Build together our ECO-PROJECT, than start with the wood! Amazing small piece of forest in Sicily, Italy

Details

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  Description

  We are a young couple who after years of traveling and study abroad etc.etc., decided to live in contact with nature, coming back to our homeland, Sicily. We want our lives in this world to be sustainable, for the Earth, and for us, to become energy and food production (almost) independent, to create a center for healing retreats, to develop a sustainable way of tourism (and a lot of other projects and ideas, but we can discuss them face to face).
  
  Milo owns a small piece (3 hectares) of land in the forest within the natural reserve of "Parco delle Madonie", near the beautiful village of Cefalù, where we are starting to renew the old stone house and to work on the land around. Our sweet dogs Luigi and Kubeba will be with us, along with Baghera and Priscilla, our two beautiful cats.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  General Maintenance

  Farmstay help

  Help with Eco Projects

  Help around the house

  Art Projects
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  I speak English, French and Portuguese, Milo speaks German instead of French, so we should be able to communicate! You will learn how great it is to live in the nature, with the Sicilian rhythms and sense of hospitality!
  You will learn (or improve) building, gardening, farming skills. You will have the possiblity to explore the beautiful area around, the village of Cefalu nearby, the city of Palermo not far, to meet our friends and, basically live with us for the period that we will plan. We are starting something that is completely new also for us, because we want to build positive and solid foundations, based on friendship and respect, for ourselves, the other human beings, the nature around us. That's why we have decided to do everything ourselves, with the help of friends and volunteers and whoever wants to dirt his hands.

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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

  Milo has a small piece (3 hectares) of beautiful forest near the village of Cefalù, and we are starting to build our home. The accommodation will be in tents or, when it's cold, inside the old stone house!
  
  We started to work on this project in July 2016 and we immediately understood that nature has its own rhythms, that are much slower than the ones we are used to. In order to have a constructive and positive impact with our work on the area and the forest, a few more steps than the usual ones need to be undertaken. Just to make a small example: we didn't want to use a cement foundation as a base of the big water tanks we bought, then dealing with this decision meant building a different, non-permanent base, something that costed us much more time and energy (and satisfaction also!!!) compared to what we expected in the beginning, and so on...
  There are a lot of things to do: what about a geodetic kitchen, a wood oven, renewing the old stone house, clearing and fencing the land, planning the biodynamic vegetable garden, designing and creating paths in the forest etc.? The help required will regard the work on the old stone house, the gardening and farming, using your creativity to suggest new things and ideas...it's an ongoing process that just started so all the positive advice and inputs are more than welcome!
  That's why, if you want to start your project on building or gardening or whatever, you can do it, our priorities at the moment are:
  
  - Gardening: creating the first vegetable biodynamic garden; clearing and maintaining the land;
  - Building: sewing up the walls of the old stone house; building the bathroom; building two mezzanines - P.S. Professionals will be working with us in these activities;
  - General Maintenance: setting up the hydraulic system and the irrigation system for the biodynamic vegetable garden;
  - Farming: designing and building the coop; maintaining the forest, chopping wood etc. don't worry there is always something to do!
  - Help with Eco project: designing and creating paths in the woods; fencing off the property (we don't want hunters in it!); creating a rainwater collecting system; setting up the solar panel system - P.S. Professionals will be working with us in this activity
  - Help in the house: don't worry there is always something to do!
  - Art projects: building a glass wall, made of recycled bottles, for the bathroom, whatever you feel to do!

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  Languages spoken

  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Camping in the nature next to the house during spring and summer.
  Accomodation arranged in the old stone house when it's colder.
  
  There is water, toilet and a functioning kitchen.
  We are working on the electricity side, we should set up as soon as possible the solar panel system.
  
  It depends on how many people we will be, we will differently arrange the accommodation for everybody. In any case, we will provide tents, you will only need your sleeping bag.
  
  We will prepare breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the snacks needed during the day (and/or the nights) for us and our volunteers. Elena is vegetarian but Milo is not, and we both love to cook, so everybody should be satisfied!
  
  Over there we don't have internet, but in Cefalù it's easy to get!

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  What else ...

  The place is absolutely beautiful, located in the Madonie Park (a very big natural reserve in Sicily), 5 km away from Cefalù, a very nice and characteristic village on the sea, and near the city of Palermo. In the nearby areas there are many small beaches facing an amazing sea. We have a car, but (lucky us!) just in front of our house there is also a bus stop, which arrives directly to the center of Cefalù, allowing you to explore around also on your own!
  
  We are easygoing and open minded people, curious about life and experiences, a lot of friends will also come to help, and often we will visit friends who live in the nearby hills, we want everyone who comes and visits us to feel comfortable, in the mutual respect, playing music and singing together at night after a day of good work.

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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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  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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