Region: Cantabria
SORRY. NO PLACE AT THIS TIME. I live in a small town 3 kilometers outside of Comillas on the Cantabrian Coast (Bay of Biscay). Comillas is a nice and quiet touristic town, but full of tourists (mainly Spaniards) during Summer beach season. It is 40 minutes from Santander where there is an international airport and port (daily ferries to England). I have a 18 months old german shepherd named Sancho who is sweet but full of energy. I work full time at the University in Comillas, so I will need some help around the house and taking care of Sancho. I have been active host with Coushsurfing for a few years and love it. This time I need a little help and can offer up to one or two weeks accommodation and some Spanish gastronomical fare for one or two people. I can speak Spanish and English so I can help with language practice in Spanish and need to practice some English myself. I am a photographer too but this is just a hobby.
Region: Apulia
A familiy run small holiday retreat , a restored ancient olive farm in Puglia. in the country but close to the sea (3 Kilometers) and the beautiful historic city of Ostuni (4Kilometers). A few years ago we built new comfortable guest accommodation where there was once animal stalls, created a pool and landscaped the gardens. We continue to pick the olives for our own use and have orange,lemon and almond trees. There are hens to provide eggs and a very small vegetable garden. This area of Southern Italy is a popular holiday destination for Italians, but is still unspoiled by International tourism. It has some wonderful ancient cities as well as some of the cleanest coastal waters in the Mediterranean.
Region: Rhone Alps
We are a family of four, two children 8 and 5yrs, Leon a British wine specialist with a wine shop here in Tarentaise and Jo a qualified secondary school and EFL teacher with nearly 20 years experience. We live in a tiny hamlet with a couple of all year round neighbours within one km and the nearest town is 5mins away by car. Our aim is to enjoy our beautiful natural environment to the max and make and produce as much of what we consume as possible. When lunch or supper comes entirely from our garden and our effort it tastes even more delicious!! Our garden ( fruit and veg) is organic and at present we are establishing irrigation systems from local springs. We are hard workers, enjoy having all sorts of projects and adventures, we love music, chatting and sharing a glass of wine over good food and meeting new people. PLEASE NOTE We only host from May to October
Region: Dargle
About the Rainbow Commons. We are a sustainability-conscious demonstration site practicing permaculture and experimenting in ecological and cooperative living. We are registered as a ‘Not for Profit Organisation’ located on 300 hectares of land that includes a mountain, streams, waterfalls, and forests. The Homestead has a food garden with a small expanding orchard. A variety of foods are grown but no cash crops—we are not a commercial farm. We are aspiring to be self-sufficient and are almost there! We’re off the grid so power comes from the sun (solar panels and batteries) and an occasional generator. Meals are cooked with solar cooker, or gas on cloudy days. There is an abundance of fresh spring water. We are 45km from Howick—the closest town. We are 65km from Pietermaritzburg, the closest city. We are also near Impendle, a rural Zulu traditional community, about 15km away. Weather: Spring is chilly and misty. Summer is rainy many afternoons and hot during the day. Autumn is warm during the day, cool at night and dry. Winter is warm during the day and cold at night (going down to 3 degrees Celsius) and it very rarely rains. Specialists: We’re looking for creative workers with specific skills and experience in permaculture, fundraising, un-schooling, natural building, carpentry, stone masonry, and alternative technology and energy. If you do not have these skills and would like to be able to make a valuable addition to a modern homestead we are offering a 2 week ‘Introduction to Permaculture and Sustainability’ course. You will learn specific skills in Permaculture and homesteading systems. These include: Compost making, food production, costs of homesteading, solar systems, natural building, Non Violent Communication skills, nurseries and forest creation, bread making and vegetarian cooking, water harvesting, nutrition and natural health, observation techniques, recycling and more. About the Work Exchange: We ask for 5 hours of work per day. There is a minimum stay of 1 week and maximum stay of 1 month although up to 6 month stay with remuneration can be negotiated if both the Helper and Sam & Shine are happy with the arrangement. Garden work includes: Making compost piles, cutting grass (summer), collecting manure, fire breaks (winter), weeding, seed collecting, planting