O testemunho final da Elisa (Crescer a Cores)

 E como todas as boas experiências, já cheguei ao fim sem sequer me aperceber disso.

O tempo passou muito rapidamente e devo infelizmente aceitar que esta experiência também chegou ao fim. Admito que se tivesse tido a oportunidade, teria adiado a minha partida por alguns meses. Mas o tempo passa e as coisas mudam, e as mudanças têm de ser aceites porque na maioria das vezes vêm das nossas escolhas e acções. Assim, aqui estou eu, no final deste ano, tendo tomado a minha decisão de regressar a Itália para continuar os meus estudos universitários, puramente relacionados com o trabalho que estava a fazer no Crescer in Cores.

Esta experiência estimulou-me em várias frentes, incluindo o facto de que gostaria de continuar os meus estudos no campo da educação, para melhorar a minha formação e o que posso oferecer nestes contextos de trabalho. Trabalhar numa creche durante o período da Covid não foi fácil. Trata-se de um trabalho de contacto, relações e experiências, que infelizmente foram reduzidas este ano. Isto levou-me a fazer o trabalho de uma forma mais fria e mecânica, especialmente no primeiro período da relação com os colegas. Esta relação mudou felizmente no último período, quando havia mais conhecimento e respeito mútuo. O fruto desta estima foi a liberdade que Noemi, o gerente do Crescer a Cores, me deu para fazer uma intervenção artística numa parede da estrutura onde se encontra a creche. Partindo do seu desejo de reproduzir uma obra de Kandinsky, decidimos reelaborá-la para a diferenciar e adaptá-la à superfície escolhida.

Por isso, fiz um projeto, que me agradou, e depois passei a pô-lo em prática na parede. Não foi fácil de fazer em tão grande escala, mas graças à confiança de Noemi, tive a confiança para o terminar sem medo de cometer erros. Todo o esforço e empenho que pus este ano foi bem recompensado no último dia, quando todos os meus colegas e as crianças do jardim de infância se aproximaram de mim para tirar uma foto de grupo para um último adeus. As lágrimas eram inevitáveis, e foi sempre com lágrimas nos olhos que me despedi de Lisboa e de algumas pessoas maravilhosas, que mal pude deixar, excepto com a promessa de nos voltarmos a ver em breve.

O testemunho No. 1 da Kristina (SPIN)

 

Hey everyone,




I came from Ukraine 3 weeks ago, and now I’m enjoying Lisbon. First of all, it’s very nice to run away from cold weather and explore the city and a new life under the shining sun. But as it’s not my first time here, I stay more at home working on my project. Or maybe I am just that type of indoor person, because last time I also didn’t explore much, hoping that I’d have more time in Summer, but COVID started, and I had to leave. *So, friendly advice, try to see as much as you can on the first days! 

Preparations to come here took really much time. I’ve waited for my contract for more than a month, and I was afraid that it wouldn’t happen. But everything went out perfectly, and I’m here, without a visa, but it’s also in the process now, so let’s hope.

As well, I was afraid of living with another person in the same room, but she moved the next day I came And now I’m living alone and going to switch houses because I find a better one.
But let’s forget about non-pleasant and unstable stuff and move to good ones.  

People here are amazing!!! All volunteers I’ve met are so friendly and always ready to help in whatever situations. I even meet my "Estonian cousin" Teele, who lives in the next apartment and appeared to have relatives in Ukraine. Every week we have at least one social event to get together to discuss our lives and just have fun. My project coordinators as well do their best job explaining our tasks, trying to help us achieve our goals, and just being our psychologist at some points And as I moved to Portugal for these 9 months let’s talk more about my perception of people, their mindset, infrastructure, and all differences. 

Firstly, I still can’t get used to two kisses every time you meet someone. I do like it, but just it’s so unusual for me. The thing that I like the most here is cutie pink houses, as it is my fav color I’m always super excited when I see them and here I see them a lot, so they help me be positive all the time. But the thing that I hate about houses here is that they don’t have a central heating system here and despite great weather outside it’s freaking cold inside And I think that’s all for my first testimony, that was my most powerful impression of these days.

See you soon, kisses!

O testemunho final da Clara (SPEAK)

 “Tu nunca seria quem és hoje se nao tivesses passado pelo que passaste”.

There are many things that this ESC year taught me, and this is one of them: “You would never be who you are today if you had not gone through what you went through”.

Tomorrow I will celebrate my first year in Portugal and I will start a new chapter of my life. 

This year has been ‘intense’. There are many adjectives and nouns I could use to describe it but I believe that one of the words I would first use is “grateful”. I am grateful for what I have been living, for the possibility I was given, for the new experiences, for the new “family” and for much more. I am also grateful because I learned how to be grateful for every single day I lived here. 

