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13 Jun 2024
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Description
We just bought a whole valley 22 hectares of river nature oasis in southern Sicily between Modica and Ragusa. Its one of the most beautiful and intakt ecosystems I have seen in Sicily, with so many different bird, plant and water life species. The Valley or how we lovingly call it "il Nido" which means the nest in Italian, is the vision to create is a nature sanctuary that offers people in phases of life transition or challenging times a space to rest, recharge and reorientate themselves and connect back with their passion. After having lived for several years in different meditation & yoga centers, a longing grew to create a physical place that provides some external structure, yet also gives a lot of freedom and playfulness for internal processes and discoveries to unfold. So it is also a place of community and the creative arts. Here, we provide a peaceful and serene environment for individuals to reflect, heal, and find inspiration amidst nature's beauty. The Opening is planned in December 2024, so until then its just maintaining the place, cleaning up and getting things ready. It's a gifting-economy based project that does not run on capitalistic principals of making profit or even earning money.
I'll move there permanently this September, as I still have commitments in Switzerland during the summer. Nevertheless, there will be a friend of mine who will always be there and is in charge. You'll have a chance to meet them during a get-to-know call to see if it matches on a personal level too, which is quite important as the group will be small (2 to 4 people on-site).
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
This really is meant to be a space of co-creation and a bit of an experiment. Although I have a background in the high-performing field of entrepreneurship and this could be done in a very structured and "productive" way, this is not what I'm in for this time. I've seen over the years how the collective, that also works intuitively is much more powerful than a set of structured thoughts. They are a good team our left and right brain, but this time I wanna give more space to the right brain: the creative, intuitive, artistic, emotional, non-verbal and imaginative. If this resonates with you, you are in the right place. Productivity has come to me in the last years more through following my passions rather than the linear structure.
I can give offer meditation and yoga classes, vegan cooking, lots of wilderness survival skills stuff :), somatic body work, music (we have some instruments on site), campfire, laughs, stories, a ear to listen, and loots of time to dance and play and create. Knowledge in building things, entrepreneurship, holocracy and many other fun project management and communication tools... But at the same time, I also wanna make this just as much of an interesting creative space for you rather than just an work exchange.
Help
We'd love for a minimum commitment of 2 weeks, even better one to two months, to keep the integrity and family feeling of the group.
Im looking for some enthusiastic souls, to enjoy this beautiful nature with me, go on valley explorations, river baths and campfires, and have fun doing some clean-up, building and beautifying action for around 4-5h a day. This place used to be sort of a ecotourism place with a big restaurant before Covid hit, now it has been closed for the past 5 years. So you would be the very very first on this land to start the "bringing-this-place-back-to-life" party! Woooho!
This is a co-created space so there is not a fixed idea of what needs to be done first, it should be more of an exploration also for you what you feel drawn to contributing, so you can also basically choose and shape your own daily schedule.
Tasks you choose might be: cutting trees, collecting trash, building furniture, cleaning the floors and land, building outdoor fire place, permaculture, landscaping, creating art, repotting plants, cooking, be the DJ, hosting a workshop, dressing-up and make sure we all have great costumes... its all welcome!
This place has so much potential and actually I cant wait breathing back fresh air and enthusiasm into it, but at the same time it can also seem like a daunting task as the place is huge, its really a whole valley, so it takes a good portion of optimism, lightness, playfulness and pragmatic problem-solving mindset as the infrastructure is basic at the moment. We have a 4x4 car as its a bit a rough road into the valley and we have the basic powertools, including a little generator and a big battery to run some lights in the evening and charge devices. Most of the work would be done outside on the property, the weather is perfect now, with a fresh breeze in the valley.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Italian: BeginnerThis 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
As we just bought the land (we are actually still waiting for some last documents) we dont have electricity yet. There is a house will full infrastructure including an industrial kitchen, bathrooms etc. but without electricity it can be used only partially or with a bit more effort, bringing water from the river (50m next to the house) with a water tank to wash dishes, clean and so forth. You are the right person if you are okay with the little infrastructure. A tent with a comfy bed will be provided that you can place anywhere on the property, its lovely to hear the sounds of the river and the birds in the morning. I've been doing it for the past week :) Or alternatively you can also sleep in the house, but its not as nice as outside in my opinion. We have three spots in tents available.
During the summer (June - Sept) the group will be small: 2-4 people. So one would be in charge for cooking the meals each day. We rotate every day. Kitchen will be plant-based with wholesome meals. There will be enough food and snacks, you can also let me know what your wishes are and we shopp accordingly. If you want additional foods (cheese, eggs...) you can purchase them in the Modica nearby, will go there about 2-3 times per week, its a 20min drive or you can take the car yourself.
What else ...
TIMELINE
June-September:
Currently Im having talks with friends to host the place and be the main responsible person during the summer. This is also necessary to prevent fires. It would be less of big communal workaway experience but rather just a very small team 2-3 people being present on the land, observing, giving it some good energy and love, maybe having a conversation here and there with the neighbouring farmers... sometimes the cows get lost and wander over to our land, so we need to send them back and a few other little tasks we can discuss. Overall the infrastructure is still very very basic, there will be few people around, still usually one person that is the direct-link to me and knows what works can be done. We will start working all together in a bigger groups more towards end of September when I will move there permanently.
Mid-September onwards:
The idea and wish is to spend mornings until our first meeting in silence to allow for contemplation and spaciousness. We then have a checkin every morning at 9.30AM where everyone shares their plan for the day. We collectively get some sh*t done until 1.30PM when we have lunch together and celebrate what we have achieved. Afternoons are completely open to you: Explore the valley, go to Modica or Ragusa, go on walks, hang out together, play games, journal, create, swim in the river or continue your task of the day. Yet overall the afternoon is meant to be a open space also for leisure and relaxation if that is what you long for. The idea is that the whole project will later on run on gifting economy and generally also guest follow their intuitive impulse. Let's see :) high hopes, haha well we gotta start with something and I'm sick of the current capitalistic system, and just wanna playfully try out new ways.
SUBSTANCES
Given the vision of this place to also allow for a committed inner journey and self-discovery and reflection, this is also a place where the consumption of substances and drugs is generally not happening. For smoking tabacco, we can find an agreement. If you feel you have difficulties being without substances during your entire stay, it doesn't mean it is impossible for you to come, but please let us know beforehand so we can openly talk about it. As most of us come from societies and social environments were the consumption of substances is very much normalised and often even encouraged, you can also see it as an experiment to experience yourself in a different context and get curious about how it could also be different. For me the first time I spent three months in an environment like this, it profoundly changed my relationship towards myself and how I choose to relate and consume substances from that point onwards.
ACCESSIBILITY / GETTING AROUND
There is a car you can always use as its a 20-25min drive and a 3km quite rough 4x4 road up the hill to reach Modica. The ocean is 35min by car. There is a daily direct night train from Milan to Siracusa. The next airport is Catania with a direct bus to Modica four times a day. For the love of our dear planet Earth we highly encourage travel by train, boat, carpooling.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have very fast Starlink internet, 120 mbps
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
