3 days with Carlos

Today I am going to share another story with you. The story of another couchsurfing experience. This week I hosted a guy called Carlos. He stayed with us for 3 nights and it was great. Great on many levels. He played with Iris , giving me few hours of break. He gave me some Spanish lessons. He took some cool pics of me and my daughter ( yes ! Another session. I know. We are vain !). All that was one big excuse for me to make another donation. And it made me even more happy, considering that it is a Christmas season. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with £5, that I decided to spend for a good cause. On Wednesday we went out for a walk. Carlos, Iris and myself. It was a nice , but slightly chilly day. We were having a nice time , when suddenly Iris said : " I am cold !". Her face has changed, she looked unhappy and was trembling. I took her home . Gave her some nice hot soup and drink. But it left me with this very uncomfortable feeling. Thousands of children every day say the same thing to their mums."I am cold". Or " I am hungry". And thousands of mothers can't do anything about it. Just thinking ,that I could be one of them ,literally causes pain in my body. So this time I chose to buy a very small gift. In the context of this little story, this humble gift has a great meaning to me. I went to the online store called choose-love , where you can buy presents for refugees. I bought a warm blanket. Perhaps it will be used by little, innocent girl like my daughter.
  

This time for animals.

Hello Friends. Things are getting better and better in my little charity world. Yesterday I was visited by another blogger . Funny enough she lives only few miles away from me. It was slightly different to my previous experiences with the guests. The normal arrangement is that bloggers are invited to stay for a night , to get a 'full experiences' of what the sweet charity is about. Also Ela has been to Broadway many times before , so really she only came here to speak to me about my ideas and to see my house. I suggested , that we should come up with some plan for the day. Something that would give us an 'excuse' to donate some money. So we decided to opt for a cheap home made meal , instead of going out to the pub. I made an Italian soup and Ela brought some delicious cheesecake. We had a long conversation about our hobbies, travel experiences and plans for the future. One of the topics was the sad subject of the animal cruelty. So it became obvious that on this occasion I should support an organization that helps neglected animals. We chose https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/  This is yet another £10 raised by The Sweet Charity Project ! Thank you to all my guests, followers and friends for helping me with this idea. As always , I ask you for help with promotion. Just like my page , invite your friends and share my posts. Together we can do more :)

Donation

Hello hello ! Those of you who saw my previous post know, that last weekend I was visited by Olga and Carlos . And now I am going to reveal what had I actually done with the money we managed to raise. As a reminder : it was £15. So I start with the easy bit : I used £5 as a donation to British Red Cross. It wasn't the first time when I chose this organization , and certainly I am going to do it again. And the remaining money ? This time I did something slightly different. Normally  I support those who are in some kind of ' real ' need. People in crisis, people tormented by the war and so on. This time however I decided to support my favorite traveler and her little daughter. I love Somos Dos blog , and I absolutely admire Joanna. I send her some cash now and then not just because I like her writing style or I secretly hope that one day I will hit the road with my little daughter. I love Joanna's blog also because some time ago it helped me to survive a very difficult period in my life. Without going into unimportant details , in the past I found myself in the very strange place. Emotion-wise. I struggled and I cried.Somos Dos seemed to be my only consolation. The story of the passion, the story of the courage. The story of the human's spirit , that can not be broken. I hope that in the future I will be in the position where I can raise some more money for them. The list of the people I would like to help is long. But step by step I am trying to do my job as well as I can :)

Weekend with Olga and Carlos

This has been "The Sweet Charity" weekend at its best. I was visited by Olga and Carlos from Spain. This super friendly couple from Madrid decided to visit me in order to see what my project is all about. They both are rather experienced travellers. Olga is also a blogger and her husband is a talented photographer . We made a deal , that they could stay with me for free and in return they were going to write about my idea on their blog. Standard agreement , I should call it. However ...on the top of that they actually had sponsored a number of attractions for me and my daughter. First of all ,they brought us some presents from Spain. Then they took us for a long day ride across the Costwolds. It was the perfect , colorful autumn day. The area covered with yellow and red leaves appeared to me more beautiful then ever. They invited me for lunch and also ( I must say this is my favorite bit) Carlos took some stunning pictures of my daughter . Not to mention , that thanks to them again I managed to pick up some new Spanish words ! Iris just adored them . It was like a love at the first sight. Because they sort of ' sponsored' a whole excited day out for me, I decided to make a donation of £15. In my next post I am going to share all the details about how this money had been used .
Have a great week everyone !

