O testemunho final da Emma (Associação Salvador)

During these months in the European Solidarity Corps, I learned a lot. Lisbon was a city that cradled me, made me believe in my dreams and made me love it. Someone told me that Lisbon is special: it is a little bit mother and a little bit lover. I thought that this is really how it is.

Being part of the European Solidarity Corps is a very complex experience. It means living in a different city, getting to know many volunteers from all over the world, getting involved in your chosen project.
I spent these months with the Salvador Association, in the areas of accessibility and finding donors for the association. Our main mission was the social inclusion of tetraplegic and praplegic people.

Unfortunately, during these months I did not have much personal contact with friends and workers of the association, because the covid and the needs of the association at this time did not allow it. In my case it was perhaps a somewhat limited experience, but I certainly learned a lot. As I was saying, being part of the European solidarity corps is a complex experience and goes beyond the chosen project: in my case, getting to know many volunteers and supporting each other was fundamental.
It made me feel part of a wonderful and supported community, made me believe in my dreams and definitely become a more adult person and citizen of the world. I will never forget all the wonderful moments I spent in Lisbon with the other Spin volunteers, the mutual support we gave each other, the advice, the strength.

Unfortunately, I had to end my project early for health reasons, deciding to return to Italy where I would have had an operation with a rather long and unforeseen waiting time.

I hope I have left my mark in the hearts of all the people I have met and shared with, as they have done with me!

O testemunho No. 2 da Chiara (SPEA)

I haven’t understood yet if life in Lisbon is quite and calm or fast and chaotic.

Sometimes it seems relaxed, like its inhabitants drinking “cerveja” and eating “tremoços” outside the bar “sem pressa”. Sometimes it seems slow, like a walking trail, with a tent and a backpack, trying to discover the rural internal part of Portugal passing through fields of wheat with the color of the sun and orchards that smell of tradition and love for their land.

Sometimes it seems lazy, like the long home working days, making this "teletrabalho" now, a way of life, without knowing the faces of all your colleagues, but that despite everything, at the end of the day, makes you say, "I like what I do". Sometimes it seems calm, like a road trip with your great friends, trying to discover non-touristic places, through local tips and map, searches that make me continue to amaze the incredible and authentic beauty of this country. Sometimes it seems infinity, like the long hours waiting for the birds passing, looking into a telescope, until you observe ... the imperial eagle!!

Sometimes, instead, it seems chaotic, like a workshop with about 20 9 year-old jumping and running around you, while you try to explain them the diet of birds. But, in spite of everything, that colorful and noisy mess, fills you so deeply inside that they make you think that this is the right path for you. It seems frenetic, despite the Covid, all the nights are filled with smiles, dinners, friends, wine and dances, that bring you to say "tomorrow night I'll stay at home to rest" and then you never do that. Sometimes it seems too full and with too little time in a single day to manage friends, distant family, volunteering, interests and work.  Sometimes it seems to run, with the project towards the end and still a world of things to do and faces to meet.

Well, whether it's a slow life or a hurry, this is my life in Lisbon, and always, despite everything, I am and will always be very grateful for it.

O testemunho final da Ana (Crescer)

Infelizmente, tive que terminar o voluntariado mais cedo e só consegui cumprir a metade do tempo planejado porque tinha um emprego em Madrid. Estou muito triste por ter que me despedir de todos os amigos que fiz aqui. Sem dúvida, tem sido uma experiência maravilhosa e me sinto incrivelmente sortuda por ter podido ir para outro país, conhecer novas pessoas, aprender uma bela língua e desenvolver habilidades no campo da intervenção social. Tudo isso no meio de uma pandemia.

Fiquei muito feliz por estar aqui e voltarei em segurança, Lisboa é uma cidade linda, nostálgica, um pouco decadente mas muito divertida. Dos miradouros às pontes, passando pelas ruas de paralelepípedos, pelas sete colinas, pelo rio que parece o mar, pelos espetaculares pores do sol e pelos seus azulejos característicos, onde cada edifício pode ser uma obra de arte em si ... é mágico . Claro, muito pouco acessível para pessoas com mobilidade reduzida. 

Gostaria de recomendar esta experiência a todo jovem que não passa muito tempo entre os estudos e a inserção no mundo do trabalho. Permite que você reflita e tome o seu tempo para a próxima aventura ou passo futuro que você duvida, há muitas pessoas que estão na mesma situação que você e isso lhe dá paz de espírito. Além disso, um ambiente tão jovem e dinâmico abre sua mente e você encontra espaço para acreditar nas suas ideias e se motivar para realizá-las.

O testemunho No. 2 da Cristina (SPEA)

Hi again! 

Summer has arrived and, with it, being aware that half of my ESC Project has already passed...That is why I am here again, to write my “Mid Term Testimony” and update you a bit on how things are going!

I can only begin being thankful for having had this great opportunity. And, although the year wasn’t started very well due to the new measures implemented because of the increase in COVID cases in Portugal, it was also possible to take advantage of those days at home cultivating myself in other personal aspects. 

Then, with the beginning of the spring and the end of the lockdown, everything improved remarkably, also accompanied by the opportunity to participate in the field work trips of SPEA, my host organization.

