Join an intentional, rural community in the west of Ireland

Details

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  Description

  We are a small community who follow a form of non-violent communication and conflict resolution. Our community consists of 7 adults and 4 children altogether but not all these members are here at any given time.
  
  We are a community following a philosophy which is based on principles from Native American
  elders that have been handed to us by our friend the late Manitonquat, the founding father of it. These principles, called the Original Instructions, are principles for living in harmony with each other and with nature.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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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

  There is opportunity to learn physical skills including splitting wood, gardening and building.
  
  Through interaction, you can learn how to communicate in a conflict free way. Ideally, the possibility is here to heal from the wounds that are inflicted through the forms of communication that are normal in society, which creates conflict rather than resolves it. Through the principles of the Original Instructions, as laid down by Manitonquat, we have the opportunity to communicate in a non-violent way (learning to respect each others boundaries and personal needs etc). In this way we learn to deal with our personal issues and conflicts in a peaceful and non-violent way. We value authenticity and the circle is a place where you can speak from your heart without being judged, and in this way we use the circle to resolve personal issues. While we have circles regularly to discuss practical matters and to resolve interpersonal conflicts, our intention is to use the practice of the circle to learn how to communicate with authenticity and from the heart in our day to day lives. Everyone who comes here is part of our circle, and we are all learning together how to break old patterns and learn new ways of communicating and living in harmony with nature and each other.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We are a small community. We grow our own vegetables organically. We expect Workawayers to work 4 hours a day 5 days a week. Helpers must be communicative, willing to work and positive in their attitude. Help could be required with splitting and stacking firewood, tree-planting, growing and preserving food, building and maintenance, among various other tasks that living on the land could require.
  
  We also have a few children here and we would love Workawayers to engage with them in a creative way. We are a young developing community, we are not perfect and we would appreciate creative input into the community building process. We are a community and we expect all helpers who stay here to participate in the circles, as it is part of our process of learning to communicate in a non-violent way, as well as for practical purposes to organise work.
  
  We would like to have people here to are open, communicative, and willing to learn from the principles that we stand for and are learning ourselves, and this is why we expect helpers to be part of our circles.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Irish: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  Anyone looking to learn German would have a few people to learn from here and we can also teach you a little bit of Irish if you like!
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  Accommodation

  Accomodation is in a shared house, which is the central hub of community. The house has 3 bedrooms which are all ideally kept for helpers. You may have your own room or be in a shared room depending on availability. In this house we have the community kitchen which is used by everyone. We have a shared meal every evening which we take turns to cook. We expect our helpers to participate in this by taking their turn to cook a meal, for which we will provide the basic ingredients. We will also provide basic food (organic and local where possible) for breakfast, lunch and snacks, and we grow a lot of our own vegetables. We have agreed that if helpers want to eat elaborate or expensive things that they should provide these themselves.

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  What else ...

  We are in a very beautiful rural area in the Sliabh Aughty mountains surrounded by lakes and beautiful countryside. Despite being in a remote area, we are in the middle of a great community of like-minded people that spans the whole of East Clare. There are many things to do around here, including site-seeing, swimming in the lakes, cultural activities etc. There are often gatherings, parties and other events where you can meet like-minded people. Lifts can usually be arranged to such things and we also like to bring our helpers site-seeing to see some of our favourite local heritage sites.
  We have had many helpers from workaway in the past and we have a book full of great reviews about their experiences.
  Many people who have come here have come with limited skills and have been inspired to take on a creative project, and inevitably leave here with many skills. We love people who take initiative to do something that inspires them and take on their own project and we have many beautiful functional things which we use here which have been left here as living memories of our previous helpers. We feel that is important for people to have a creative outlet and we love for people to create art here in their free time.
  We also love when musicians come here! Some of our members are musicians and we love to sit out by the fire and share music. We usually do this at the Celtic Festivals which happen 8 times a year, although we love any excuse for a fire on the land.
  In the past we have hosted sweat lodges and camps here, and we anticipate doing more events like this.
  In addition, a new feature which is being developed in our community is the New Story Hall, which is a space which will be used for gatherings, workshops and classes, theatre, music and dancing, especially céilís (traditional Irish dances) and Irish trad music sessions. If you have a skill you would like to share or a class or workshop you would like to teach we would very much welcome you bringing that to the New Story Hall.

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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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  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We are open to considering this but bearing in mind we already have 2 dogs here so it really depends on the nature of the animal you want to bring!

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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