O testemunho da Renata

Fear, expectation, happiness and many more emotions are what invaded my body when I received the email confirming that my life was going to change a lot. Before continuing, I will introduce myself. My name is Renata, I'm 22 years old and I live in Elche, a beautiful city in Spain.

2 months ago I arrived in Lisbon to do my EVS in Crescer a Cores. There, I am in the care of 8 small babies between 4 months to 1 year. To the ones that now I call "my babies." Lisbon has made me meet incredible people from the first moment, people that probably never would have known had it not been for an experience like this. Starting from the first day for the first person I met on arrival who went to pick me up at the airport and accompany me to my new home. Then he left me in my room and introduced me to my roommate. At that time I did not know that she would become a great support for me.

At the Spin’s welcome dinner I met the other volunteers who would start this adventure with me on the same project and also the people who work and make it possible for us to be here. And in this time, I've realized that all the people who are related in any way to the Spin association are wonderful. In EVS you also have a mentor, and in addition to having your own, the interaction with other mentors is great.

In my first weeks I met people of more nationalities than in my entire life. And I started to know my new city, but to know it thoroughly, "intense tourism" I call it, visiting hospitals and seeing another face of Lisbon. But taking all the situations with humour I tell everyone that if I am going to live a year here I have to know everything EVERYTHING. It was time to really get to know Lisbon and get into its streets, its people, its cultures, and I have personally entered into its food, what a wonder! And I tell you a secret ... in Lisbon the kilos you gain are not so many because there are so many stairs and hills so you lose everything ;)

Since I arrived on March 1, it was raining non-stop for a month, but now the sun that characterizes this city is appearing and I had to go to the On arrival Training at Viseu and learn a little more about Portugal. Hilarious activities, wonderful people of different nationalities volunteering in different places of Portugal and a beautiful city like Viseu have left a great memory forever and gave meaning to the word "saudade".

I thank my friend "El Sevi" for sharing the application for this project with me one day.

I am improving my English, learning Portuguese, discovering Lisbon every day, meeting incredible people but above all knowing myself.

O testemunho do Dario

"Hi Dario, In 3 days, everything changes! The selected volunteer will not be able to join us and you were on the top of the waiting list, so you are now selected to Join Viver Telheiras' EVS Project. Congratulations!". 

With these words my EVS started. It was February 15th when I received this mail from Spin Association. I was so overwhelmed with emotions, that it took me a couple of hours to realize I had only two weeks to organize the whole trip. I arrived in Lisbon on the 1st of March after the worst plane trip of my life due to bad weather. But as after every storm the good weather returns with sunshine (though this time it’s just inside me; 4 weeks of rain are waiting for me in Lisbon). Bad weather has marked the first weeks of my EVS, but I have to say that a few sunny days were enough to fall in love with this city. In a caption of a picture I posted on Instagram I compared Lisbon to a blooming ivy that climbs lightly on its seven hills. Lisbon is hot. Despite the rain it immediately speaks to you. Like all cities, it’s lively: it spies on you from the half-open windows, it greets you through the eyes of passersby, it invites you to get lost in every corner.

I started working two weeks after my arrival. Maybe it was better this way. In the two free weeks I had the opportunity to explore the city, settle in, meet many people outside and inside the association. At work I met my tutor, Luis. He is a 31-year-old who turned out to be more than just a business colleague. He introduced me to the local partners of Telheiras (the neighborhood where I work) and he presented me the projects that the association carries out and to which I could join. 

It's only been a month since my arrival, but I feel like I'm already part of a solid team. I like my job; the week is marked by administrative work in the office and practical activities such as the “refood project” (to avoid food waste inside the big supermarket chains) and the “plastic project” (to reduce pollution and to educate citizens about separate recycling). In the meantime, the preparations for the famous Telheiras festival have begun. It takes place from the 11th to the 19th of May, and it will be an honor to participate.

I know that this is only the beginning of my adventure, but I consider myself very fortunate to have chosen this EVS. For now, I would say that’s all, but I’m sure that many surprises and opportunities are waiting for me in this adventure.

Lost and Found - Szandra

You know about those boxes all over the world, which are full of lost goodies waiting for their loitering lazy-ass-owners to pick them up again? Yeah, those. Well I kind of felt like I’m in one of those boxes waiting aimlessly for some mythical phenomena to occur.

And it did.

Portugal not just grabbed me out of the box, but kicked that cardboard real hard, pushing me right into the hearth of Lisbon. And that intensely pumping heart can easily devour one who’s daring enough take an extra step forward and explore. 

