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Join my non-profit tribe-like community with conscious projects in Ontinyent, Spain

  • Favourited 328 times
  • Last activity: 28 Mar 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    ===============
    Ideal arrival date:
    25th-26th of February
    Hosting volunteers from then until mid May
    ===============

    My name is Kelsang Bas Belda (33, he/his). After many years nomading around the world (and being a workawayer myself many times), I decided to come back to my beautiful hometown to bring back all the lessons learned. Here I reconnected with two friends from childhood and we discovered we shared interests, goals, worldview and more, and we decided to move into action. We started doing non-profit work to bring conscious and healing activities to town, and that led to the establishment of a non-profit called Ágora Plena (wholeness Agora), and you are very much invited to come and join us.

    These are some of the activities and projects that we will be doing in the following months:
    - Organizing two grassroots non-profit retreats in spring.
    - Leading meditation sessions as a volunteer.
    - Leading Buddhism and psychology workshops as a volunteer.
    - Organizing activities like yoga, meditation, ecstatic dance, tantra... as non-profit activity.
    - Organizing a literary residence for workawayers as a collaborative workshop for writers.
    - Helping NGOs that plant trees to fight deforestation.
    - Aiding other local associations with occasional help.
    - Whatever else comes our way.

    The whole idea is to web a network of like-minded, mindful people that can operate as a tribe, as a community, despite distance or diversity of ideas, for it to be as beneficial as possible for the town of Ontinyent and the world.

    This is us:

    Drolma (32, she/her): Dancer by training and studies, now yoga teacher, Drolma takes care of our bodies. She is also in charge of the agricultural side of our endeavors. We don't own any land yet, but we have some fields that we have offered to take care to prevent them from getting lost to disuse.

    Kelsang (33, he/him): Therapist (life coach, holistic therapist), shamanic practitioner, Buddhist practitioner and meditator, researcher and writer. If Drolma represents body, Kelsang represents mind. Organizer of events, numbers, calendars, but also ideas, inspiration and revolutionary fuel (and he takes care of this workaway page). Most probably, if you come stay with us, Kelsang will be the one hosting you.

    Coloma (30, she/her): If Drolma symbolizes body and Kelsang mind, Coloma takes care of the soul. Tantra practitioner and ceremonial expert, Coloma takes care of the hearts and the connection with the source and with ourselves.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Charity Work
    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    DIY and building projects
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    The best benefit you'll get from staying with me is that you will be involved in the group of people who I described as trying to build a "tribe", which stands for a network of like-minded people who, on the basis of friendship and shared concerns about the world, try to organize non-profit activities for ourselves and for the broader community. So you'll meet my friends, join our plans, play music, go to nature, go rock-climbing, go swimming, etc., with all of us.

    Also, the activities we organize might be a good benefit for you if you are interested in them (which I hope you are). We organize ecstatic dances, meditation sessions, yoga classes, trips to nature, and so on. The Buddhist center in town is also particularly active and their activities are very attractive. For example, on February 27th they host a Buddhist monk scholar from Tibet who is amazing. Most activities will be in Spanish. As I said before, the better your Spanish, the more you can get from all of this, but it is not a requirement.

    On top of that, Ontinyent is a very active town with bars, restaurants, tons of young people, and surrounded by amazing nature (Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but only a bit). You'll have plenty of time to explore on your own and to partake in the activities that I do with my friends around town. If you are into rock-climbing, Ontinyent is a paradise, and we could go two or three times a week. If you have never done it but want to learn, we'll teach you happily.

    And finally, my friends keep on saying that I am very wise and goodhearted, so you might also make an enriching connection for your trip if we happen to be a spiritual match.

  • Help

    Help

    First, let me say this is not the place where you will be doing the same task 20 hours a week. I still have no idea of the tasks that I'll have to do to move forward with all these projects, so I cannot be super specific with the tasks you will end up doing. That being said, I'll try to paint a picture in the following lines.

    = Basics =
    == The apartment. Meals, cleaning and reparing/upgrading ==
    An important part of the co-living is meals, which are always cooked collectively for everyone who lives in the house and sometimes friends from these tribe-building projects. We always cook vegan, local, delicious meals (we never order food and only very rarely eat out) as a way to both promote a more collective way of living and a more respectful, less consumerist way of feeding ourselves. If you are good a cooking, you are a very good candidate to join our tribe. Expect also to do other, less fun, housekeeping tasks like doing the dishes, cleaning, doing laundry, and so on. There is always the possibility that something else comes up. As it is a very old apartment, furniture is shitty and the looks of it are also a bit old-fashioned. Painting a wall, fixing a broken window, repairing some old whatever... these things also happen. The more handy and crafty you are, the more we will love you. I am quite inexperienced with handy work, so all the help is welcome.