Looking back I see a year full of new adventures.

Thanks to the ESC project I met so many people. Lisbon is a lively city and getting new friends is definitely not a “big deal”, but finding a “family” was surprising. Co-living with other volunteers was the key to getting to know people that I know will be part of my life forever. 

Meeting new volunteers from SPIN and from other organizations and understanding how similar and how much we share even if we are from different countries, that was incredible! I shared many good moments with all of them and I will bring all those memories with me.

SPEAK has played an important role in my life here. SPEAK has not only been my hosting organization, it was and it is a family to me. I learned a lot and developed new skills, but most of all I grew a lot. After all these months working for them, I am really motivated to keep having SPEAK in my life. I believe this project should spread more around the globe and that more people could access it. Also, I learned what it means to work for a social business and now more than ever I believe that I would like to spend many more years of my life dedicating time to projects like this one. 

Summing up, Portugal gave me a lot. I discovered a lot about myself. I had the possibility to start over and to make this place my new home. Every experience I had left me something I will never forget. I simply fell in love with this city. I love it so much that I decided to stay here. Portugal 2.0 is coming and I am looking forward to it! 

As they would say here: Boa sorte Clarinha! 

O testemunho final da Melissa (JFC - Culture)

 SPIN – last testimony.

For the past few weeks and days, I have been stubbornly postponing writing this last testimony of mine. I did not want to write it because that would mean that I would have to admit to myself, that my time as a volunteer is coming to an end. A lot has been happening, and if I would need to summarise everything, the first word that comes to my mind is „home“. I still feel a bit overwhelmed trying to put a full stop behind this experience and wrapping it all up. I would not know where to begin and where to stop but let’s try! 

During the past months and weeks, covid restrictions have been mostly lifted, and not only has the library become more alive but also our nights on the still-warm streets of Lisbon. For me, it was amazing to finally welcome children into the library and to see my colleagues cheer for me because they were super happy for me too. We also went on a walking tour through the Bairro with school kids, walking past all the amazing street art and graffiti of our beloved neighbourhood. On the last working day, I went to have a shared dinner with my colleagues, who definitely have become more than just colleagues. I am super happy about their support, because all they ever wanted, was for me to have a good time. I remember, that when I was a bit sick, they brought soup for me.

I am happy to say that, even though I finished work, I still have some days left in this most beautiful city. I will spend them with all of my friends, fresh Superbock, and vegan pastel de nata. Looking back at the past year, makes me feel grateful beyond expression. I am grateful for all the people I have met, especially for those, that I will take with me in my heart. I am grateful for the miradouros, for the food and the drinks. I am grateful for an experience, that changed me for the better, that made me consider different perspectives and learn more about myself by learning about others. 

I will carry the Spin spirit with me wherever I go and I will for sure never forget about the warm-hearted people, which I will without a doubt, come to visit soon.

O testemunho final do Mikk (SPEAK)

 Everything has to end at some point. Including this voluntary service from February-September 2021. It has been nice 8 months here and
I would like to return at some point, but this would be mostly because of the friends. At this moment, I have many more places that I would like to visit before I come back to Portugal.

A big big respect for all the organizations and my friends, tutors, and mentor. Without these people, the experience would not have been amazing, but in the end, what matters in life is the people. This is something that you can’t buy or measure in money, these people are giving you memories, experiences, and much more.

Also, the party scene in Lisbon is something that I have fallen in love with. People playing guitar on the miradouros (aka viewpoints) while you are enjoying a refreshing drink, is amazing. They are having a chill vibe and everyone is really calm and enjoying a good time. Also, I love the way that people are organizing common events like dinners together and everyone brings their national food. It is really nice and tasty.

Sightseeing has been really great too. I started my experience by just watching the architecture and layout of the houses, but now I have realized that there is more than that. There are numerous places to visit like Belem, Oriente, Telheiras, Entrecampos, Sintra, Palmela, Viana do Castelo and much more coming on my last trip before I leave.

I can’t lie – I have had thoughts of my future elsewhere for the past 2 months now. The First 6 months were good here and all you can do is to enjoy what Portugal has to offer, but now I am thinking of a way to return home and maybe even look further to Taiwan, Asia that is completely on the other side of the world. At some point, I got even a job offer here in Portugal for my logistics specialty. It looked really interesting until I heard about the salary. And the salary was lower than the Estonian average salary at the same post by a big margin. Therefore I realized that it is very difficult to build the future here especially when the rent costs for 1 room are that high. In Estonia one apartment costs the same amount and that is also a big big difference.