seedlings, hole digging for trees and maintenance of trees, planting edibles and pioneer plants, repairing fences, cutting and chopping firewood, harvesting crops. Non-gardening work: Creation of a solar hot water system, kitchen work: making breads, preserves, chutneys, etc., building of an evaporative fridge, recycling insulation inside the house, natural building, and sharing time, skills, and energy with the children. Marketing, fundraising, administrative work and website updating are also needed. There are horses that need training for riding. About the Family: Samantha and Shine share the Rainbow Homestead. They co-parent and un-school 2 children—Oriah age 9 and Kei 7. We have a cat, Shiva, and a dog, Ashanti. We have a vision to live more sustainably on the earth and to make the world a better place through sharing and learning about this path with others. We enjoy spending time in nature, attending Rainbow gatherings, playing musical instruments and singing, hunting for mushrooms, going to the beach (when possible), doing crafts, storytelling, fire dancing, . We think of ourselves as spirituals beings. Sam affiliates herself with the Unitarian Universalist faith. We share earth-centred rituals and celebrations together such as Solstices and those that mark the change of seasons. Spiritual growth and openness to others’ spiritual paths are important values. There is very limited power as a small solar set-up provides all the power for AC and DC power. There will be specified times when the sun is shining to charge phones and use your own computer. There are no shops near to us so please bring with you airtime, favourite foods, medication, etc that you might need. About the Food: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be in the family home. Additional snack food is the financial responsibility of the WWOOFer. We are a vegetarian family but do eat dairy, eggs, honey. No meat is allowed in the house. Part of the helping hours will include meal preparation which is shared. About the ‘Not for Profit Organisation’: We run a NPO called "Sihlangene Kokwethu". This organization was set up for the purpose of environmental education and sustainability and for local economic development. We achieve this by providing “Permaculture and Sustainability” workshops to the local community through the Impendle Eco-Schools programme, to other members of the public through on-site tours, and through the Impendle Eco-Tourism programme that offers overnight homestays in Impendle and work-exchange at the Impendle Eco-Schools. Getting here: We might be able to pick you up in Howick if it corresponds with our normal trip into town. Otherwise taxis and a bus are available from Howick. SMS closer to the time for details.
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*****Update - Festival Volunteers Urgently Needed For Easter 2013**** Among the most important meeting places in Scandinavia for people who want to live a more conscious life, live from the heart and care for our planet. Since 1997 thousands of people have been touched by the warm, open, loving atmosphere here during workshops, festivals and visits here at Ängsbacka. To many this place has become like a second home and a source of inspiration. Every year hundreds of volunteers come to co-create it’s unique magic of acceptance, awareness and togetherness. As a volunteer you have a natural and important role within the festival organisation, and take part in the daily tasks; the pre-festival site build-up, serving and sharing within the working group during festivals and supporting the dismantling of the festival site when the event is over. Between festivals during the summer we have special program for volunteers where yoga, meditation, dance and workshops are regularly on the schedule, and of course, during festivals you are welcome to join the festival program as much as you can during free time! Volunteers are simply supporting the running of this whole machinery that is – all year round. We couldn’t do it without you! It’s a unique opportunity to grow on a personal level as you meet yourself and new friends in different areas of work and life. At the same time you get to experience some of the biggest events in northern Europe within spiritual and personal growth, health and a sustainable lifestyle. We change lives – welcome to be part of that change! ***Please note that we operate as not-for-profit organisation and we aim to ensure that any volunteer has access to all the wonderful stuff our festivals have to offer. As well as regular classes and workshops (such as yoga or meditation) we also offer offer volunteers a free therapy (massage, reflexology, etc) once per week. This is much more than you regular summer of volunteering. As such we request volunteers to make a contribution to the cost of food and lodging of around 100SEK per day.***