ImpacTrip

From the moment I made enquiries about the possibility of volunteer work in Porto, I felt I was supported to pursue my dream. I was contacted by Rita Marques from ImpacTrip and immediately felt comfortable. They organized a program suitable for my needs and constantly kept in touch with me. I arrived in Porto to the smiles of Rita and Diogo Areosa. They took me to my new home for the next 10 days and showed me a short presentation of the work that ImpacTrip do. I was then taken to meet Sarah from Vencer Autismo, where I would be doing some volunteer work. More smiles. Then after a quick supermarket shop for some basic groceries, I was driven back to my flat and left to settle in. The days that followed were exciting, emotional, educational and fun. On my first day, I enjoyed an amazing full day tour around the Douro Valley. Our lovely tour guide told us about all the history around this breathtaking area as we soaked in the magnificent views. The scenery and the friendly welcome at each winery was beautiful. I also enjoyed an Eco friendly Tuk-Tuk ride around old Porto City. The history and architecture explained to me as we stopped off to walk around and have a closer look. In between my tours, I was welcomed each day to take part in some volunteer hours with Vencer Autismo. I may only have worked with the lovely staff and children for a few days, but I left feeling I had made some beautiful new friends to take back home with me to Scotland. I would definitely recommend a wee adventure with the friendly help from ImpacTrip. They will talk through all your options and support you all the way. Thank you to Rita, Diogo, Sara and all the lovely staff and children from Vencer Autismo. I left feeling so much a part of this beautiful community. Muito Obrigada Sandra :-)

Had a great experience with Impactrip this past March. Loved lending a hand to have an impact on the place I was visiting. Met a lot of locals, and learned some essential skills that I used when I got home. Quite the experience!!!

Current people in their easy going life be like: i need this and still need that , i want to buy these and those,... However they don't see that not very far from them, human beings are trying to survive because they don't have even water do drink, or food to eat and mostly they don't even complain about it. They are just waiting for someone to help them, to give them the right of being alive and being healthy, they are waiting for humanity to save them. So ,as humans we should reply their simple request, and give them what they actually need :food. That's when great people reunited and created the Refood project, located in Lisbon. Their idea is so easy that everyone could do that: they take food from the supermarket which is still good for the consumers from the day before (that without this NGO this food would go to trash) and give it to needy people. It was an honour being part of this project, for giving me an amazing opportunity to help the neediest directly, and meeting at the same time extraordinary people. When you see people saying to you (« obrigado » which means « thank you » in portuguese) or just smiling to you, this is an unbelievable feeling that I will never forget. Hope the next volunteers will enjoy this project as I did, and Bom dia for everyone !!:)