O testemunho no. 1 do Vedran (Spin)

Magical, unreal, and a bit scary at first. That's how I felt when I first arrived in Lisbon from Berlin. But let's go back to the beginning for a moment.

Hi everyone, my name is Vedran. I'm 26 and originally from Croatia. For the past three years, I've been living my best life in Berlin. Then, late in 2023, I got this strange sudden feeling that I needed a change. I wanted to open a new chapter in my life, so I started looking for volunteer opportunities. After applying to a few, I woke up one morning to an email from Catarina saying I'd been accepted to work for Spin. Suddenly, my life took a whole new turn. I miss my family, friends, and especially my dogs, but this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. So, I accepted it and started on this new journey alone, all the way to the very west of Europe.

For the past five weeks, I've been in beautiful Lisbon, making memories, meeting new people, and experiencing the city in the best way possible. I'm trying to cherish every small moment and make something special out of it. One of the first things I needed to find, besides the usual shops and bars, was the perfect spot to watch the sunset. Lisbon has so many, and I just can't get enough of how breathtaking they are. Watching the sunset relaxes me, makes me happy, and puts me in this dreamy mood that I absolutely love.

My first day at the Spin office happened the following week on a Tuesday. I immediately loved the atmosphere; the energy of the people there is beautiful and genuine, which, for me, is the most important thing when it comes to getting along with others. Right from the first week, I was eager to take on tasks, and now I have the opportunity to manage Spin's social media. I get to capture moments of the people who work here, the activities we do together, and use my creativity to create engaging videos.
 

In addition to social media, I also have the chance to work on projects like "Live it Lisbon" and "Tempo dos direitos," where I can share my own ideas and turn them into reality.

I'm just at the beginning of this new chapter in my life, and I can't wait to see what the future holds. I know I'll enjoy working for Spin throughout the year, exploring Portugal and Lisbon's beauty, and, of course, catching many more beautiful sunsets. After my first month here, all I can say is that I'm filled with beautiful thoughts, and I hope to have many more in the near future.

O testemunho final da Jessica (Spin)

The six months flew by and now I only have a few weeks left until I go back home. I've met a lot of great people here and made some friends. I'm sure you're wondering if I speak some Portuguese and I have to admit... Not really. But I have created many unforgettable moments. 

 

What I liked the most were the moments I spent with my friends. Dinner together, going out for drinks, watching movies, picnics, drawing, talking, laughing, traveling,…

 

In November, four of us went on a girls' trip to Madeira. In December, I turned a year older and my sister came to visit me. I couldn't miss the giant waves in Nazare either. New Year's Eve here was amazing. In January, I started skating again. From February the weather got better and better and we spent four days in Algarve. I spend March enjoying the rest of the time here in Lisbon. I could go on and on, but there would be no end.

 

 

In between, I also worked a bit – we were allowed to help with preparations for various events and the hostel. I was responsible for Spin's blog. Sometimes I helped with the design of flyers and posters. On the whole, it was very relaxed. 😉

The only difficulties were in our shared apartment. It didn't always work out so well with tidying up and it can get very cold in winter. From time to time I also missed my home. But these were just temporary things! 

 

My conclusion is – I would recommend it to everyone to have this experience. I don't regret a second that I was here and hope that the friendships will remain despite the many kilometers between us.

 

Lots of love 💗

 Jessica

 

 

 

 

 

 

O testemunho no. 1 do Mattia (Spin)

Hi! My name is Mattia, I’m Italian and this is my first testimony of my volunteering experience at Associacão Spin! 

The 1 st month has almost passed and so far, so good! Moving to a different country can always be scary at first. Still, everyone at Spin has been super welcoming to me and I can say in full confidence that I’m ready to prove myself and to give my best to help everyone around to do the best possible job! This can be a great chance for me to learn something new and to help other people and I want to give my best: it’s a wonderful opportunity and I don’t want to waste it.

