At the end of June 2023, Monica flew to Porto, Portugal to join friends in building apartments for Congo refugees.
The Volunteer Service
Our project involved converting an old warehouse in to a four-family apartment building. The project will take 2.5 years to complete as it relies primarily on assistance from volunteers. During our service, we deconstructed walls and ceilings, and we started laying the new foundation. The refugee families are required to assist with the project, so we spent a lot of time with one of the courageous mothers who experienced more that you could imagine bringing her children to safety.
Swipe through this slideshow for photos of our team and our work!
The Fuller Center
An organization called The Fuller Center (www.fullercenter.org) sponsored the volunteer project as part of its Global Builder efforts (formerly Habitat for Humanity). It is an extremely well-organized agency, and we all felt safe and protected. We stayed in a big house with a private chef and a beautiful pool where we could soak away our sore muscles. The Fuller Center provided insurance, transportation (other than our flights), all of our food, and took us on tours of the area. However, the highlight was being with a fantastic group of old and new friends who worked very, very hard. Many of us plan to return next year during the final stages of the apartment’s construction.
Swipe to see a few photos of the home, the friends and the fun!
Touring Porto, Lisbon, Braga and Sintra
Before and after the volunteer service, Monica toured several cities in Portugal on her own and with friends. She took walking tours, bike tours and food tours with locals. She attended old Fado music performances in small lounges. She stayed at small hotels for backpackers. By the time she left, she felt like she had become a small part of the community.
Swipe through these photos of Lisbon, Porto, and Braga:
Check out this short video fromt the top of Porto as violinists played Coldplay in the background:
Sintra and the Pena Palace
One of the highlights was taking a train to Sintra to tour the fabulous Pena Palace, which is surrounded by stunning cliffs. It’s a real fairy-tale palace!
And ohhhh… the food. There are no pics to share of the Portuguese food because Monica had already eaten everything she wanted to photograph. It was unique and delicious. She liked the Iberian ham, custards, and local pork sandwiches the best.
Next year, Peter will be coming to Portugal, too. There’s so much more to do and see in Monica’s new favorite place in the world! Of course, she hopes to talk Peter into moving there someday!