Hey! My name is Caroline, I’m 25 years old and from Denmark. I’m travelling through Europe by train with my boyfriend, Niklas, who is 28 and from Germany. We were supposed to stay at Vrouva for 3 weeks, but that quickly changed when we absolutely fell in love with the farm. We decided to cut off a part of our travel (who needs to see Spain when you can drown yourself in animal cuddles?) and stayed for 5 weeks instead.
When we arrived at Aegina we were picked up by Alexia at the port. From the very first moment of meeting Alexia we felt the wonderful, albeit hectical, and loving spirit of the farm. I remember how we looked at each other and smiled from knowing this would be perfect.
In the beginning we were a little surprised of the accommodation, to be honest. We were not expecting luxury at all, but we also weren’t expecting what met us. We slept in “The pallet shed”. This is a shed made up of pallets with two mattresses on the floor. Doesn’t sound too luxurious, right? Well, what we quickly found out was that the shed was placed perfectly in the shadow with an eternal breeze making it the greatest little place on earth – or so it felt. And also; the shed has the coolest cats! If you ever go to Vrouva, make sure to give Stephan, Stanley, Apollo and Mickey the biggest cuddles from me!
During the shift work at the farm we both quickly found our shelves (and were also highly encouraged to do so). We experienced that there was as much focus as possible with the assignments at hand to help us find what made us satisfied and happy during the work. I absolutely LOVE animals so I was allowed to dive into the care of animals while Niklas was allowed to clean, repair stuff, and feed the chickens (which he enjoyed so much he now has a life-goal of having chickens).
The work at the farm can be hard and a little shitty (literally) and the heat is intense, there is no lying about that. But with the stories of the animals and all the hard work from the main team of Vrouva in mind, the work becomes meaningful and doable. Also, all the love from the animals can make up for any hard day you may have had.
We can, with all of our hearts, recommend to join the Vrouva team in any way you can, they really need the help! If you can’t offer your help by volunteering then donate, follow Vrouva on social media, like or share a post on your social media or even just talk about Vrouva, animal welfare and adoption. It may seem like a little thing to you, but for the animals and the people trying to save them, the little thing mean everything.