Help our non-profit community project and dog shelter in Kakovatos, Zacharo, Greece

Details

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  Description

  Hi, welcome to our profile! As we are getting a lot of requests we would appreciate you taking some time to read through our texts and find out if this place is really the right one for you. If yes, we are looking forward to receiving a message from you that gives us an idea about your reasons to come here and relevant work experiences that can be beneficial for our project. The more precise you are about your talents, needs, workstyle and availability the higher the chances to get a positive answer from us. Thank you!
  
  So what are we doing here?
  Based in Kakovatos/Zacharo we built a community space and meeting point for tourists, travellers, expats, globetrotters and locals. We created a comfortable common space, two guestrooms, a big workshop with some wood and metal tools, a public laundry room and a free shop. We also have a vegan food truck in our yard, a shower for travellers, some sitting and chill areas and always a bunch of dogs and cats walking around. With a big heart for DIY culture we offer most services on a donation basis. To sponsor the project and to draw attention of tourists our laundrette is an important heart piece of the project. Travellers can stop by and have their clothes cleaned, take a shower, swap clothes or books in our freeshop and get to know new people. Since this is a non-profit-project all the revenues go into the monthly expenses and the stray dog project. If you come to work here you are not doing this for us - we are just managing this space. Our role here is coordinating and planning, keeping everything together and usable for you and others. The contribution you will make here is for the place and for future guests just as you will profit from the great work that people before you have out in here.
  Apart from the house that we are renting there are some dog areas in a rented field next door and more olive fields around the house that we are using for our campervans and of course for the olives! We are harvesting olives during winter, the season is from november to january.
  When we dont harvest olives we tend to hang around the house and the yard where we share the kitchens, bathrooms, sofa area, workshop etc. and take care of the animals, repair stuff, get creative and keep the laundry room running. We eat outside most nights in summer or sit around the fire barrel in winter, sometimes making pizza or if we are lucky to find some motivated musicians hosting small concerts or other events. For cold winter times there is also a cozy fire place in our common room around which we gather every evening.
  A big part of the project is our animal shelter. All the money we make here with the laundry, shower, coffee, food and other services that we provide for travellers helps to finance the shelter and the infrastructure that is needed to keep it going. We are taking care of stray dogs and cats in our area by feeding them, catching them for medical traetment and castrations and taking injured animals in until they are healed. We are always fostering between 10 and 15 dogs and a hand full of cats for which we are trying to find homes. Not every volunteer works with the animals in the same intensity but everyone who comes here should be aware that there are dogs everywhere you go (some are allowed in the house) and they want your love, cuddles and attention. The dogs are being walked twice per day and we expect our guests to help with this task, so you should be willing to do at least one dog walk per day. The exact amount of time that you want to spend with animal care can be discussed individually of course.
  The workshop is free to use but we rarely have enough time to guide you all along. There is always something to be repaired or built and people who already have a good set of skills to work on projects independently are welcome to get creative here and take on their own projects.
  Cooking for the team and for visitors is another bigger task in our place. We love and value good food and are trying to make tasty and healthy dished out of cheap basic ingredients. Therefore we take turns every day with the kitchen duty. One or two people can focus on cooking, using up leftovers, organising the fridge, cleaning the kitchen etc. If you like to make food for a bunch of people in a nice kitchen, with fresh seasonal veggies from the local market and vegan basics, this is your place to be! We usually eat dinner together and often someone prepares lunch for the team or some cake and snacks for the foodtruck. You have to care for your self during the rest of the day, fix yourself breakfast and snacks with the stuff that you find in the kitchen. If you have specific needs concerning your food like allergies, dislikes, addictions you can ask us beforehand if this is suitable for the place or if you have to bring some stuff with you. The offer of products in the supermarkets are limited here and we usually cook big portions with a tight budget so special nutrition requirements can probably not be met.
  
  ...and who are we?
  Speaking of "we" means that this project is shaped by the ideas of several people and decisions are taken democratically, not by one individual or a team of leaders. Of course you are not expected to vote on life decisions of full time residents, some stuff might not concern you if you are just visiting here for a few weeks. But in general we keep our discussions transparent and are very open for suggestions, input and improvement. We hold a weekly meeting in which we talk about all important things that came up during the week and decide together what we want to do, build, buy, offer or not.
  We are a hand full of people who live here permanently and semi-permanently and we always have some guests and volunteers staying with us. The total number of people staying here varies between 5 and 12, depending on the season and the work load. Our busiest times are the olive harvest months (november to january), the rest of the year is much more relaxed. So if you are planning to come here in winter you should be fit for physically exhausting work days and mentally prepared for being surrounded by a lot of people sharing the common areas. If you like it chilled and quiet, other months might fit better for you.
  We are quite well structured in our work style, everything is taken care of and organised as user friendly as possible so that new people can easily jump in and understand within a few days what is there to do and how. We have daily tasks that we split between all people who are here and extra tasks which we collect on a weekly to do list. Individual projects can be suggested, planned and realized while you are here. There is generally a lot of room for exchange of ideas, constructive feedback and new approaches. Guests are happily invited to contribute not only their skills but also their thoughts and make this place grow and flourish even more.
  