My EVS began on the 1st of March. You hear a lot, that Portugal is a sunny, and hot country. Well, it was rainy as hell in my first month, but the Sun was there… Behind the smiles of people, behind the windows of the old, living houses of narrow streets. Sunshine escaping from all over, directly to YOUR hearth. 

It is beautiful.

And enormous joy. There is life in every single small corner. You can have as much fun as you want, and even more, in amounts you would have never expected.  Meeting new people from all over the world and getting to know their brimming own individual universes, and ways of perspective is the most priceless thing. You hear the expression cultural diversity a lot. But here you understand it, and get immersed in it, with a never ceasing eagerness to delve into it even more and more. 

You will be immensely conscious about so many things, you might not even have heard about before. Because among all this fun, and beauty there is also purpose. You will learn, you will develop, you will teach and you will help, while being helped. This what EVS is about. 

For me. 

O testemunho da Ana

Looking back at the beginning of my EVS, it seems like it was a lifetime ago instead of just a year. It’s almost hard to recall the feelings of confusion, awe and curiosity that were so overwhelming during my first months in Lisbon. Everything that was new and surprising at the beginning, became more familiar and comfortable over time. The process of making a second home happened so gradually that I almost didn’t feel it - I just woke up one day realising that I’ve got some new routines, new rituals, ways to work around the little things that frustrated me at first. People and places that I didn’t know sneaked their way around and became close and familial.

During my 9 months at Associação Spin I did plenty of things, most of them that I never even imagined doing - cooking for a group of 30 people, baking Croatian pastries for 5 hours straight, organising a workshop during a youth exchange, being a tour guide, meeting people from 17 different countries in one day, speaking in Portuguese in front of a room full of people after only a couple of months learning it… The variety of activities and freedom to experiment and propose my own ideas felt great; it is something that doesn’t happen often in more formal work settings but it was a great chance to reevaluate my strengths and weaknesses as well as to learn a lot of new skills and try them out without the fear of failure. It reminded me what work should be like, what it looks like to have a healthy balance between personal life and time spent at the office and made me strive for that even after the end of the project.

But other than having the opportunity to try all these new things and learn in a practical way, I would say that EVS is before everything a big personal journey - it is a very intense and emotional experience and I often commented with other volunteers that we feel like we’ve lived a couple of years in only a few months in Lisbon! The amount of things we did, the places we went to, the amount of new friends that we made is amazing. I can’t even count the number of new people I met here, and some of them will remain close long after our EVS is over. Being EVS volunteers, all of us were very aware that we are here for a limited amount of time so we tried to make best of it and use every moment. Of course, not everything was perfect and there were hard moments, moments of loneliness, moments when we were saying goodbye to others whose journey in Portugal came to an end, but it was worth it compared to all the beautiful experiences that we gained in return.

Reflecting on those moments and feelings from the whole last year brings back maybe the most important thing I took from the whole experience - a reminder of the childlike state of mind where everything is new and full of possibilities, but on the other hand you feel completely lost and have to learn everything from the beginning. Communicating, getting around, going to the supermarket, figuring out the bus schedule… everything that I used to do on autopilot required an insane amount of energy, preparation and focus and caused a lot of frustration. Nothing made sense but at the same time everything did - because once I conquered the practicalities, there was a whole new world to explore and get to know, just like if I were a child seeing the world for the first time.

O testemunho da Nives

Olá! Sou a Nives e já é o septimo mês que estou aqui em Lisboa. Quer dizer que já ultrapassai a metade do meu projeto SVE. Algumas coisas mudaram desde que escrivei o meu primeiro testemunho. Em primeiro lugar, mudai de casa. Tive sorte de encontrar um quarto na casa do meu mentor. Vivo agora com ele e uma outra voluntaria de SPIN, a Elisabetta. Antes vivia lá também um rapaz brasileiro que me ajudou muito com o português (obrigada!). Durante o tempo passado juntos, construímos uma tradição em casa que é partilhar um jantar pelo menos cada mês, trocando cada vez de cozinheiro.

No meu trabalho estou contente em ter desenvolvido alguns pequenos projetos pessoais. Um é um tandem linguístico de português e italiano com um rapaz paraplégico de Cabo Verde. O outro é uma espécie de suporte psicológico a uma rapariga com paralisia cerebral. 