The food is one thing that has also made me homesick: can’t wait until I can eat sült, good chips, and sashlik again. Also, there are nice drinks like kvass and beer there. I am not missing my family yet, but I do miss my cute cat. My family will visit me on the last days here anyways and then we will all go back to Estonia together.

O testemunho No. 1 da Teele (SPIN)

 Olá! 

Today is my 10th day in Lisbon. I’m still in the process of settling in, but everything has been going well so far. All the other volunteers I’ve met have all been super nice and I’m already quite sure the next nine months are going to be amazing.

Actually, I applied to this project later than the deadline, but fortunately, the process of choosing volunteers was still ongoing. I had an interview with Giulia and after some days I got a letter saying I was picked and had to be in Lisbon on October 1st, which gave me exactly three weeks to prepare. The preparations went surprisingly stress-free. I had been 110% mentally ready to go anyway, so no goodbye tears were shed, no second thoughts had, because there was only room for excitement.

On the day of arrival, another SPIN volunteer Victorien picked me up from the airport. I chose to go to my new apartment by public transport. Not so wise decision after all, since my luggage weighed 22 kg and there were numerous stairs on the way, but Victorien kindly helped me carry the luggage up and down. My apartment is situated on top of a hill and the “final boss” was the staircase in front of my apartment. I call it The Stairs From Hell and I still struggle to go up the 77 steps daily.

The apartment itself is very Portuguese, it is old but has its charm. For the first time in my life, my room has a balcony and a double bed and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Currently, I have 3 flatmates (2 recently moved out), a fellow volunteer from Spain, a guy from Brazil, and a guy from Spain. I did have some uncertainties about how a girl from northern Europe would fit in with a bunch of southern folks, but so far it has been really chill. I especially love how there is a lot of music and singing in this apartment.

So what have I been up to these past 10 days? Well, just getting familiar with my

neighborhood and its shops, learning how to get around on foot and using public transport. I’ve also gone to a few bars with other volunteers, had a walk on the promenade along the river, took a train to the Cascais beach, drank a beer at a scenic viewpoint, and wandered around the steep and narrow streets of Alfama. Some days ago I started self-studying Portuguese, but I’m still confused about the pronunciation, especially the nasal sounds.

A few days ago, I, another volunteer from Estonia, and my flatmate from Spain had our Welcome Day at SPIN’s office, which included a lot of practical information, a delicious three-course lunch (what? wow!), a game around the lovely Bairro Padre Cruz neighborhood, and talking about our goals, fears, etc. Giulia has been the nicest tutor ever, so I feel like I am in good hands. 

Overall I really like the diversity and abundant culture here in Lisbon. It seems very colorful and international, full of cool young people. Kind of makes you feel that you can also be

whoever/however you want to be. I’ve been told that it’s easy to get to know new people here, so that is certainly one of the many things I’m looking forward to. 

O testemunho No. 1 da Annamaria (SPIN)

I’ve been in Lisbon for 13 days and it has been wonderful.

  When I arrived in Lisbon and was in the taxi I was nervous because I was gonna meet my new flatmates and didn’t know what to expect but when I arrived at the apartment and saw a sign at the door that said ‘’Welcome Annamaria’’ and balloons on the balcony, I knew that we are gonna get along just fine. Everyone in my apartment is so nice, the first thing we did was a little tea party to get to know each other.

These past few days I have been exploring the city and meeting new people. I have to say that the architecture is so different from Estonia, especially for me because I'm from a small town where about 1050 people live and now living in a BIG city is a whole new experience.  One of the things I have noticed is that in Estonia we don't have these little balconies and tiles for our walls. Sidewalks are made of small square rocks, in Estonia, the sidewalks are made of asphalt. The biggest culture shock that I had was on the first day when I learned that people smoke inside. In Estonia, it’s prohibited to smoke inside if it isn’t a smoking room in clubs or bars. Here in Portugal there are so many mountains but in Estonia, we have small hills and one ‘’big’’ mountain, that isn’t really a mountain, it is called Suur Munamägi. So walking around the city was already pretty hard because of the hills. On my second day when I was walking around and saw what type of a hill I had to walk up to, my first thought was that I’m gonna get super strong legs thanks to Lisbon. 

Also, the people I have met are so friendly. Like the other day, some people came to our flat and we all just talked about how life was going and how life is in everyone's countries.

  On the 6th of October, I had my first meeting at the Spins office where I, Teele, and Amundelia were. We got so much information about our organization and what we need to do and talked about our expectations, fears, and how to get over them. We had this amazing lunch that other volunteers had made for us. We ate tomato soup with mozzarella, rice with vegetables and ice cream. After lunch, we had to walk around this beautiful neighborhood a bit to answer some questions and take pictures on an app. One of the questions led us to a viewpoint that was breathtaking.