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Enjoy a unique way of life in Barbuda, Eastern Caribbean

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 3 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    We live on Barbuda (Antigua and Barbuda) with three small businesses between us - a cafe/craft shop, a beauty therapy business, and a glamping site/guest house on the beach. We are three generations of one family, from an elderly 70 year old who needs help, down to a six year old and a new baby, so we expect you to be ok with this combination. We don't all live in the same house but we usually see each other every day... so we need kind, flexible and adaptable people who understand busy family life. We might also have paying guests staying on Barbuda too, so you need to have good social skills, be friendly, very adaptable, practical and helpful, have a sense of humour and be confident in sometimes challenging, difficult situations (such as in the aftermath of a hurricane) but we always try our best to make it a rewarding experience for you.

    We have hosted many volunteers in the past who have helped with many and varied things and in most cases become friends. Your contribution is really valuable to us and we really enjoy hosting you, but we do need you to be committed to our work ethic; living on Barbuda can be difficult and simple things can be hard work. But we love to hear about your life, and we will host you to a high standard in a double bedroom accommodation in our home during your stay, and/or on the beach at the guest house if you work there. We cook for you once a day and give you the supplies to make all your other own meals. We will introduce you to our friends and take you to see some of Barbuda's places of interest - including the most amazing natural beaches in the world, showing you our beautiful island in return for your work.

    We are always busy, and usually booked up a few months ahead. We never take volunteers without precise start and end dates, although we are open to arriving earlier or staying longer because we understand travel in the Caribbean is not easy. We mostly do not take volunteers for less than three weeks although it's always worth asking if you are in the area and want to visit, as we sometimes have cancellations, so please do contact us with your plans to see if we can fit you in. We are currently looking for volunteers for 2025.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Farmstay help
    Babysitting and creative play
    Help around the house
    Hospitality/Tourism
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We have always been a tight knit, resilient, self-determining and strongly independent, small (1500) population at odds with the government in Antigua about our rural way of life. We see natural beaches preserved as such by the people of Barbuda for 400 years, and they see real estate $$$ - so we are on the frontline of the battle to stop this unnecessary development. Recently Barbuda has doubled in population as the developers bring in lots of migrant workers so many of the people currently living here are not Barbudans. On Barbuda you will see a (mostly) unspoilt, traditional, self-determining, very rural Caribbean island where the local community is strongly opposed to corruption and unsustainable land practice. Barbuda has amazing wildlife and nature, and you will be encouraged to go out and meet local people who are welcoming and kind. You will be invited to take part in family and community activities and learn all about the islands fascinating and unique history and culture.

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

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

  • Help

    Help

    You don't need to have any qualifications but you must have an interest in being easy to live with, being practical, using your initiative, following a work routine and having patience. You might have skills and knowledge of the following areas:

    Basic DIY especially fixing things and general home maintenance and repairs.
    Construction, building work.
    Carpentry, Plumbing, Solar.
    Vehicle maintenance/Mechanics.
    Painting & decorating.
    Growing things, clearing land, weeding/pruning and garden maintenance (weeding and cutting the grass).
    Bike repairs and maintenance.
    Cleaning - like all the windows.
    Childcare including organising activities for children: sports, crafts, reading.
    We would be very pleased to find a beauty therapist who can do treatments to a professional level.
    Crafts and craft ideas.

    If you are a qualified plumber/carpenter/builder/mechanic/therapist we will agree a specific project in advance to match your skills, but otherwise your work will include some or most of the above.

    So you should have energy, enthusiasm and be happy working in a Caribbean climate from 8am to 2pm (with regular breaks) five days a week. You will have every weekend off and I will be carefully managing your hours so you don't work too hard. We try to give you a wide variety of tasks that you might be good at and/or happy doing (ie some of the tasks - not all of the tasks!) and we encourage you to explore and understand the work practices and the way of life here. You will spend some of your time outside when it's cooler, and some time inside when it's too hot outside. The tasks will depend on your area of interest and skill - we have a long on-going list and you choose the tasks you would be good at or happy to do from that list. It could be a simple cleaning-up job or building a new solar power system. You don't have to be an expert but experts are amazing. We host lots of different people - some are very skilled in one area for example a car mechanic, or carpenter - and others are unskilled but happy to do whatever is needed at the time as this often changes. For example, if it rains we will want to quickly dig over and prepare the ground and plant seeds. But if it doesn't rain, we might be painting indoors for several days.

    To apply please initially state which kind of help we have listed that you are interested in, and the potential dates you would like to come; this can be flexible and it may change but it helps us all to plan.

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We have a large four bed, two bathroom (nearly finished) house in 2 acres of land. You will have your own double bedroom and share the use of the rest of the house with us. I cook for our cafe so you will be offered lunch every day with local ingredients - so lots of fish, lobster and other Barbudan produce. We do raise, kill and eat our own animals so you will need to be ok with this but we are very happy to host non-meat eaters and can cook great veggie food. We provide all your food but you will probably want to buy street food or prepare your own food and snacks in our kitchen at other times such as at weekends; there are several really nice fast food sellers and snack shops here on Barbuda and we hope you will try them.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    We have had many previous volunteers who have quickly made friends here; enjoying the lifestyle, the beaches and going fishing, hunting, beach-combing and out on boat trips. Antigua and Barbuda are expensive, as most things are imported and we pay an even higher cost to get it to us. So you will need your own funds to pay for these activities, car hire, trips etc but you will be supporting the local economy, making friends and experiencing much more than just our small life here if you can afford to pay local people to take you out and show you Barbuda from their point of view. And although Barbuda has a lot of fishers and hunters, both are hard work and dangerous, so going on a fishing or hunting trip is best done as a paying guest! Or you may just want to go for cocktails at Nobu...

    You will come to Barbuda via Antigua, as the ferries and/or flights for Barbuda leave from Antigua so you should budget for at least one overnight stay there at the start and maybe at the end of your stay with us. We occasionally go to Antigua to buy some groceries and for other essential services when we need to, but it is very expensive for us to do this, so you should try to bring anything you can't live without, before you get to Barbuda. You can also arrive on Barbuda directly here as yacht crew and if you do, we will come to pick you up - but only after you have been to immigration if you didn't go to Antigua immigration first.

    We live about twenty minutes walk from the village so walking is possible but the beaches are further away and there is no public transport on Barbuda. We have access to a shared family vehicle we use most days running around for work and the shop but we also hire it out to our guests so often it's unavailable in our busy season. We go out to the beach now and then for picnics, happy hours and camping but we don't go very often. You can borrow or hire a bike or get taxis or hire a car if you want to go out every day and hiring a car at the weekend is a good and affordable option in your time off. There is only one village so there are not many shops but there are a few rowdy bars and lots of street food sellers. There are often church, community and sports events in the village and you will be made welcome if you make the effort to go. Barbuda is small, quiet and isolated and under threat from over-development, and so we will do our best to help you see everything and share our love of it with you.

  • 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?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 784438991634

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