Esta última é uma coisa em que aposto muito, pois me permite de me reunir com a minha formação e de desenvolver novas competências na minha área profissional. Fez-me redescobrir o amor para a prática clinica, o que é muito engraçado, pois era a coisa que tentava fugir ao momento em que decidi de vir cá. Agora sinto de ter uma nova e mais forte motivação para prosseguir no meu caminho. Colaboro, também, com algumas atividades da Associação, como o projeto do Livro dos 15 anos para celebrar o 15º aniversário da Associação. Estou também envolvida na Ação Qualidade de Vida, um projeto que atribui apoios a pessoas com deficiência motora, que encheu completamente os últimos três meses e que me permitiu conhecer histórias de vida de pessoas que dificilmente encontramos na vida diária.

Só faltam 5/6 meses ao fim da minha experiencia aqui, as vezes parecem muitos, as vezes muitos poucos, e ainda falta muito para descobrir! Já fui aos Açores e fiquei apaixonada, queria ficar lá a vida toda, nunca tive em termas naturais deste género, nem vi paisagens assim, a gente simples e disponível. Já recebi alguns dos meus melhores amigos aqui e passear por Lisboa junto com eles foi uma outra coisa. Vou tentar aproveitar ao máximo dos próximos meses para descobrir ainda este País lindo e fazer quantas mais experiencias. Viva Lisboa :)

O testemunho da Romea

Ola I’m Romea from Croatia. I arrived in this wonderful city 1. March 2018 to start my EVS journey. It has been only a month, many things happened already, and I cannot wait for more. The first thing after the airport was going to my new apartment and I was amazed with the view from my room facing Neptune on Largo de D. Estefânia.

The day I arrived, it was raining in Lisbon, and it didn’t stop the whole month which is the only thing I would change because I miss the sun and warmer weather, but the summer is at the door so beach days will be here soon.

First day in Spin was lovely, all the other new volunteers and me were welcomed and surprised with lunch and it was delicious. After that Ines told us everything about Spins work and we got to know Spin and the hostel better. First official day at work was full of cooking throughout all the week because we had to prepare everything for Spin’s 10. Birthday party. We prepared many delicious meals and the party was full of good food, nice people and great atmosphere. 

Furthermore, all the days after at the office continued to be the same, full of good food, nice people and great atmosphere. I am enjoying every second since I arrived and all the things Lisbon has to offer, new interesting people, food, music, art…and looking forward to see and experience much more and explore all the wonders and adventures Portugal has. Except for that, I hope also to get to know people around me better, the language, but also to get to know myself better.

O testemunho do José

“Quem não viu Lisboa, não viu coisa boa”, diz um postal que está na parede da cozinha da minha casa. Certamente, o provérbio faz justiça a uma cidade pela qual ficarei ligado para sempre. 

A minha aventura na margem do rio Tejo está na reta final. Ainda que parece que escrevi ontem o meu primeiro testemunho. Talvez, ainda possa cair nas minhas mãos un livro usado pelos anos, mágico, doado por um vizinho idoso de Carnide, com um feitiço para parar os ponteiros dos relógios, e assim prolongar um pouco mais o meu voluntariado... Mas, mesmo que tenha saído de Espanha de comboio, não estou a fazer um estágio em Hogwarts... 

Na minha organização de acolhida, a Boutique da Cultura, há gente extraordinária. Cada pessoa contribui com a sua criatividade e disponibilidade para dinamizar o seu bairro.

Desde o mês de Janeiro, o ritmo de trabalho foi muito intenso para que o projeto da Livraria Solidária de Carnide fosse uma realidade duradoura e ao serviço da comunidade. Definitivamente, um novo polo de cultura e de integração comunitária.

Nós, os voluntários europeus sentimo-nos parte de uma grande equipa, com responsabilidades e com apoio para propor e desenvolver projetos próprios. É um ambiente idôneo para crescermos como pessoas, aprender, criar, assim como refletir sobre o que queremos fazer no futuro.

Entre sacos e sacos de livros, há tempo para desfrutar da cidade, assim como para conhecer gente de tudo o mundo. Mas o mais importante são as pessoas com quem convivo dia-a-dia e acompanham-me. Raparigas e rapazes que estou a estimar muito... Voluntários como a Natália, o Jacopo, a Nadia, o Sebastian... Além de outras boas pessoas que não cito pois seria uma longa lista. 

Por último, receber amigos da minha cidade, Elche, foi uma alegria. No mês de Fevereiro, gostei de mostrar Lisboa ao meu melhor amigo, quem ficou maravilhado com a cidade. E desde Março, tenho como vizinha a Renata, que chegou como voluntária.

José Carlos.