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Center for sustainable practices and wellbeing in Eastern Macedonia

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    The idea behind the Center for Sustainable Practices arose since 2017. It wasn’t meant to be a center since the beginning, but with the years, with the work done and the knowledge gained, the idea and the goal crystalized. By now we know that we want to create this place where positive practices will be shared and tried out altogether following the principles of permaculture.

    The center is located in a village called Star Istevnik. The village is 18 km away from the town Delchevo and 15km from the town Berovo, but belongs to the municipality of Delchevo. The village is almost abandoned, it has around 20 people left. Most of them are elders, who don't speak or understand English, only Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian.
    There is a small property with an old house which is built only with natural materials (clay, straw, wood, lime, stone) in which we have made many improvements in the interior. Very recently we’ve built a modern inside shower with greywater system. Otherwise, the toilets are outside and an inside dry compost toilet. The house consists of a kitchen with chillout space, 2 bedrooms for couples and one bedroom with 3 single beds.

    The place has been visited by many volunteers so far, with different purposes and backgrounds. We’ve held Erasmus+ projects, hosted workawayers and other non-formal volunteers. We’ve been working on skills development in the field of sustainability ever since the whole idea saw it’s first sprouts.

    As the whole idea was growing, so did our family. In 2021 our daughter chose us to be her companions. She is a 3-year-old toddler now, a bit shy, but loves to play like any other kid. For these reasons we would love to host couple who are traveling with children and need to stay somewhere for longer period of time so she could have company of her size 😉 We would like for her to grow in an international environment, to learn different things from different people and understand that we are all one in this world.
    For this year we have space for 2 persons in the same time.

    We are welcoming people to join in preparation for our ESC project activity as well. At the beginning of the spring we will start with the preparation of the soil for the gardens and also planting the seeds so whoever is interested in that field is welcome to join us in April, May and June.

    After that we will take care of the garden during the summer as it should be but since there will not be too much work around the garden we will focus more on the other activities. And for the autumn we will focus on conserving the yield from the gardens, so whoever is willing to learn more about that is more than welcome to join;

    One topic will be eco-building and repairing the façade of the main facility which is a very old house made only of natural materials and the facade will be done with clay technique. In this activity we will pay more attention during the summer so we will start with the preparation and working on the facade after June, July and August;

    During the summer months we are really eager to start organizing workshops in nature dedicated for children and camps for young adults.
    We also offer yoga and reiki in leisure time.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Farmstay help
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • 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

    -As volunteers in this initiative you will have the chance to experience the Macedonian culture and traditions.
    -You will have the opportunity to test yourself if you are able to live and share with other unfamiliar people as a community, as a family. You have this opportunity to be more humble in your wishes and try to live sustainable lifestyle.
    -You'll be able to learn the traditional methods that has been used in agriculture, but also try new ones and experiment in gardening.
    -To learn Hatta yoga practices from Simona, one of the hosts
    -To learn a bit of the Macedonian language.
    -To enjoy the peace and quiet in the village.
    -To enjoy the benefits from the clean water and air.
    -To be 24/7 connected with nature.
    -To do arts and designs for the esthetics of the place.
    -To meet other international volunteers (if we have them around).
    -To explore and discover more about yourself.

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

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

  • Help

    Help

    So, as the house is built only with natural materials such as clay, straw, sand and wood, If you have skills and experience with work like this it will be excellent, if not, it is not a problem.
    Still, we are looking for hard working people who would like to dedicate part of their time for building something meaningful.

    *Mainly we will work 5 hours a day, but the schedule depends much on the weather conditions. We like the people to feel free and enjoy, but also to be responsible and give their support for the project.
    *Cooking and planning of meals is always a great help, so if you have cooking skills, you can demonstrate them.
    *If you are practicing some wellbeing techniques and you want to share them with us, we would like to learn :)
    *Since the cultural life in Delchevo is in stagnation and is lacking diversity, If you feel like to organize workshops and events downtown to raise up the spirit of the cultural life, we would be happy to support it, but that depends on your motivation.
    *We like to go with the flow, so most of the activities will be coming day by day, there are things that can not be planned.
    We are looking for people who are friendly, are not afraid of rural conditions and living in nature and wouldn't mind staying alone in the property.

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    Bulgarian: Fluent
    English: Fluent
    Croatian: Fluent
    Macedonian: Fluent
    Russian: Fluent
    Serbo-Croatian: Fluent
    Spanish: Beginner

    This host offers a language exchange
    This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
    You can contact them directly for more information.

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    -Shared rooms in the house and tents. We have 3 bedrooms with 7 beds all together. Everything depends in which period you will come.

    -There is a dry compost toilette as part of the house, there's another outside toilette and an shower in the house and also we are working now on creating dry compost toilets and solar showers out doors.

    -The food depends on the season. We are orienting with the nature. We tend to eat the food from the garden we've produced, but if this resource is not available, we buy from the local green market. We'll be collecting forest fruits and mushrooms. Sometimes we help in our neighbor's farm and in exchange we get milk and cheese.
    We will have a jar for occasional donations for the food if is necessary and if you have special food requirements we expect you to take care of them.
    We share everything we have, but if this is not enough, feel free to support the kitchen jar.

    *So far, we have been giving all of our time, energy, finances, will and soul for this place. We kindly expect that you are aware of this and treat everything that's here with attention and respect.
    All the damage done by you, should be covered accordingly.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    In your free time you can explore the area. Also you can go on a trip inside the country to see some other nice places.
    About the transport: To go to the town you can go with a taxi or hitchhike. It's only 15km.
    We can make movie nights into the center, invite members of the organization to hang out and so on.

    *Please note:
    We are not responsible for your touristic experience and we do not offer free rides to the town for your own needs.
    Those trips should be covered by yourself.

  • 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

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    We would be happy to offer the space for digital nomads that are eager to balance the digital world by being surrounded with nature. We have a 4G Wifi router available.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    We are accepting pets but only out doors from the main facilities.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 864114699365

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