluate this first half of my volunteering project.

The beginning of my stay in Lisbon was awesome, I was exploring the city, getting to know
the other volunteers and having meetings with my tutor and other people from my hosting organisation. 

However, from January Portugal was again on lockdown and, as a consequence, I had to stop or suspend my activities for a bit. It took me some time to organise my routine in lockdown, but having experience that a year ago helped me a lot and taught me how to plan my day not to waste my time while I had to stay at home. The bright side of the lockdown was that I could spend some time studying a little bit Portuguese and sharing moments with my flatmates. 

Luckily, the covid situation has improved a lot recently and the restrictions have started to be gradually loosened, so I could explore a little bit of Portugal. More specifically, I spent some time in Algarve, in southern Portugal, to take part in a workaway project with some fellow volunteers and friends from Lisbon. In the mornings we had to do some manual work to renovate a house in the countryside, while in the afternoon and in the night we had some free time to chill and visit the surroundings. It was a great experience because we could take a break from the routine in the city, spend time at the open air and socialise with the other volunteers. Besides that, I’ve also had the opportunity to discover new places along the coast and visit some cities, such as Sintra, Óbidos, Coimbra and Aveiro. 

During the lockdown all my meetings and activities with my hosting organisation were online. Luckily, as soon as the rules allowed it, I started again having meetings in presence with my tutor and some people collaborating with my host association. Meeting people and doing activities offline is much more motivating and I can’t wait to see the events on which we have been working taking place. More specifically, we are working on some projects to promote biodiversity and we are organising some workshops for the local schools. Seeing these initiatives finally taking shape has been rewarding and I’m excited to see what is coming next.

Até à próxima, bjs,

Lucia 

O testemunho No. 1 da Ana (Crescer)

Olá! Sou Ana, de Espanha, a meu português é bastante medíocre mas vou tentar transmitir e resumir o que este mês e meio em Lisboa, como voluntária europeia, significou para mim.

Sem dúvida, está a ser uma das melhores experiências da minha vida. Depois de terminar o meu diploma universitário, após seis longos anos de estudos, não sabia realmente como abordar a minha carreira futura. Além disso, a pandemia de Covid não estava a ajudar-me a esclarecer a minha incerteza. Decidi candidatar-me ao voluntariado europeu porque um amigo me tinha recomendado e o país que mais me atraiu foi Portugal. Tinha visitado três vezes diferentes cidades (Lisboa, Porto, Évora) e desde o primeiro minuto que adorei.

O destino já era claro para mim, mas eu queria que a actividade de voluntariado fosse enriquecedora, que me fizesse sentir útil e uma parte activa da sociedade. Actualmente trabalho com pessoas em situações de rua na associação Crescer, fazendo intervenção e acompanhamento social. O objectivo final é que todos tenham um lar, uma casa, como primeiro requisito fundamental para alcançar uma vida digna. 

No início tive bastante medo de não poder estar à altura, pois nunca tinha feito este tipo de actividade antes. Contudo, estou a tornar-me cada vez mais fluente e estou bastante satisfeita com a experiência. O trabalho de rua é muito dinâmico e gosto muito dele, embora também tenha um lado mais burocrático - com o qual eu não contava e que é bastante pesado.

Por outro lado, estou a conhecer grandes pessoas, sobretudo espanholas e italianas, por isso não estou a praticar tanto português como gostaria. Durante o mês de Abril partilhei um quarto com Isa, uma voluntária espanhola que não conhecia e que por acaso estudou na minha universidade. Nunca tinha partilhado um quarto com ela antes, mas foi maravilhoso! Este mês ela mudou-se para outra casa mais próxima do seu trabalho e eu sinto muito a sua falta (tenho saudade!). Tornei-me também super amiga de outra voluntária italiana, Emma, que é uma artista e fala espanhol perfeito e que, mais uma vez, outra incrível coincidência: ela é uma amiga íntima de uma colega de turma universitária minha. O mundo é um mundo pequeño!

O testemunho No. 1 do Albert (Junta de Freguesia do Lumiar)

My name is Albert Liñán, I am Spanish and I am a volunteer at CAF Sao Vicente. I arrived in Lisbon on the 1st of April. 

Since I arrived everything has been great: the city, the house, the volunteers, SPIN and CAF Sao Vicente. Where I live we are all ESC volunteers, 6 of us from 5 different nationalities: Spain, France, Italy, Georgia and Estonia. At home we communicate in a mixture of English and Portuguese. I have already met almost all the SPIN volunteers and I have been pleasantly surprised to realise that we have a similar way of thinking and many hobbies in common.

Lisbon and its surroundings are amazing, lots of green places, culture and people from all over the world. It is a city with a lot of possibilities and that motivates me a lot. In addition,I like surfing very much and I am lucky that Lisbon has the best waves in Europe.

I am delighted with volunteering. I participate in extracurricular activities in a primary school. These activities range from helping with homework to playing sports. I have to admit that I feel like a child there and I don't see it as a job. Working directly with portuguese speakers is helping me a lot to learn portuguese.

That is all I have to say for now. I hope that everything goes as well for all the volunteering.

O testemunho No. 2 da Perrine (Crescer a Cores)

Here's Perrine. Here we go, almost 6 months later.

First of I have to say I fell in love with this beautiful city and I am very grateful for this amazing experience. The last months for sure have been challenging but also rewarding in some points and although it wasn't always easy I never stopped enjoying my time here and keeping a positive attitude facing this situation.

So what happened in these last months ? Since portugal was in a strict lockdown for three months and everything including schools were closed I unfortunatly could't work all this time. But with my flatmates we tried to make the best out of it and shared a lot of time together and enjoyed for ex. long walks trough the city, cooking or working out together.

Back to work.
To be honest first I was not that trhilled to go back to work after this long break but in the end it was nice to see the kids again and get back to a routined day. The babies I work with are 1 to 2 years old so after 3 months not seeing them, I could definetely see some physical growth and development progress for most of them.

After working some weeks of working finally we got to de desconfinamento here in Portugal ! Says that shops, cafés, restaurants etc. were finally reopening again and that you can socialise and enjoy this beautiful city and its surroundings with its beautfiul people. I especially enjoy my time here right now since I am able to do stuff outside again and can discover the city all over again and also its surroundings with the lovely people I met here !

Altough we still live in the middle of a pandemic and experience our ESC stay here in a different way than others.We certainly still make the best out of it and try to enjoy it at its fullest. I am really looking forward for the coming months !

Até logo ! Beijinhos:)

O testemunho No. 1 da Mari (SPIN)

Hey, my name is Mari and I come from Georgia. 

Well, I looked for new opportunities in countries where the weather was warm, and a Spin vacancy appeared. I was excited and quickly signed up! I had an amazing interview with Giulia later.

When I came here, I did not have much information about Portugal, my friends just said, oh, I love this country, you should visit. So here I am already in love with the country and the amazing weather! I am excited to complete projects with like-minded folks, develop myself, travel and meet new interesting people, share knowledge and make the most out of this pandemic situation.