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- SEARCHING FOR HELP FOR APRIL-MAY-JUNE - MAXIMUM STAY OF 2-3 WEEKS
This host is located in Varangerbotn in Northern Norway. I am Ragne, a woman grown up in a Sami reindeer family. The big herds of reindeer are up in the mountains the whole year around, but I have some reindeer home in a fenced area from November until April. This might be reindeer that need special care due to different reasons. I also have 2 Australian Shepherds - herding dogs. As a volunteer here you will live in a seperate house with your own bedroom bathroom or you will live in my house together with me. In my house it’s only me and my four legged friends :) I am partly busy daytime as I am working as a teacher. Be prepared to spend some time on your own :)
- I am always searching for carpenters for small projects inside and outside of the house :)
- I take only volunteers for shorter terms, maximum 3 weeks
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THE HELP MAY AND JUNE
- Searching for help with carpentry or a handy tasks -
The tame reindeer move to the mountains about end of April. We start cleaning/clearing the reindeer farm area.
Tasks:
- Clearing trees
- Cleaning outside
- Fencing (Fixing dog fences, reindeer fences etc)
- Carpentry tasks
- Help with general maintenance inside and outside of the house
- House renovation tasks
- Helping out in the garden
- Painting
IMPORTANT:
From the end of may, sun never sets, and you can experience up to 24 hours of sunlight - the midnight sun. It is "daylight" all night long, be aware :) From the end of June we have a lot of mosquitos. In this period, the sun never sets, and you can experience up to 24 hours of sunlight - the midnight sun.
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THE HELP IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER
- Searching for help with carpentry or a handy tasks -
Tasks:
- Fencing (Fixing dogfences, reindeer fences etc)
- Painting
- Renovation tasks inside of the house
- Cutting and clearing trees, making firewood
- Helping out in the garden
- Picking berries
- Help with reindeer calf marking (only sometimes, this won't be your main tasks)
- Pick food (reindeer lichen) for the reindeer
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THE HELP IN OCTOBER, NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER
- Searching for help with carpentry or a handy tasks -
In this months I take my tame reindeer home from the mountains!
Tasks:
- Snow shoveling
- Cutting trees
- Help to cut down reindeer meat into smaller chunks
- Fence building
- General maintenance
- Fixing fences
- Pick reindeer lichen
- Painting/house renovation
IMPORTANT:
From november until middle of January we have complete darkness. It can reach -40 degrees Celcius.
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MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
• Driver’s License
• In good physical shape and used with physical work
• Strong
• Fluent in English
• You are a carpenter or a very handyman
• You do not have any health problems that limits you with physical work
• Great communication skills
• Hardworking, responsible, and FLEXIBLE with help and helping hours
• You MUST be INDEPENDENT and able to work alone
• Minimum age 24
• You are NON smoker
• Handyman/used with using general tools (No need to have professional skills)
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YOUR APPLICATION SHOULD INCLUDE:
• A few sentences about yourself, your age and where you’re coming from
• How long you intend to stay + dates
• Previous Workaways and past work experiences, your experience with animals
• Language Skills
• Allergies or dietary restrictions
• Are you a handyman or not? Used with fixing things?:)
If you don’t include the information I am asking for, I can’t accept your application.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will learn about reindeer and the sami culture. You will get to meet, interact and take care of reindeer. In winter time you will get to see the Northern lights as this place is perfect for that :D
Here are a lot of opportunities, and what you learn depends on how active, motivated and receptive you are, and what time of the year you are coming here.
We are remote, with only 900 inhabitants in the entire municipality. There is a village 5km away with a restaurant and bar, musem and a few other things. It is possible to get a bus to the nearby towns, but the busroutes are limited.
- Tana Bru is 20km away
- Vadsø is 55km away
- Kirkenes is 120km away
These places have amenities like cinemas, pubs, shopping centres etc.
Help
Ideally I need independent, practical, physically strong and reliable persons that love to take responsibilities and know how to deal with different tasks.
Other tasks may be, depending on time of the year:
Feeding animals
Wood cutting
Putting up solid fences for the reindeer
Painting inside or outside of the house
Fixing things for the buildings
Making firewood, cutting
House renovation
Mechanical things
Gardening etc
Please notice that tasks and schedules will often change due to weather and animals, and we expect you to be 100% flexible with changing help schedules and days off. This is NOT a 9-5 job!
Please notice that the house is located in the forest with no next door neighbors, outside a small town, and you won't have a lot of transport possibilities. If you like to be around a lot of people all the time, this is not the correct place for you. If you are not in balance with yourself, it might be too isolated for you here.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Norwegian: Fluent
Sami: Fluent
Accommodation
You will have your own house with bedroom,, livingroom and bathroom.
What else ...
The nearest airports are Kirkenes and Vadsø, although it is probably cheaper and more convenient to fly to Kirkenes.
You will have to catch the bus from Kirkenes to Varangerbotn to come here. The bus routes you can find by searching for "Snelandia".
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Up to 5 hours 5 days a week, some days less, some days more, 2 days off a week. We need a volunteer who is flexible with helping hours.
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I spend 3 weeks during June with Ragne and her dogs and the time flew by way to fast! I enjoyed every single second and was planning to come back even before I left. With Ragne you will have a super sympathic, humorous and honest host. I felt welcomed from the first second. For… read more
The work around the animals is demanding but enables you to work with her beautiful reindeers and dogs. Because she allows you to work freely, the experience feels real and provides an in- depht insight in "applied" Sami culture, provided you are… read more
We spent five weeks with Ragne, the reindeer, the huskies and the australians sheperds. Our job was to feed the animals, to train some of the reindeer and to do some work around the house, but honestly it didn't feel like work since the animals were really nice, fun and friendly. We've been able to forge… read more
We loved spending time with the animals. And our best reward was… read more
However those were some of the greatest, happiest and most satisfying weeks of my life, and I will never forget them.
Ragne is a very nice host and an amazing cook. She is very good and straight forward in her communication as you can… read more
This was my first workaway experience and Ragne set the bar very high. I had the most incredible two months during August and September 2019. I initially only planned to stay for one, but it was working so well for both of us that I decided to stay for a second and to return in winter next year!
Ragne is a wonderful host… read more
I had an excellent time at Ragne's place. I worked a lot with reindeer and enjoyed it a so much! It can be quite tough in cold circumstances (luckely Range profided very suitable clothing, but still: -30 is cold) and at the end of the day my arms… read more
If you want to party this wouldn't be a… read more
Taking care of the puppies and watch them becoming… read more
I became a very independent person here… read more