But going back a little bit, moving to Portugal wasn’t exactly planned for me, coming from 10 months in Lithuania for my Erasmus for my master studies, I increasingly felt like I wasn’t done with living abroad and I wanted to have another experience in another country to keep challenging myself. 

I’ve only just recently learned about the ESC volunteering opportunity. The whole process of applying and getting selected for this opportunity was relatively quick, so the time to learn about Lisbon and Portugal, in general, was not that much, but still, in my short time here I already feel that this city has much to offer.

Speaking about my work at Spin, so far, my tasks include helping with translating and delivering information to Italian students who are having an internship here in Lisbon with the Erasmus + program and helping with the various projects regarding the youth exchanges and the workshops that will happen in the coming months. I’m excited to make myself useful and to learn as much as possible in the next year!

O testemunho final da Katarina (Spin)

Time really flies. I am still processing the fact that I’ve spent almost a year of my life in Lisbon.

As I came back to my hometown, I started remembering how I thought of Lisbon as some city far away and impossible for me to reach. Now I think of it as my second home. 

I am existing in a different timeline now, far away from buildings with colorful tiles, away from pasteis de nata, away from sandy beaches and big waves, and the train that would take me there now is filled with some other people. It’s fine. I know I am going to be back.

The year behind me brought a lot of amazing things: experiences, connections, adventures, learning about others, learning about self, lessons, laughter, love…

Things took a positive turn since my number 2 testimony- mostly reading my flat in Lisbon. New volunteers arrived to casa Anjos, and they finally made me feel like I am a part of an ESC project. Coming from different countries, they brought their stories, their cheerful vibes and their exciting days into our home, and I have come to appreciate their company and sharing my space with them. 

I was also skeptical about sharing my room with someone, but my fellow roomie and I get used to each other and we grew closer. We shared our stories, funny and not so funny moments, traditional and improvised snacks, dreams, hopes, goals for the future and much more. 

Towards the end of my stay, we had a swap market at Spin, which I absolutely loved, but  didn’t help at all with my packing to go home, because instead of gifting stuff away and making my luggage smaller, I found so many cool things and I had to make an extra room for them. But I am a person who gets attached to things easily, so I am happy that now I have some stuff at home that will remind me of my time as an ESC volunteer.

As the time of my departure was approaching, I did my best to visit places I loved in Lisbon and around, so more than once I went to the beach just to chill and look at the waves. I also visited some places I was postponing, foolishly believing that ‘there’s enough time’. In the end, I didn’t even visit everything that was on my list, but I don’t mind - I always say that there should be something left for the next time. These trips also made me realize how much I actually grew and changed - I didn't used to go to places on my own and spend time by myself. Now that is a common thing like any other to me, and I can say that this ESC adventure I took pushed me to do some things I wouldn't do before, and for that, I am forever grateful.

In my last meeting, as I was reflecting on things I have achieved, I said: This was maybe not the experience that I wanted, but it was the one I needed. And I stand by it. So if anyone thinks about applying for ESC cares for my advice - It can never be absolutely the same as you imagine, and it shouldn't, so don't overthink it, just apply to the first program that matches your vibe, and by the end you'll realize that every challenge you encountered was worth it.

Shout out to Spin employees who always wanted to help and who always made me feel appreciated and welcome, I am thankful for giving me the opportunity to meet you all and have this experience in the first places, because without you it wouldn't be possible for me to live in Lisbon and have it made my second home.

I don't like saying goodbyes. As the day of my departure was approaching, people asked me how do I feel, am I sad, am I going to miss being there and so on...

Yes, I miss being there, I miss being around people and places. But my story is different, because I took the best of Lisbon with me, and I know I am going to be back, sooner or later.

Até a próxima!

K.

O testemunho No. 1 do Simone (JFC - Culture)

 

Lisboa waaa what a life!

Every day I wake up grateful to be here. I feel like using my time in the best way. When people ask me why I’m doing a volunteer project in a library or what I’m taking from this experience, my answer goes directly to “I’m young and I have time to work until seventy years old” and then “every day I speak Portuguese, I read whatever kind of books and I have a house in the city center of a capital full of events. What I need more”.

