Meeting people from all over the world

After some great weeks in Jorox, I decided to move on. As I had to be back in Germany in the beginning of April, I wanted to do one more volunteering stint in Portugal. When I started my research at the beginning of April, I found a nice off-grid community in Portugal. Many volunteers went to this place, so I added it to my favorites list. In Jorox, I loved having people around me, and it was something that I didn’t want to miss anymore. So, I applied to volunteer for 4 weeks at the Al Mansur community, which is located near Lisbon. Soon, I received positive feedback, and I set off for Portugal. I had 5 more days to visit some beautiful places in the south of Portugal. I did a couple of hiking trips near the coast and took some time off.

On a Sunday, I arrived at the property of Al-Mansur. The road to the property was mostly off-grid and had some difficult sections. Glad that I had my winter tires on, I managed to get through the muddy roads. When I arrived in front of the main house, two dogs and a horse greeted me warmly. It reminded me of the childhood series “Pippi Longstocking”. It was a magical moment. I parked my van and looked around for some people. Luckily, I met a woman who was on her way to the lake near the property. I joined her, and at the lake, I was welcomed by many other volunteers. Soon, we got to know each other and spent a great afternoon at the lake. Afterward, we went to the annex (community kitchen), where I was welcomed by the other volunteers. Usually on Sundays, the community welcomes new people with a pizza session in the evening. So, we had some great pizza straight out of the wood oven. It was delicious. I got in contact with many interesting people from around the world. I was amazed by this diversity and the place itself. I also met Fernando, who is the owner of the community. He’s a former professor who started the community a couple of years ago. He wants to create an off-grid community with many volunteers and produce his own food and energy to live a more sustainable and self-sufficient life. I was fascinated by his vision and looked forward to starting the next day.

On Mondays, we usually had a big meeting in the morning to divide the weekly tasks like cooking, dishes, cleaning, washing, etc., and discuss the upcoming projects we had to work on during the week. Everyone had to do at least six weekly tasks. There were several projects we could join every morning. It was up to us where we wanted to participate. Most of the time, we could choose between gardening, maintenance, or construction work. I joined the construction team to contribute my knowledge. The task was to build a horse hotel out of wood where horse owners could bring their horses, and the community would take care of them. The hotel should provide accommodation for the horses and owners.

I was excited to work with people at the horse hotel. That was the first time I had worked with many volunteers together. During my previous workaways, I had always had tasks to do by myself. The construction team consisted of 4-6 people, with new people often joining the team. It was always a varied experience, and I enjoyed the company. The framework of the horse hotel was already built, and we had to continue with the foundation. The foundation was made of wooden posts stabilized by a mixture of large stones and sand. We didn’t have any support from machines; the work was done by the hand power of many volunteers. I was glad we had so many people in the team. After finishing the foundation, we started mounting the framework onto the wooden posts. The groundwork was done, and we began attaching the side walls to the framework. Another team had painted the wood panels earlier, so the wood was protected and ready to be mounted. Mounting the wood panels was enjoyable, and everyone in the construction team gained some hands-on experience with a cordless screwdriver. Besides the work, we had a lot of fun together. We had some dance parties in the morning, pleasant tea breaks with good conversations, and always something to laugh about. I really enjoyed the positive atmosphere with the people around me. It made the whole project an amazing experience. Besides the horse hotel, I also had several side tasks to do like collecting branches from olive trees, fixing fences, or building some wooden benches.

After finishing the work, we had a little free time for ourselves. Most of the time, we spent it together, playing cards or frisbee, having bonfires in the evening, going to the lake, making bread or cake, or simply sitting together and having interesting conversations. With many people from all over the world, it was always an amazing time at the farm. On the weekends, we mostly had free time for ourselves. Usually, we went to Vendas Novas, which is a few kilometers away from the farm. To get there, we used Giovanni’s Taxi. Giovanni had an old Mercedes Sprinter with plenty of space in the back. It was always an adventure to ride with many volunteers in the back. After shopping in the city, we spent some time at the pub, playing billiards, and enjoying each other’s company. Another time, we went with a small group to Lisbon. Unfortunately, I got sick during the trip to Lisbon and spent most of the time at our Airbnb. Luckily, I had good company around me, and we made the best of the situation.

During my time at the farm, I had an exclusive parking space next to the property. It was in the middle of nature and provided a peaceful space to rest and enjoy. I invited people to my location, and we had peanut and tea sessions or enjoyed some cold drinks after finishing the construction work. One time, we had up to 5 people in the van during some rainy days (I couldn’t believe we could fit so many people inside the van). It was always a pleasure to host the location, and we spent lovely time together.

Al-Mansur was definitely worth visiting. Maybe my expectations were a bit too high at the beginning. The whole concept was really well-made, but you could feel that this project is still in the early stages of its development, and there were many areas to work on to run this project in the long term. I had hoped to find some solutions for a sustainable and self-sufficient life. That was not really the case, but I definitely found a group of lovely people from all over the world. I really enjoyed the positive atmosphere and the warmth all the people brought to this place. It felt like a small family in a short period of time. I had never experienced that before, and I’m grateful to have had this experience. I hope to find a similar constellation in the future.

Thank you to all the people I met during my stay at Al-Mansur.

It was a pleasure to meet you all. Hope to see you again in the future.