Marcha around Estoi

Doing exercise is a must in our volunteer’s life. The Algarve gives us the opportunity to be surrounded by nature and fresh air so it’s easy to feel comfortable and with the energy to take our trainers and explore around the region. This is why last Sunday some volunteers from Moju decided to take part in the marcha in the village of Estoi.

The marcha started in the centre of the town, in front of the church, the Igreja Matriz de Estoi. One of the most interesting things we discovered about this neoclassical building is that it was build during the 15^th century, but it had to be restored in 1755 after a terrible earthquake. For its reconstruction they decided to use wood that previously belonged to ships and boats.

The marcha continued through the ways around the field. It was divided in two races: a short one of 4 kilometres and a long race of 10 kilometres. In our way along the 10 kilometres, we discovered an amazing view of the beautiful houses and the nature around them.

The marcha finished in the same place where it started but before, we had a long stop in the beautiful Palace of Estoi. The palace was renovated in the 19^th century and it’s characterized by the pink Rococo facade and the beautiful mosaics of its walls and the gardens that surround the palace, now converted into a hotel.

If you like sports and nature, you can find more information about the marchas around Algarve in this link!

Visit to vegetable garden in winter

As you might remember volunteers of MOJU work not only with kids, but also we have a little vegetable garden in "Ecoteca". We experiment there, check our skills and hope for vegetables to grow.

Because of a lot of rains and holidays we didn't visit our land around one month. And wonder happened! After rainy weeks our plot became all green, wild plants which before were more or less exterminated growing everywhere. At the same time cucumbers, spinach and salsa were also bigger and much more than before.

We brought part of the harvest home and made a big salad with all of the harvest and avocado.

Important: How our new volunteers feel themselves coming to Olhao.

4 new volunteers from different countries came here to Olhao to work with kids. Our team becomming bigger again!

First days in new country with new people sure can put young person into stress. Thats why we wonder How does the new volunteer who recently arrived in the city feels. Also it will be nice to compare the impression in the beging of EVS and after some time.

So, further are first impressions of our volunteers:

Climate challange

Coming to the south Portugal we all expect to have warm sunny days. And its true! After -5C in Ukraine I came on 17th of January to Algarve, the warmest region in Portugal, and took off my light Autumn coat, having +23C. I remember that day very good - Hungarian volunteer Lisy met me just in t-shirt. I was feeling so good, warming myself on the sun. We had sun in winter almost every day and for the whole day. Having so much sun was like a paradise for me. We even based in the ocean in the super cold water.

BUT, not all days are so warm and there is no central heating inside houses. So, in winter, at daytime it's colder inside the buildings than outside. It's a problem, especially, when rooms are not on the  sun side. For me and Lisy it was hard to get used to coldness at home, so we used electric heaters a lot.