SUCCESS STORY: MARTINA FARRIS COMPLETED HER LEARNING ADVENTURE IN PORTUGAL

Period of Exchange: 01/10/2018 - 31/01/2019

Duration of Exchange: 4 months

Country: Portugal

Martina Farris

During the 4 months period, Martina Farris, the New Entrepreneur and Psychologist, from Cagliari – Sardinia - Italy, worked hand-in-hand with Carlos Ferreira, the President of Geoclube - Associação Juvenil, an experienced NGO founded in 2000 and its staff Marta Reis (Project Manager) and Diana Gonçalves (Social Worker). Martina also worked with other institutions that are closely related with the NGO field and her expertise.

Martina met the program through ANJE - Portuguese Association of Young Entrepreneurs - one of the local contact points of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, and began her adventure in Portugal. She had the opportunity of observing the hippotherapy activities at the Pony Club, in Porto, and accompanying an elderly group in facing their anxiety in the game of “bochas”, at Centro de Convívio de Rio Tinto. The planned activities were aimed not only at physical rehabilitation but also at social integration, thanks to the inclusion into heterogeneous grouping.

The collaborator’s knowledge, skills and experience allowed Martina to know more about her interests field and to pursue her personal Erasmus’s for Young Entrepreneurs goals. Martina got to work with a multidisciplinary team which enriched her knowledge on the field, even more on a logistic level.

This experience allowed both New and Host Entrepeneur to develop more cooperation and gather more information about the field of disability. Martina developed skills on working with elderly people and she also got in touch with the hippotherapy area, an activity that she can bring back to Italy and that will help her develop her project the best way possible.

This exchange leaves an open door for future cooperation with other institutions in Portugal, as well as future work in Italy with new entrepreneurs.

Carlos Ferreira and Martina Farris

WORDS OF MARTINA FARRIS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AS NEW ENTREPRENEUR

“I find myself satisfied with the experience. Being able to know another culture is always an added value because differences allow us to grow both professionally and personally. The best thing was to be able to play different roles in the association and to be able to demonstrate skills that I did not know I had”.

WORDS OF CARLOS FERREIRA ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE AS HOST ENTREPRENEUR

“It’s always a good experience to organize and develop an exchange like this for our organization to work closely with other realities. Martina was a great person to work with because it was a way to connect also with other organizations from the region”.