Olga, Iris and me

Letter from Nina

I met Nina via Couchsurfing. It was the end of August , when she sent me a message. She liked the idea of The Sweet Charity and wanted to visit us in September. Unfortunately that was the time, when we went to Poland so I could not host her. What a shame. But then Nina decided , that she was going to do a bit of fund raising anyway ! With her permission, I would like to show you the letter she sent me few days ago : 

"Hi Weronika,
I didn’t get any host in London, I stay in the hostel for 5 days at Palmers Lodge. I initiatively donate USD1.50 everyday during my trip. The donation goes to mosque in Brunei and orphanage organisation. I met a wonderful people in London, a family of Pakistani man whom married a Japanesse woman. They instantly invited me to their house for dinner, they even called me as their daughter. We still keep in touch until today. I feel totally bless. I also met a lady from Iceland in the hostel where I stay. She invited me over dinner at her house in Reykjavik. I never thought I made extended family both in London and Iceland. Through the 3 weeks journey, early dawn as soon as I wake up, I log in to my bank account and make the donation. Everyone I met on the trip was true angels, now that I believe sometimes angels are born without wings. In Iceland, I rent a tent and sleep in the car, did the Ring Road with godsent angel, a France guy from couchsurfing. It was my lifetime trip that I hope I can keep all the people I met on the journey close to heart and pray they are always in God’s love and care. Now that I’m back to Brunei, I start my own fund for surfers that I hosted. I started with $5 this month. The amount of money I plan to use for provide the proper meals, local fares, or whatever the surfers needed during their stay. I learn that the loudest help come from the voice that never ask for help when they actually need it the most. Thank you Weronika for the idea and also I’m glad to hear from you. You are angel that I wish to meet. Please let me know if you visit Borneo."

Thank you for your kind words Nina. I still hope to reach more people with my ' Sweet Charity ' message. It really is so fun and simple to make a positive impact :) 

 

Nearly time to go

       This is my last weekend in Poland. On Wednesday we are flying back to England. It is very hard for me to think, that I won’t be seeing my family and my friends till April or May next year. So I am trying spend every single minute with my loved ones, leaving all  the ‘internet activities’ for later. I am just writing this short post , because today I used the rest of the money , that I managed to raise during my trip to Czech Republic. Just to remind you : I raised £ 60 pounds , of which £ 30 was sent to Antek few days ago. Today I made two donations : one to https://www.kiva.org/  (£5 ) and one to https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/ (£25 )

I hope , that October is going to be beautiful. Autumn is actually my favorite season. Again I am inviting you to visit me in the Cotswolds. It really is the perfect time !

Czech Republic

Our little charity trip to Czech Republic went so well ! The idea was simple : find a free accommodation via couchsurfing and donate £ 15 for each night. Why 15 and not 5 or 20 ? I sort of made up this number by checking a lowest price for a bed in the hostel and the cheapest deal on airbnb. The cheapest bed in the hostel was something like  £ 12 per person and the best deal on airbnb ( suitable for 3 people) was about  £ 40 for each night. Hostel was out of the question anyway ( I am not hardcore enough to sleep in the hostel with a toddler), but just as a guideline – for 3 of us I would have to pay  about  £ 36. Now 15 versus 36 or 40 looked to me like a good , but also fair alternative. It saved me loads of money , considering that the number was multiplied by 4 ( the number of nights we stayed in Czechia ). To cut the long story short : I travelled with my daughter and my dad. We visited : Štramberk, Olomouc and Bouzov Castle. We were hosted by the most friendly family in a massive , beautiful and cozy house. And we raised £ 60 !! What a perfect way to travel ! I already send half of the money to my dear Antek and I am still thinking what to do with the rest of it :) Tomorrow the new week starts. I am sure it is going to bring me some good ideas. Here are just few photos from our excursion. 

Free Spanish lesson

Hello all ! I have yet another positive story to share with you :) This is what happened last weekend. I received' a couch request' from the guy called Alejandro. To be honest , recently I have been so busy and tired...I wasn't feeling like hosting anyone. But then I read his message. He said that 'his English was very bad' and he really wanted to come to my house , so we could do a bit of English/Spanish language exchange. And to this I said ...yes. NO REGRETS ! I had wonderful time. Alejandro was a great guest. Kind and super generous. In return for our hospitality he invited me out for a coffee , bought loads of food ( which we later cooked together) and beer for us. And of course there was a lot of chatting . Mainly in Spanish ! ME talking in Spanish ? For the first in my life I actually pushed myself to make a long conversation in this language. Yes-  it was terrible. Yes- it was broken. And poor Alejandro couldn't understand some of the things I was trying to say. But at the same time...gosh...I learned so much thanks to him. To say thank  you for the free ( and intensive) course he gave me I decided to donate £5 to https://www.plantingpeace.org/  

Thank you again !!