So, this period flew really well adding the fact the I’m living with amazing guys and even SPIN’s friends are so cool.

But what about my lifestyle: 
I used to go to work from 10 am until 6 pm, in the middle I have one hour of break, where I am lucky because with the project, I’m allowed to eat in the canteen of the kindergarten of bairro Padre Cruz school. 

 

During the morning, I study the bibliography and reorder the books from previous loan. In the afternoon, instead, I look after on children and help them on find an interesting book. Of course, sometimes can happen some activities that are different and in the future other will be more related to the public, but until now those are the majors. Fortunately, I have even the time to read books and journals in Portuguese to increase my languages skills and being more useful to the Portuguese class or relaxed when I am doing tour into the city. 

And yes, each Wednesday afternoon, we used to do an inner Portuguese class, made by ourselves, with the objective to make volunteers more comfortable with the language and let it grow by themselves. Let’s call it self-learning accompanied. 

the night, maybe I don’t have so much time for doing some activities, but I like to go to the swimming pool to relax or spending some hours with the housemates talking about frivolities.

What happens during the weekends is more entertaining, I like to visit the city as: se de Lisboa; Gulbenkian’s foundation; Mouraria’s neighborhood and casa dos Bicos. And going out to festivals or events with friends. Lisboa gives you the opportunity to enjoy the youth a lot. 

Okay these were my words about my feelings and incidents that I had and still having during my ESC experience in Lisboa whit Spin association and Natália Correia Library. 

See you soon. 

Simone 

O testemunho no. 1 da Katarzyna (Spin)

I am Katarzyna and I am from Poland. I have been volunteering at SPIN for a month now. I will be here for 6 months. I decided to do this project because I wanted to experience something new in my life and live for a while abroad. I work and live with people from different countries and I really like it because we can share with each other customs and traditions. Everybody here is very friendly so It was very easy for me to make friends here. 

Lisbon is a very beautiful city. I love walking down different streets, there are many viewpoints where you can admire the view of the city and watch beautiful sunsets. I also really like Portuguese food and especially pastel de nata. The beaches near Lisbon are beautiful and the weather is really good here. It’s warm here and there are many sunny days. 

I love traveling and I already had an opportunity to spend a few days in Algarve. It was really amazing and I felt like I was on a small vacation. The weather was really good, it was sunny all the time and very warm. The beaches there are the most beautiful I have ever seen. There are plenty of cliffs and rocks with a beautiful view of the ocean. 

I am very excited for the next months here and what else will happen! 

O testemunho No. 1 do Riccardo (ANFR - Bola p'ra frente)

Volunteering for the ESC was an opportunity that I was extremely excited to take. Having the possibility to travel while doing experience helping a community is an incredibile chance, and I was very enthusiastic to do it. 

I decided to come in Lisboa because I have a background in sport and the project I am taking part with the Associação Nacional Futebol the Rua (ANFR) is using sport as a mean to bring positive values in a disadvantage community. I felt that in this project I could have been an active part with my knowledge and experience. I have never been in Lisboa or Portugal before, so I didn't have many expectations about the environment I would end up living.

After the first month here I am really happy about my decision. The project I am taking part is as I expected, the association is an incredibly important resource for the community of the area they are working. It is, before anything else, a gathering place for many teenagers who enjoy to spend time in a positive and safe environment. The sport activities are the main ones to catch the attention of the youths, and their enthusiasm is extremely high during these activities. 

As I expected I can be an active part in this project. Even though in this first period I have a marginal role because I don't speak Portuguese yet, I am very motivating to learn the language and build strong connections in the community. 

I didn't have expectations regarding the city and now I am so positively surprised. Lisboa has an incredible cool atmosphere, with a lot of cultural and artistic events happening every week. From the first impression, it looks like a city that really values human beings, with many opportunities to share and develop interests. 

I am very happy about the decision to come here, I am enjoying this experience and I am excited for the next months I will spend in Lisboa.