    = Retreats =
    == Yoga, meditation and ancient wisdom ==
    We are organizing grass-roots gatherings 'retreat-style' (also non-profit). These events will include yoga, meditation and other workshops. Hopefully we can have the elders of the tribe share their wisdom as well (elderly people from town who have interesting wisdom to share). We will have two retreats back to back:
    - 26-28 of April (in Spanish)
    - 1-5 of May (in English)
    If you come around that time, you will be able to contribuite to the gathering with your help and to participate in some of the activities.

    = Events =
    == Non-profit events ==
    We try as a neo-tribe to organize as many conscious events as possible, always free of charge and with no profit intented. We usually do 1 or 2 a month. Not only will you be able to help plan and organize, but you will be able to participate! They are usually in Spanish, so the better your Spanish, the more you can benefit from this part.

    = The Old House =
    == A 4-story house for the tribe ==
    We recently bought an old house in the middle of the city's old town. We plan to make it a project house with plenty of space ofor volunteers and activities of all sorts. The house is in a state of almost ruin and needs tons of work, like cleaning, construction, electricity and such. We plan to do this tasks mostly with professionals, but if you are knowledgeable or skilled with these issues, you are welcome to contribute.

    = Literary Workshop =
    == Volunteering + creative writing ==
    It is my dream to host volunteers who are also into creative writing so we can support each other in our artistic pursue. As a novelist myself, I find collaborative literary workshops (writing groups) to be a fundamental tool for the job. If you write fiction, non-fiction, poetry, whether if it is in English, Spanish, or any other language that we can somehow follow, you are welcome to come join and use your volunteering time also to propel your writing.

    = Online =
    == Help with social media, taking pics or vids of non-profit events ==
    Given the world in which we live in, online presence is key. Unfortunately, I struggle with that field. The help consists in helping me with my personal online presence and that of the diverse projects of the "tribe". If you have experience with web design and/or social media management, I would be very happy to count with your help and counseling for me to overcome my old-fashioned resistance to technology.

    That should be it, more or less. Expect also to have a lot of task-less time if nothing comes up. If you are the kind of person who enjoys having different missions every day, who likes diversity and improvisation, and who enjoys a good, relaxed and fun work environment, you are a very good fit, and I will be very happy to have you around.

  • Languages spoken

    Catalan: Fluent
    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Fluent
    German: Intermediate
    Italian: Intermediate
    Portuguese: Intermediate

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    I live in a big apartment in town. The apartment is 110 square meters, but most of it is a massive hallway that makes no sense. Anyway, you will have your own private room in the apartment. There is one bathroom, one kitchen, one living room that I call 'the playground' (you'll see), and one room that I use as my office.

    A few disclaimers:
    - The apartment is in a fourth floor and there is no elevator. (Integrated cardio gym)
    - The apartment is old and not fancy at all. Beware. But it is cozy and enjoyable.
    - The apartment has no Wi-Fi connection.
    - We eat vegan.
    - Smoking tobacco is not allowed in the apartment.

    About the Wi-Fi absence: There is a public library next 3-minute walk from the apartment. That is where I go to do work that requires a long period of internet connection. There is also the nearby Buddhist Center, which has slots of open doors, and also has Wi-Fi. Both are great for working with focus and concentration. We also work online at home using someone's phone data at times.

    Also, very important, we eat only vegan food at home, and we have almost never alcohol at home. I am a strong advocate of communal eating, meaning that one lunch, and only one, is cooked every day (that means one big pot for everyone), and ideally we eat all together. The same applies for dinner usually, but dinnertime is more prone to exceptions. What I mean is that it wouldn't work for me if you want to cook your own meals for yourself only. Cooking must be collective and it will be vegan. Ideally, you are vegetarian or vegan yourself, or you find it easy to adapt. If you have a strong tendency of meat-eating, you might have a hard time living with us.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    There is a train line that stops in Ontinyent and the apartment is 20-minute walk from the station.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

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

Host ref number: 648323834884

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