Volunteer with a British family in Gutersloh, Germany
Area: Lower Normandy
We are a Kiwi family living in historic Normandy, renovating our amazing 400+ year old farmhouse whilst perfecting our French and generally immersing ourselves in French life. We are returning the house to it's traditional majestic beauty by reinstating the thatched roof and exposing it's stone and oak features, whilst at the same time adding modern twists of glass, metal and bold colour, and the occasional 'kiwi twist'. We are a couple who have travelled and worked in many different countries and enjoy learning about different cultures. Here in France, we have a simple but good life enjoying the outdoors in our pool, jacuzzi, trampoline, kids play area, etc. We are in the countryside just outside an active village, our 6 year old son goes to the local school (a 3.5km cycle to the center of town), we're close to all the historic D-day sites, actually on the D-day 'route-de-libertie', the evocative Abbaye d'Hambye is 5 mins away, it's 40 mins to the famous Le Mont St Michel, and we have easy access to port and airport connections to the UK etc. We're in the midst of an extenstive ecological project to rethatch and insulate our chaumiere. This involves many preparatory phases such as paving and decking terrassing and drainage, exterior insulation, lime repointing and double glazing. Additionally we are in the midst of many other projects - the construction of oak spiral stairs and mezzanine extension; instillation of wooden kitchen worktops and repair of 300 yr old oak flooring; planting of a New Zealand garden; and several craft projects such as the polynesian/celtic inspired carved facing boards for the new thatch roof (a great project for anyone with a passion for wood carving / wood carver). We use natural traditional products where ever possible and have a simple organic vegetable garden and we are looking for enthusiastic generally capable people who would enjoy helping us in exchange for access to this fantastic part of France. We are of course happy to assist those wishing to improve their French and/or cultural understanding of France and assist you with access to tourist sights where we can.Area: Luzern/ Zentralschweiz (Lucern)
Hi, we are Toni & Jasmin. I originally come from Germany. Some years ago, we seperately traveled to Australia & met there in a pub. One year later I moved over to Switzerland. And now, 7 years later,Toni runs the dairy farm/ livestock of his father in the vicinity of Lucern. The farm is located ca. 20min out of Lucern city situated on a hill with a beautiful view over lake Sempach & our village. There are some hiking trails around & mountains to climb. In wintertime it takes you about an hour in each direction to go skiing. We are expanding the farm & the house, so it would be great for us to have some help. The work depends on season and projekts. Mainly there is work in and around the house/ garden. Occasionally there is some work in the barn. Yearround there is a agriculture trainee with us and some lovely cats. We both have some activities we do in our freetime. Toni is a fireman & I am riding a horse (not my own horse). I do a lot of dancing & would like to improve in yoga. I am interested in photography. We both like travelling, but it get`s harder & harder to find some time for that. So now we are looking forward to see you around here:-)Area: Lower Saxony
We are a young, retired couple, renovating a house in beautiful Bad Bevensen. Our intention is to create a community living place for people, who want to share their life with like-minded others, support a healthy and environmental friendly life. We work hard to get the basic set up done this summer.Area: Berlin
We run a park similar to 30 such parks that exist in all over the world. They are a place for lingering and meeting, and radiate a new spirituality that rejects all forms of violence and discrimination, appealing to the sacred dimension of the human spirit, seeking to discover freedom and meaning. We are 30 friends from different countries, who bought this piece of land and this farmhouse. We are financing it from our own pockets and with the help of our friends. There is no any institution, organisation or company sponsoring us. The transformation into a park of study and reflection goes step by step and all the work we do ourselves is voluntary work.Area: Washington State
Our Ranch is a 74-acre spread set in the "Out West" sagebrush steppe canyons and river valley in the Okanogan Valley of Washington. Surrounded by alfalfa fields, orchards, and State lands, It has a timeless peace about it that comes from land whose husbands labored with love and gratitude for its bounty. At age 50, I bought the land that became The ranch. It was a decommissioned orchard and had been "rode hard and put away wet." With my 70 year old friend, Betsy, we began to create from the rubble an oasis of health. We are in the fifth year of transformation and now boast of producing hay, grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and rabbit; all are raised on pasture. As we plant our hay fields and food crops, we will do so as organically pure as possible; however, we have no plans to jump the hoops required to label our products "organic". We are against the ingestion of foods laced with herbicides, pesticides, hormones or antibiotic additives. We mindfully avoid Genetically Modified Frankenfoods. We prefer to grow our own food-- for our people, horses, mules, ponies, steers, pigs rabbits and dogs. Between 2010 and 2011, We have hosted well over a dozen farm volunteers and with their help, we accomplished oh-so-much. Our hats are off to these fine people. As always, we're looking forward to meeting new volunteers. Their chemistry and energy is just so invigorating.