  Who are we looking for?
  We appreciate independent people who have experience in community life, flatsharing, political activism and similar solidaric structures. It is important here to already bring a good set of ideas and skills with you and be able to jump quickly into a new group of people, see the work, know what you can contribute, make your own plans, keep up your motivation and take care of yourself and others around you. Short, we appreciate adults who know what they want and what is their role in a self-governed place without strong hierarchies. If you always need someone to tell you what to do and how and you lack initiative this might not be the right project for you as we don't like to feel like anybody's parents here. Of course you will be guided through the daily tasks and get a good introduction by residents and other volunteers but afterwards it's up to you what you make of your stay here. People who like to live in a productive yet anarchist surrounding usually stay here quite long... We don't want to put an age limit because we've met some really cool young people but usually we don't invite people under 25. If you are travelling with young kids we might also not invite you as we are no kid people at all and we have a lot of dogs running around, there is no kid's space on the property, we don't think this is a nice place for families, sorry!
  FLINTA* are very welcome to come to this project and share skills. We take care that male dominance is avoided and addressed if it should come up and we are aware of discriminatory structures in which we all grew up and which have to be deconstructed...by us all.
  We are lefties & feminists and even though we are quite keen to meet different people from different backgrounds and we don't think that everybody has to share our lifestyle or opinions and even though our house is an open place without many restrictions there are some things that we don't want here: racist/ableist/sexist/macho behaviour for example. We don't care what you eat but we don't want meat in the house. People who come here are expected to have their values and motivation straight and know that they work for the animals, the community (everyone who is using this place now and in the future), for themselves (learning new skills and reflecting yourself), for a good cause and not for a boss who profits from their labor and therefore has to tell them all the time what they should do and kick their asses.
  If you are just looking for a cozy holiday with minimum effort, please apply somewhere else. We appreciate creative people with an open mind and a lot of energy who like getting shit done! People who are used to working and living in a group, know how to handle their emotions and talk about their needs. Respectful political and philosophical debates are welcome.
  If you are into esoterics and spirituality we can imagine that we will not have so much in common but we can try. Conspiracy theories and antisemitism are not welcome!
  If you've read all the text and you want to apply, we recommend you to put your favorite animal as a subject.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  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

  We are from different european counntries and our customers are also mainly campers from different european countries. We speak German, English and French. People who stay with us will have the opportunity to either hang out in the house/shop and meet people who pass by or grab a bike and explore the area.
  
  We live in a small village by the sea. The beachfront is huge and very beautiful, there are nice walks and hikes to do in the hills and valleys nearby. When we have time we can go places together, with the car or motorbike. But we are usually quite busy and you will have to go explore the area yourself. You can use a bicycle to go to the beach or shopping and the community car if it is not needed. There is no local public transport here but hitchhiking works quite well.
  
  To get here from bigger cities and back you have to take a public bus to Zacharo (the bus company is called KTEL and you can call the hotline to get the timetable or try to find it online - good luck).
  The bus station in Athens where you can also buy the tickets is located in the west of the city, you find it on maps.

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  Help

  As described above, we need help with animal care for our shelter, cooking for the team, decoration, innovation, advertizing and so on. People who are good at renovation tasks and know something about water, electricity, gas, walls and so on are very welcome, there is always something to fix and to improve here... Equally if you are good at wood or metal work, there are always some smaller and bigger projects. We will have to talk about this in advance or when you are here because the current projects vary with the seasons and with...whatever breaks ;)

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  Languages spoken

  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  For backpackers: We have two private guestrooms with double beds plus two comfortable sofas in the living room.
  For vantravellers: parking option in the garden / olive field / at the beach.
  
  Everybody can use the kitchen, bathroom, livingroom, washing machines, wifi etc.
  
  If you come here you should be ok with having dogs around. The guest room is dog-free of course. But when you get up you will be greeted by a good number of wet noses and wagging tails.

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  What else ...

  We are looking for people who stay and help for about 2 weeks to one month, longer stays will be discussed individually and in person when you are here. We don't like to make promisses before we ever met somebody. In our experience it is much better to see how it goes and then decide together how long you will stay here.
  
  We will also discuss individually what you would like to contribute and what we can offer you in exchange, depending on your needs and interests and the tasks that I have during the time you are here. So feel free to ask us about that.
  
  We provide food (at least one cooked meal per day and access to the kitchen to make your own snacks) and drinks (tea and water is free, sodas, coffee and beers have to be paid). You get a place to sleep (guestroom or parking spot for vans), a warm shower and laundry option. You are also welcome use our workshop for your own projects but we would have to talk about this beforehand.
  
  In order to get around places in your free time we would recommend you to either get a rental car or be ok with hitchhiking or using a bicycle as there are almost no public busses here and we usually don’t have time to drive you around.
  
  If you have any more questions let us know!

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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

  We have unlimited wifi in the house, yard and in a part of the garden. Download speed is good, upload quite slow.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Some of us live in a campervans ourselves. We have space for 1-2 vehicles and there are beautiful parking spots by the sea nearby for campers who like to stay in nature.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We have dogs. People who come with pets have to take responsibility for their animals and we will have to find solutions for a peaceful coexistence :)

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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