Come to experience permacultural living in the highlands of Mafinga, Tanzania

Details

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  Description

  Karibu! Welcome :)
  
  My name is Ottoman, and I am passionate about permaculture and living a sustainable lifestyle. Our mission is to raise community awareness by promoting permaculture. Our practices are guided by permaculture ethics, principles, and design systems.
  
  The farm is located atop a hill in the highlands of Tanzania, and covers 33 acres of land. It includes five zones based on permaculture principles and is managed by three trained permaculture experts.
  
  As a Workawayer, you will spend most of your time on the farm, enjoying the natural environment and sharing daily tasks with the family, farm workers, and possibly other volunteers or villagers. The farm features forests, and we are gradually expanding our farming area. We grow a food forest and a fruit forest — these are permaculture terms that you will get to know quite well. We also have an animal zone where we keep cows, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, and in our woodlot, we maintain beehives for honey. All the animals are very friendly and cute.
  
  We have two bungalows for sleeping, a kitchen, an open dining room, a toolshed, and sleeping tents (some on wooden platforms) in the forest.
  
  We warmly invite you to come support this project, experience Tanzanian farm life, and exchange ideas, culture, and knowledge. We are passionate about collaborating with people from around the world, who can share new insights, help with projects, and further our mission to spread permaculture wisdom, demonstrate its benefits, and educate others on sustainable living.
  
  In Tanzania, and globally, many do not realize that conventional farming practices are damaging our lands and ecosystems. We are tackling this problem by encouraging local schools and our local community to adopt permaculture gardens to improve our community’s nutrition and foster a respectful, sustainable relationship with nature. Through education, we can ensure future generations can continue these practices and benefit from the rich natural resources around us. We aim to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of permaculture so our local community can see the small, impactful changes they can make in their lives without compromising essential aspects.
  
  After many years of effort, we are very pleased with our success. We have implemented a garden in one school, and several families from the nearby village regularly visit us to learn about permaculture for their farms.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You will love your time with us, and will experience our real Tanzanian life. We will teach you Kiswahili and help you explore the area :) Our village, Mdabulo Ikanga, is small and friendly, and everyone knows each other. It’s a 20 minute, scenic walk from the farm. The locals are very welcoming and eager to converse, regardless of your Kiswahili fluency. There are small shops and bars, but no nightlife.
  
  Visitors often come to the farm to see our permaculture site, providing opportunities to meet locals and practice Kiswahili. We are close to Ruaha National Park, Tanzania’s largest, famous for its lions and other big cats. We can help you organize a safari at a reduced price or any nearby adventure during your days off. In the past, volunteers have described their excursions to the park as mind-blowing. We highly recommend it!

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  Help

  During your stay, you are welcome to help around the farm with daily tasks such as preparing garden beds, planting, fertilizing, weeding, turning compost, watering, building structures, feeding animals, harvesting, and meal preparation.
  
  We have several exciting large projects underway, such as building a fish pond, a park to play in, and building another garden. We also want to create a daycare for local children, to come play and be taken care of during the day whilst their parents work.
  
  Beyond daily tasks, we aim to keep the project growing with various design, building, and repair ideas. If you have computing skills, we would appreciate help with documents, websites, funding, and social media.
  
  There are always tasks where your help is needed, and all assistance is appreciated.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Swahili (Kiswahili): Fluent

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  Accommodation

  You will stay in either a cozy wooden bungalow on the farm, or in a tent on a raised platform in the forest. Both options are great, and they are safe, peaceful, and offer beautiful sunrises. We provide warm bedding, but feel free to bring your own if preferred.
  
  We serve three meals a day, and tea is available all day. All the food we prepare has been grown on the farm, including avocados, beans, greens, ugali (traditional Tanzanian maize dish), potatoes, mushrooms, peas, oranges, exotic fruit, honey, homemade bread from our clay soil oven, and much more. My wife, Angelica, is an amazing cook, and makes all of our food flavourful and delicious. She also loves to cook with volunteers! Volunteers say that a highlight from living with us is the outstanding food 😋
  
  We have private wooden cabins for bucket showers with hot water prepared every evening. We pump the water from a nearby stream, and it is very clean. Our toilet is a compost toilet, and it even has a view of the pine forest! All the water that we use goes directly back to our plants, so please bring biodegradable and eco-friendly shampoo, conditioner, and soap.
  
  Our electricity comes from solar panels, which can easily charge your devices. In the middle of the farm, there are four big benches, perfect for relaxing and enjoying the view and good network reception.

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  What else ...

  There is no Wi-Fi at the farm or in the village. If you need internet, we recommend buying a local sim card. Vodacom will provide you with the best connection.
  
  The weather in Mufindi is pleasant: it is warm and sunny during the day, never gets too hot, but it gets cool at night. Please bring warm clothes for the evening, long pants for working, a rain jacket, sturdy shoes or rubber boots, and working gloves. If, by any chance, you have a bee suit, please bring it ;)
  
  For your arrival, I will assist you with travel arrangements to Mdabulo, and you will be guided here by my friends in many places. Local transport can be confusing if you don’t speak the language. So, share your travel plans with me, and I will be happy to help.
  
  We greatly look forward to exchanging ideas with you and advancing our vision.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  You may park your campervan on the farm and use our facilities, but we are not able to connect you to electricity!

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Usually 4-5 hours a day (however can vary depending on the work required), 5 days a week

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  This host charges a fee

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  Why does workaway.info allow listings of hosts who charge money?

  In developing countries (Where most hosts are involved in charity work or community development) some of our hosts may ask for a small donation to help the host family or charity (often less then 5 dollars per day) Workaway will allow this listing when the donation goes directly to the family or charity and is just to cover the cost of the volunteer‘s stay.  (This will be clearly marked on the host listing).
  We will strictly not allow listings posted by agents, “middle men” or projects who we feel are looking to profit from a volunteers stay.
   

   

   

  12000 Tanzanian shillings

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