From that moment on, I have carried out countless activities and projects with them, with different objectives and in very different places, which have made me grow a lot personally and professionally.

Some have consisted of placing and monitoring nest houses, making bird counting, improving and conservating natural habitats, controlling invasive species, doing environmental education activities, ornithological walks, helping to implement good agricultural, ganadery and electric lines practices, etc. In different places around Portugal like Setúbal, Ilhas Barreira, Sintra, Lisboa, Vila Flor, Ilhas Berlengas, Lagoa Pequena, etc.

Apart from the Project, I have also had such a good time traveling and enjoying with the rest of the volunteers and other friends, discovering different parts and secrets of Lisbon, as watching sunsets in Cacilhas, having barbecues in Monsanto, learning to do surf in Carcavelos, dancing cumbia in Zona Franca or Arroz estudios, ... And visiting and camping in places like Sintra, Cascais, Setubal, Óbidos, Nazaré, Batalha, Viana do Castelo, etc.

And for closing this stage of the project, during the last months, I had the opportunity to share that I created and learned during the January and February’s lock down in some of the Lisbon Street Markets with my new watercolours brand “TarentolArt”. 

They have been some incredible months with a lot of opportunities and, although sometimes I must face some adversities that appear along the way, I would not change anything.

I will update you on the last stage of my ESC Project!

Big hugs, Cristina.

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 da Giulia: Growing Together (ESC - Jobs)

Olá!​

​​Já me devem conhecer, este é o meu sexto testemunho no blog da Spin! 

Infelizmente nos primeiros meses deste ano, estivemos em confinamento devido a pandemia e tivemos que adaptar o nosso trabalho tal como fizemos no ano passado. 

Apesar disto, recebemos 10 novos voluntários CES coordenados e acolhidos pela Spin em Fevereiro (Mikk ), Março (Elsa e Henri), Abril (Ana, Albert, Isabel, Mari e Emma) e Maio (Julia e Miriam). 

Dado que não conseguimos recomeçar com a nossa tradicional Ginjinha, decidimos adaptar os nossos encontros com os voluntários CES e organizámos os "Cafés Spin" para e com os nossos voluntários CES. Durante os cafés, pudemos estar juntos e conhecermos melhor através de atividades não formais. 

Com o desconfinamento conseguimos voltar às atividades "normais" e às reuniões presenciais no nosso escritório! 

Também com a ajuda da nossa voluntária Ana, temos organizado, no jardim do Torel, uma aula de Português onde jogamos ao "Europe quiz", jogo de tabuleiro criado pela associação Rosto Solidário. 

Por último, na semana passada  organizámos um Café Spin edição especial - jantar intercultural! Com os nossos voluntários que conseguiram participar partilhamos pratos típicos das nossas culturas e depois do jantar ficámos a dormir no Hostel da Spin que foi reaberto ao público depois de quase dois anos. Foi uma noite especial e fico feliz que os nossos voluntários CES apreciaram também 😊

O testemunho No. 2 do Victorien (SPIN)

 Here’s Victorien from France and this my second testimony. 

“Time is running”, a random quote that takes absolutely all it sense here in Lisbon. It has been already eight months that I arrived from France and I barely can’t realize it. 

First of all, everything has changed when I decided to move to another flat from the one that my hosting organisation proposed me. I had really good time in the first one and met some of my close friends of now on. However, this change helps me to meet new people and new group of friends that I have here. I really created close relation that I was looking for. 

Obviously the second lockdown from mid-January until the end of march had a hug impact on my volunteering experience. First of all, some tasks that gave me SPIN were stopped and globally the tasks were really few, meanwhile my personal life was pretty quiet. To face this difficult situation, I went to the south of Portugal in Algarve, doing a workaway experience and keep on working with SPIN at the same time. It has been the best idea I had since I arrived in Portugal. I loved the experience, the place and the people which are my friends from now on. It really helps me to enjoy fully my experience here in Portugal. The following weeks has been better along the sanitary situation was getting better as well. The volunteer group came closer to each other and we start create friendly relation between all of us. This feeling is definitely the best one and I am so glad to have been able to make it and being part of it. The following months after the lockdown has been amazing, intensely full of life and activities. We were visiting different side of Portugal every week-end and socializing a lot during our days here in Lisbon. 

On the side, I used all this free time to focus on a musical project that starts having some results. I could play for the very first time in a kind of club in Lisbon in may and I have some shows planned for this summer. Its has been a really long process, starting from the scratch and I am fully glad to see all these efforts starting being rewarded along that seeing my skills improving in music. 

Regarding the volunteering experience with my organisation, beside the quiet months of the beginning of 2021, I am super excited to see that the organisation is working well and see my tasks going as well as new tasks coming over the months. It is such a pleasure to see my proposition accepted by the team and that I can work comfortably. The team is adorable and really open minded regarding the conditions of work, which allows me to travel a lot while working. 

To conclude, I can just say that my expectations were so high before to come that makes me a bit afraid to not live it at 100% but somehow, the reality has been forward the expectations and satisfied me in a way I couldn’t imagine before. 

See you soon for the third and last testimony.