For my week in an unfamiliar environment I travelled to Portugal in Carvoeiro with Basia, Carolyn, Amina, Eden to work in an animal sanctuary. We established that Portugal was our best option due to the following reasons..... first being that Carolyn used to live there and knows the area quite well, she has worked in this animal sanctuary before, so she was able to arrange all the times. Since Carolyn still currently owns property there, we were able to stay in the old house free of charge for the week.
Our job at the Animal Sanctuary was to clean all the cages and care for the animals in general. the First day we were there we cleaned all the sheep manure. The work over the course of a week include; picking up manure, playing with the animals, washing and brushing them. Many of them were badly treated before being rescued and need much attention and well as love and care.
This experience was very challenging as there were over 50 dogs all in an open area. Many of the animals were very aggressive as they were scared we would hurt them. When we tried to come closer to the main house most of the animals became very protective and some what aggressive. I learned that caring for animals is a very difficult task and takes a lot of hard work and commitment. Over all it was an amazing and educational experience I hope to come back someday and see how the facility is doing.
