José

I am José and I’m a bit like “the black sheep” on the EDC volunteer team. For example, I have never been to a diving competition. I have no knowledge of the terminology at all and just don’t call it “diving” irreverently. So how did I still end up at the EDC as a webmaster?

Volunteering

This is indirectly due to our tournament director, Christine. For years I have been a volunteer with her husband in the national toy library association, the VSN. In any case, it has always given me great satisfaction to do voluntary work in addition to paid work. It gives me a lot of energy and satisfaction. Sometimes work hard outside of your comfort zone, that teaches you new skills. Skills that you can use elsewhere.

Portugal

I have been living and working in Portugal, in the Arganil area, since 2016. I run a small-scale B&B there, which gives me the wonderful opportunity to meet people from all over the world, hear their stories, share experiences and then say goodbye again.

Alongside this, I work as an emigration advisor and as an advisor and coach for Alojamento Local (small-scale holiday rentals) in Portugal. However, most of my professional work is as a web designer and SEO specialist.

Before moving to Portugal, I volunteered for more than 25 years at a toy library. I was one of its founders and, over the years, took on many different roles, including chairman and coordinator of around 30 volunteers. This was alongside my work as a consultant supporting blind and visually impaired people — another role that I found incredibly rewarding.

Volunteering has therefore been an important part of my life for many years, and I am very happy to be able to contribute to the EDC as well.