Caterina took part in EVS project "Solidary Vegetable Gardens" in non governmental organization Animepaf in Quinta de Conde, Sesimbra in Portugal. The mobility took place 6 months. The project was financed by Erasmus+ Programme, from Eurpean Commision funds.

1. EVS in Portugal
Quinta do Conde, 02/2018-08/2018

2. First time being a boss!
The reforestation of the
park in February gave
us the opportunity of
planting almost 200 new
trees.

3. Perfectioning some
grandma’s skills...
With the “Dress a girl in
Africa” action we learned
how to saw and now a little
girl in Angola has a dress
made by me!

4. Waiting for the food
like...
Our first meeting with
the other volunteers
gave us the opportunity
to share cultures, food,
ideas and make new
friends!

5. Breaking some fingers on the way...
One of our favorites: teaching children how to build a nest for very
useful birds - they eat toxic pine processionaries!

6. Hanging out with the
youngsters of Quinta do
Conde
The Solidarity Flame of
Portugal landed in our
park and we planted a
symbolic tree with the
community centre to
celebrate the moment.

7. Always the princess in
need of help!
The Dragon of Krakow
was one of the many
stories we presented to
kids in schools as part
of the project
“Momentos com
Historias” where we
brought stories from our
countries to the
community.

8. Teacher can I go to the
toilet???
One of the training for
responsibles in
agriculture with dr. Ana
Castro gave us an
insight for planting in
schools and education in
biological farming.

9. Being a mermaid is
difficult in today’s world...
My story, the Mermaid
of Warsaw, was a
success for children
and adults alike. We
built it with recycled
material and the
marine team was
appropriate for the
location by the sea.

10. Park in the dark… was it
the best idea??
The second meeting of
volunteers was organized
by us, with a band, a lot of
food (and drinks) and fun!
After, we had a lesson on
astronomy and could
watch some planets with
the telescope.

11. I might have had a deep
italian moment there...
Explaining (or translating
the explanation) what
happens in our park is
an important part for
raising awareness for
environmental problems
and the utility of
biological gardens.

12. My only friends in this
madness!
The project “Horticultura
de Palmo e Meio” has
been a total success in
the schools. Me made
great vegetable gardens
and educated kids on the
importance of preserving
nature and growing your
own food.

13. Can’t a volunteer have her
own private pool?
Our first lake is born.
We made it with the
kids, we put the
algaes, the fishes and
the frogs. Now birds
can drink from it - we
created a small
ecological biosystem!

14. This could have been
basil… or strawberries…
:(
The fruits of our project in
the schools: the kids later
had the opportunity to sell
their biological products
for the community.
Nothing was left,
everyone wanted them!

15. The only available mean of
transportation… not so bad
afterall!
In the local “Festa da Família
e das Tradicoes” we shared
our culture and traditional
games with the community,
playing with the kids… or
with other adults!

16. The EVS in PORTUGAL
It is difficult to explain in a few images all the emotions
that I felt in these 6 months… the only way is to go and
experience it yourselves! You don’t need skills - you learn
on the way while helping others. Thank you AnimePAF.
Caterina
Paulo, Patricia, David,
Fernando! I will never forget
you.