Job Shadowing

Portugal and Romania 

By Hathaichanok Saiduangkaew 

Hello everyone. I am Tabbie. I had a chance to be a representative from Thailand to do job shadowing for the Go Green project in Portugal and Romania in July - August 2022. Job shadowing allows me to visit many organizations that work on environmental, sustainable, circular economy, and support youth activities. At this time, I had a Vietnamese colleague from CSDS join a journey.

I was impressed that in Portugal there are many organizations working on environmental protection and development. Their concepts are very interesting and new for me. For example, they turn free public spaces into planting space for many families and encourage them to bring organic trash to make compost for the plants. Moreover, I like the concept of Cicloficina Porto that they gather people who like biking to come and teach other people how to fix the bicycle by themselves for free. Even if anyone wants to have a new bicycle, they can make it by themselves from free equipment and stuff in the office. I was WOW with this project. The most touching project is Refood. I was super impressed with their concept of receiving almost expired food or ingredients donations then managing to give them to people who need it. Also, how they work in the zero-waste system surprised me a lot. But overall, all of them including the organizations that I don’t mention here are very meaningful.


I enjoyed working with Mariana and Tamy. They are very nice, friendly and helpful. Other people that I’ve met during staying in Portugal are amazing as well. It was very nice to have a conversation with them.

Furthermore, doing Job shadowing in Romania gave me a different feeling because half of all organizations that I visited, I went with young volunteers. It made me feel like I was going out with my friends, not too formal. We had many activities to do together.

It was very special that we could visit Brasov municipality and talk to the government officer in charge of the Green City project. I like the idea of how they care, think and do for their people. Hopefully we can do like them in Thailand one day.

Moreover, I like the concept of the Carpatia organization that they bought a big land to protect the forest and wild animals instead of making business. With that stunning view and atmosphere, I’m sure that they can earn a lot of money if they do the business, but they don’t. I’m very impressed.

Lastly, I like how some organizations work with refugees, especially the Carpaterra organization works with Roma kids. It was a great opportunity for me to visit the Roma village to see how they live, grow up and lifestyle. I think it would be great if they can meet international volunteers often to open their mind to recognize the importance of studying.

Thank you very much Laura (APIS PM Feedback) for organizing all the wonderful activities for me. All the programs were well organized. Also, Laura and other volunteers are very amazing. Although the weather was variable, I had a great time in Romania.

Finally, I would like to say thank you so much to YUPI and VSA Thailand for giving me this opportunity to be part of job shadowing. Doing job shadowing in the Go Green project in Europe is significant for Asian people like me. It opened my eyes and my thought to know and see that other people in this world are taking care of the environment seriously. I as a Thai should do something to save the world too. And I will.