Participants impressions about the project

As I already knew, Portugal is one of my absolute favorite’s countries, and it’s always a great experience to do projects here, and this time was no exception. With Ananda as hosting organization you know for sure that the project in general is good, but it’s always interesting to meet the group of participants, cooperating organizations and other people connected to the project. 
The group is a good mix of people with different backgrounds, and it was surprising to see how fast we all got along. The work was in general soft activities, but a great experience for working in different culture, responsibility and teamwork.
The housing, blue coast hostel, is the best accommodation I’ve seen in Portuguese projects so far, and I would really recommend a visit.
For me this was a great project and I will for sure make use of my experiences here back in Norway and in life in general.
Thank you all for a great time!
 
Stian Ovstebo


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One thing that I remember most from the project is definitely all the happy faces of the children, the smiles and surprised faces when they saw how many toys and funny stuff we had brought with us. I love Setubal, it is a beautiful city with great people and a great history and culture.

Through working here I have gained a lot... I have learned about the school system in Portugal and the discipline amount the children/students is much higher then in Norway.

Baha Shamohammad

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Through working here in Setubal, I have gained experience with living in another country and collaborating with the group. The arrival was great, as we were very well taken care of. As soon as we got to the hostel we were given food, drinks and lots of smiles. I have to say that I felt at home instantly. The first day after a good night sleep, we got to know the city and enjoyed just taking it easy and getting used to our new environment (which is always good if not elementary when arriving in another country). Everyone is really very friendly here.

I think everyone got along really well. When it comes to work, everyone has shown interest and willingness to contribute. Personally I haven’t always been working with the others per say, as ive been developing the blog and doing other media related tasks. I have enjoyed working as well as the stay, as the tasks given were very well suited for our age group. I am also very happy with the project coordinators, because we have shown us a great deal of hospitality and leniency.

Over all, experiencing Setubal has been very exciting and even emotional. I definitely want to come back!

Yannik Pijarski Sterner

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 We had a great time when we arrived here in Portugal/Setubal.

I liked working with kids, and I think it was amazing.. the kids are kind had talent.

Fariin Sherzai


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We had a good start on the project, good introductions with the group and our collegues.

The experience of working with kids in different ages and classes of different places in Portugal was important and learning full. Differences between private and the public schools as well as schools in the city and the schools in countryside.

However it was more or less practical work, we also had some lesseons with the Portuguese language. Learning the basics and an introductions was easy learned and helpful.

Being a part of community and everyday life was most important, like visiting schools where the parents of kids were participating.

Even if we were not very lucky with the weather at the start of our travel and had to cancel some cool activities, we still had good time to both enjoy our work and the good weather that was following. Sightseeing Setubal was Amazing.

The Leonardo Da Vinci project gave us the opportunities of learningfull days with amazing people, weather, food, language and good drinks.

Hod Waiz


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The Leonardo da Vinci Project was not only a great possibility to develop myself and get new experiences working with children but also a chance to come to beautiful Portugal. That is my first time here and I will always remember this fun weeks which I have spent with nice people and places which I have seen and discovered. These things made me sure that if I only can then I will come back to Portugal. These days give  me much more information about the country and culture then years spend at school.

Thank you Leonardo da Vinci Project and all people involved for gave me opportunities of traveling and discovering Portugal.

Beata Kaleta

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This project started a little cold with the bad weather the first week but as it got sunnier my time was much better and I learned a lot about the culture and the history in Portugal. I got to really work with my English since there where a lot of amazing people from all over the world.

The activities that we did with the kids where quite fun and hard at the same time since we did not speak Portuguese and it was really hard to communicate with them and show passion about the work.

What I have mainly gotten from this project is more respect for people that work with little kids because it can really be exhausting sometimes. Maybe in the future I will work with kids, because even if it’s hard it’s even more rewarding. 

I have also learned some basic Portuguese and that was a lot of fun specially using some words with the locals or even the kids.

Overall I think this project was amazing for me because I got to really open up with people and talk a lot of English and basic Portuguese. Learned how to work with kids and learned many new activities.

Ivan Jovanovic

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I think this project has been a great experience. Spending time in a both working, cultural and vacation atmosphere has made me gain a lot of experience in different fields. Working with kids from 3-10 years old in different groups both indoor and outdoor has been really great and the activities we have done are very creative and good for different aspects in life and especially when they are starting so very young. Working as a team and organize a area and setting up stations and securing them for the children so that they can play and practice is also very good for yourself development. Watching them have fun and you are holding the post or helping them if they need you is very fun and feels very mature and gained a lot of responsibility. Really tried my best even though it could be a little long days after working 5-6 days straight but it was totally worth it.

The city’s itself is very beautiful and Portugal feels like a little paradise with many sweet spots to visit and a lot of culture and monuments to tell the city’s history. People are great even though they are hard to connect with since the English is not spoken by many but I feel that I’m welcomed and that they appreciate us and by attending the Portuguese class to practice Portuguese it became a little bit easier to understand people sometimes.

I liked this project and have no negative reflection upon this experience and I think it’s been great. This is absolutely something I will do again.

