ESC Teams at Agriturismo L’Arca | Almudena, Julia, Elina, Pablo & Maeva Share Their Experience!
The ESC Teams project “Team for Healthy Life – T4HL”, financed by the European Solidarity Corps programme and run by Associazione Joint in cooperation with Agriturismo L’Arca in Italy, has come to an end!
The overall objective of the project, in accordance with the priorities set for 2021, was to promote well-being and a healthy lifestyle for the volunteers and local communities. It was an opportunity for participants to reclaim a space to socialise in a healthy and safe manner, while engaging in volunteer activities that promote the inclusion of vulnerable groups, health and wellbeing in communities.
Project activities touched on specific themes, in accordance with the host organisation and the needs of the local community:
- nature and outdoor life
- mental health
- health prevention/health promotion
- conscious nutrition
Almudena’s Testimonial
Hello, I’m Almudena, I’m 27 years old, I come from Spain and now I’ve been living in Italy for almost two months, specifically in Belvedere Maritimo, a village located in Calabria. Here I am doing ESC team volunteering in a factory, L’arca. Being in a farm I am very connected with nature and with people from different parts of the world. I wanted to do this project to learn how to work with plants and to meet people with similar interests and to create community. It is a very enriching experience because I feel stronger every day physically, mentally and socially. You are surrounded by interesting people all day long, and when I need my space I can go to a corner of the farm with spectacular views that make me feel recharged with energy. I love playing the guitar here, we happen to be a very musical group, almost everyone plays an instrument or sings and I feel very comfortable to be able to open up in this aspect. The work here is very physical, we work with the soil and the plants 6 hours a day. The last month has been a bit harder because it was cold but thanks to the warmth and energy of the people everything has become much easier. We also did group activities, my favourites were the pizza workshop and the basket workshop.
I would recommend this project to young people who want to live in a community surrounded by animals and nature, you get to know and get to know parts of yourself that you didn’t know.
Julia’s Testimonial
Sweet, subtle scent of tangerines, morning dew on the grass, quiet symphony of birdsong, first rays of sun breaking through the branches and feeling of slightly sore muscles after previous days of work…
That’s how life goes in L’Arca!
One month ago instead of starting a career, I’ve decided to move for two months to an Italian farm and live in an international community and it was the best decision I could’ve taken.
This year was really special to me, after 5 years of studies I finally finished my master’s degree, did my Erasmus+ student exchange and moved out from the city where I spent my whole adult life. As many people my age I felt a bit lost with overwhelming, huge life decisions that I had to take. I already had a lot of plans, but happy accident made me bump into a team ESC volunteering opportunity in Italy. Without futher ado I decided to apply as it seemed like a perfect opportunity to reflect on life while working a physical job and getting inspired by others.
The place stole my heart the very first moments of my stay – a beautiful farm surronded by nature, a view of the see and the nearby mountains and plenty of friendly animals. I really love waking up with the first rays of sun and the rooster crowing, walking by the amazing peacocks on my way for breakfast, feeling the aroma of all of the plants while working and seeing how my muscles are getting stronger every day.
However the main value here for me are the people. Each day I can draw inspiration from a different person. Here are 20 of us and we have created a weird kind of a family, where everyone is needed, valid and valued. Our host and at the same time manager is Anna, a very honest, direct and big-hearted person, always willing to talk and share her life experience with us. Besides getting to know our cultural differences we also see how unique backgrounds each of us has and even the most mundane conversation can always change into a huge dose of inspiration for our life choices or a great amount of understanding and support. Besides that our group turned out to be a pretty artistic community. Very often we just sit and play guitars, ukulele or piano and sing together, which I personally love!
If you’re still wondering about applying for this project, probably you’d like to know how our work looks like. Let me explain!