My New Mexican Dress

Dear friends. Those of you , who know me at least a little bit, know how much I love the Mexican culture . I received a small parcel this morning. My jaw dropped when I saw what was inside. THE DRESS ! Mexican style ! And the pair a of the most beautiful earrings.The person who sent it to me was Bozena. The same one who came here to do a little 'investigation' on The Sweet Charity . I tried it on and it fit me so well, like if it was made for me. My first reaction was, that I should re-pay for this kind gesture. As usual- I wanted to donate money. A tenner or something.  But then something else came to my mind. I decided to keep it just as a present without giving anything back. I realized, that this should also be inspirational to other people. Look ! When you are trying to be a good person, creating something positive around you...you will most likely attract some good vibes. Let this lovely dress be the proof , that the good energy really goes around. Thank you Bozena ! I always wanted to have something like this in my wardrobe.

Permaculture

Here is the quick update from the last weekend. This time we had a pleasure of hosting a very friendly Frenchman called Pierre . He currently travells England on the low budget by hitchhiking and using couch surfing.  He contacted me via CS website. Those of you who know my project, are probably aware ,that I host my surfers for free. But Pierre was one of those kind souls who asked me ( prior to his arrival) what can he buy for us to express his gratitude. At that point I mentioned "Sweet Charity" to him and he said, that he liked it a lot. He wanted to give $10 to https://permaculturenews.org/ , but there was something wrong with the website and we ended up donating just $5. Still..money is money and I had such a great time with Pierre ! He was even patient enough to teach me some Spanish :) I need more weekends like this ! Thank you !

Wonderful weekend

It has been a wonderful weekend here in the Cotswolds. Hot weather, plenty of sunshine and...another guest. Beautiful lady called Carly decided to spend her birthday with us . I hope she had a lovely time and comes back one day as she promised. She was a perfect , kind guest. Thank you for making some delicious watermelon lunch for Iris ! She absolutely loved it, especially passion fruit sprinkle. And thank you for making your donation to https://onetreeplanted.org/products/brazil-forests. So pleased that Sweet Charity just raised another £10
Enjoy last hours of your weekend and have a great week !  Peace and Love XXX

More money !

It has been a truly great weekend. I had a great pleasure of hosting Bozena. Bozena is a Polish blogger , who writes some very interesting stories about her life in the UK. She came here  specifically to learn more about the Sweet Charity and write an article about it. When we met , we discovered that we have so much in common ! Bozena took me and Iris for a wonderful daily trip, we discussed many different topics and ...we raised some more money. We decided ( again) to support children by donating to Save the Children ! Thanks to her I finally made  it Bibury. This magical place was voted " the most beautiful village in the Cotswolds ". And here is the best bit ! I am so pleased to announce that The Sweet Charity raised the first £100. £ 110 exactly ! I hope to host more of you people . Have great fun, chats and do good things at the same time.
I would like to invite all my Polish followers to read some of the Bozenas stories. Check it out at http://mojaanglia.mozello.com/blog/

Lavender fields

I am a big fan of the idea of skills/language exchange projects. This is a perfect way of creating a community spirit, bringing costs of living down, learning. And in my case skills exchange is a fun way of raising money. So here is my little idea I would like to share with you. I always had this dream of having a beautiful photo session in lavender fields. Being a full time mum, without a real income I would never allow myself to spend money on such a 'unnecessary' thing. So I thought ...why not to invite a couchsurfer , who has a proper camera and good 'eye' for taking pictures ! That's how I met Sanna :) We had such a wonderful time together chatting , cooking , walking around my little village. And the photo session was just perfect. Sanna managed to capture some awesome moments. My daughter grows and changes so fast, so I am so grateful that someone was here to take some pictures. Because I didn't have to pay anything for this stunning session I am more that happy to give another £20 to the charity. I haven't decided yet, where the money will go this time. Any ideas or suggestions ?

Hello from Windsor

We have been so lucky with the weather this year. Hot sunny days are perfect for little trips with a toddler. I decided to visit beautiful Windsor , which is not that far away from where I live . You can get there withing 1h40minutes of the train journey. To make the whole thing ever more exciting - we were offered a free accommodation there. Therefore I am so happy to tell you , that we managed to raise another £20 by doing the "Sweet Charity thing". This time the money went to support British Red Cross.

What a great idea !

My Cause UK offers you a chance to become a volunteer at the UK’s biggest festivals while making an impact for a charity and cause you care about! It’s simple – you donate your time and in return they make a cash donation to any charity you choose on your behalf. You don’t need to raise any money or make a donation yourself. You simply pay a deposit for an event, complete your shifts, and get your deposit back after the event is over. They then make a donation based on a fee they receive from the event organisers. For more info check : https://mycauseuk.com/

We are still in Poland

Hello ! Poland has been so amazing ! I was lucky to be born in such a beautiful country. I am even more lucky to have some great friends and family. People have been so generous to me and my daughter. They have been driving us to many beautiful places, buying us coffee and even pizza. Thanks to them I managed to save some money , so I can afford to make a little donation :) £ 30 will go to the charities. £ 10 to Kiva, £ 10 to my beloved Antek and £ 10 to organization called 'girls not brides'

Here are some pictures from our road trip(s) :

The Cotswolds

Broadway and beyond