I am Valerie, and I did a long-term volunteering from June 2025 to May 2026 at AJD, Associação Juvenil de Deão.
During my volunteering, I worked at different locations such as the Ludoteca, ReFood, at a day center and a primary school.Since I am open to gaining new experiences in different working places, I was really happy that AJD offered me various opportunities, which enriched my volunteering.
I was mainly working at Ludoteca, creating weekly creative or sports activities for children, which left a positive impact.
My coordinator always motivated and suggested me new ideas such as facilitating workshops or working at a different place, which I am grateful for. I was also supported by her when I had questions or difficulties regarding work. She arranged cultural activities, for instance a visit to a museum about Portuguese traditions, which helped us to feel more integrated, more connected to the culture and the environments we were working at.
In this manner, I felt confident executing activities and going to new working places.
Viana do Castelo is rather a quiet city at night. Nevertheless, it offers a lot of pretty natural places, good bars, places to play billard or bowling, and, of course, tasty food and pastries. There was always something to see.
I used many holidays to visit some cities nearby, meet new people, go to the beach, or to explore places in nature.
Through the Viana SurfClub or IPVC, with whom AJD is cooperating, I met a lot of other volunteers and built good relationships. The same applies to the mid term training.
After all, I learned to be more open with people and to be more communicative. I am also more creative and confident.
Working with children, adolescents, and elderly people, and additionally being with people that have another background, made me appreciate differences in perspectives and personalities because taking all of those into consideration is an enriching exchange contributing to a more comprehensive opinion.
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