Each day we wake up around 6am, to start working at 6.30. Of course our work is not the easiest. Each day we divide into a few teams – for example some people help in the kitchen, some help with the harvest, others are cleaning the soil around the trees or putting fertilizer there. We work for 6 hours with 15 minutes of break. Then we’re eating lunch together and till the dinner at 7pm we have a lot of free time. In October we often went to the beach, as the weather was really hot and sunny or we sightsaw nearby cosy village. Sometimes we also participate in a workshops that are organised for us like ceramics, learning how to make italian pizza, tortelli, tortellini, theater and Italian classes. Apart from that during our first week we had a great opportunity to integrate while rafting!
Taking everything into consideration I would really recommend this project, especially if you’re not scared of hard work and you love to commune with nature.
Don’t hesitate any longer and apply for the project next year!
Elina’s Testimonial
My name is Elina and I’m from Bulgaria. What made me apply for T4HL was my love for nature and community living. I was seeking new experiences, as I usually do in my life.
I was trying not to have expectations. But still, I ended up here with some of them, as well as some fears. Expectations about the place, about my relations with people here, or fears about how I’ll handle myself these two months physically and mentally. But in the end, a lot of my expectations and fears were not met and in the beginning I was genuinely not suspecting that some of the outcomes from this project would take place. But I don’t see it as something bad. This makes you realise how you never really know what really is going to happen to you. It can be scary, but it’s also exciting.
I gained some skills and knowledge related to our work (so for working with agriculture) and also related to our additional activities (cooking, beekeeping, rafting, theater, ceramics, baskets). However, I also learned more about myself and my patterns of behaviour; about people close to me and ones that I met for the first time. I took care of myself a lot and I gained confidence in myself.
My general opinion over the project is that it’s something that can be very enriching. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who comes across it and is considering taking part in it.
Pablo’s Testimonial
Since I had started to study sport, I have feel that I am very conected to the nature. When I started to work as a painter, I was thinking that maybe I need a change in my life. Because of a friend, I knew that there was an assotation which was looking for people to do one proyect. After that I knew about european volunteers, I meeted l’Arca.
I really was not sure of what I had to do in L’Arca , but I supossed that was a hard work. I have to say that all this hard work It is absolutely necessary in a job where the discipline and the constance efford are part of everyday. Work in Larca means do constantly new activities, eat real food and in general terms have a healphy lifestyle.
All that I have had to do as a farmer ( taking care of the places where the animals live, all the care system that plants need… ) makes me a focus and organice person. I really think that this experience has been useful for me as a worker and as a person. In fact, the relation with the workers and the volunteers when we are working has maked me know myself more and now I have a knowlegde of what I should works about myself.
I know this kind of Life is not for everyone, but I think people could try at least have more healphy habits and understand in a better way all that means and the importance of nature in our lives.
Maeva’s Testimonial
I spent a difficult year emotionally, and this project was proposed to me at the right time, I decided to go there to get back on the right path psychologically
My expectations were to feel better, and also to improve my English, both were met.
I learned a lot of things. Harvest work, a lot of varieties of vegetables, how to make ravioli, a little Italian…
I harvested, took care of the trees, zapa zapa, cooking, collecting eggs, pottery, outings with other volunteers, visiting Italy and its cultural places
My general opinion of the project is very positive. we are welcomed in a great place, with great people. I was able to question myself and feel better, while sharing great moments with the other volunteers.
I really recommend this experience, because it allows you to realize that we are capable of many things. you make great encounters with lots of mixed cultures. it’s a very good experience to evolve personally and cultivate yourself
ESC Teams
The special feature of the ESC Teams is its short duration, ranging from 2 weeks to a maximum of 2 months. This aspect makes it accessible also to young people who work or study and cannot dedicate a whole year to travel! Despite the brevity of the projects, Group ESCs offer meaningful and intense life experiences, during which numerous professional skills can be acquired. Moreover, by sharing life and work with a group of people, similar to a community, lɜ participants have the opportunity to create strong bonds even in a short period of time.