Kristian Ekstrom

Group photo

Participants moments during the work placement

Setúbal by the participants

Setubal is the main city in Setubal Municipality in Portugal.

-population: 118,696
-City proper: 89,303
-The municipal holiday is September 15
-national day: 10 June
In the times of Al-Andalus the city was known as Shetubar, it is a Arabic word. in the 19th century, the port was called St. Ubes in English and St Yves in French.  Al-Andalus was Arabic name of the Iberian Peninsula, issued by the Muslim conquerors. It refers to both the emirate and the Caliphate of Córdoba, in particular, to the realms of Taify, may also be used to determine the overall territory.

In the beginning of the 20th century, Setubal was the most important center of portugal's fishing industry, particularly sardines.

The main historical monument of the city of Setubal is the Monastery of Jesus, built between a 15th- and 16th-centuries church that represents one of the first buildings in the Portuguese late Gothic Style known as Manuline.

History

The plot of Setubal shows human occupations remains of prehistory and later phoenicism Romans and Muslims. Setubals history is very attached to the beautiful coast of the city, the coast attracts a lot of attention from the world around. The city was often visited by kings and other people with ships who either visited the beautiful coast, Troy and the City of Setubal, or kings and other powerful people would come to take  control of the City, the goods and the people.

It's relationship with the sea started with a remarkable long-lived fish salting industry, which started in the 1st century AD .

Going back in history the most importent time of Portugal occures, which is the conquering of King Alfonso the 1st in the year 1139. But since the country was devided by both the muslims and the cristians, the king had too make agreement with the muslims, and he managed a peaceful agreement with the Muslims living in the half of the country in the year of 1143, and Portugal was born. History gifted Setubal with the Fort of San Felipe, also known as Castle of San Felipe in 16 century.
Castle of Sao Filipe's construction started in 1582 and was lead by Filippo Terzi, and then Leonardo Torriani. Was mainly used as a defense against the rebels and pirates from the South Africa but is used as an hotel nowerdays with a perfect view over Setubal and the Sado River.

The walls of the town of Setubal

Puerto Atlantic privileged first defensive structure of the city, which was a wall that began during the region of king Alfonso the 4 th (1325-1357) and completed in the next reign, under Peter 1st (1356-1367) whose function is to contain the assault of pirates and privateers natives usually of North Africa.

Sports
Biggest football club in Setubal is Vitoria Futebol Clube, known as "Os Sadinos" (Those from the Sado River) or "O velho Senhor" (The old Enquire).
The club was founded in 1910 and their stadium, Estadio do Bonfim,  have a capacity of 21,535 seats. Vitoria is playing in the Primera Liga wich is the highest division in Portugal. Os Sadinos have won 3 Portuguese Cup titles and 1 Portuguese League Cup title.

 Food
Setubal is known for the seafood dishes, it is Fishermans Town, you can have dishes of anything from the sea, from octopus to snails, but the most important is the Sardines. The local strong wine, Moscatel, is also very tasty.

 
Literature
One of the most important and known poets in Portugals history is Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage. He was born in 15. september 1766 and died in 21.december 1805. His Pen name was Elmano Sardino and the litary movement of him was Neoclassicsm. In Setubal you will find a great statue of Bocage and learn more!

The Bonfim Stadium
The stadium was built in 1962 and holds up to almost 19 thousand people and is
now used as main stadium for the Victoria F.C.

 The Bonfim Garden
"Ao Cantador, Antonio Maria Eusebius O Calafate"
Antonio was a famous poem writer and architect from Setubal who lived in 1819-1911.
His letters are said to be lessons of wisdom and his texts are well known all over Portugal. He was also known as the "O calafate" for the profession of building wooden boats and a well known poem called "Warbling Setubal".
                           
 

Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage
Manuel was a famous neoclassic poet from Setubal who lived from 1765 - 1805.
Bocage was a powerful genius and perhaps due to his sheer rudeness of some of his verses Bocage is still geniunely a popular figure today, not only in Setubal.

Castle of São Filipe
Castle of Sao Filipe's construction started in 1582 and was lead by Filippo Terzi, and then Leonardo Torriani. Was mainly used as a defence against the rebels and pirates from the South Africa but is used as an hotel nowadays with a perfect view over Setubal and the Sado River.


Viewpoints
If you follow the road west of the City up the mountains you will find small pit stop areas among the way with beautiful view spots that you can stop and take pictures at.
 

The Monastary of Jesus
The church of the Monastery of Jesus is a very known building in Portugal built between 1490 and 1510 and was one of the earliest known buildings in which aspects of the Manueline style of decoration were employed.

                           
Curch of Sao Domingos
Sao Domingos history starts at 1556. Church of the Mannerist style and Pombal, built in the convent of Santo Domingo. Some elements have been changed with the Pombal reform, as the facade, the side elevations and interior decoration.

By:
Baha Shamohammad
Fareen Sherzai
Hod Waiz
Yannik Pijarski Sterner
Kristian Ekstrom
Stian Ovstebo 
Beata Kaleta
Ivan Jovanovic