Profile information
Host rating
65 %
Last replied
6 Jun 2023
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Details
Description
Hey you! Welcome on this page :)
I'm Baptiste, i'm 30 and i have several experiences in volunteering, helping with carpentry, building a straw house, gardening in different philosophy, taking care of goats (and making cheese!), helping children in school. Mostly originals projects and people whom i met in Turkey, Greece and France.
Why i tell you this?
Haha! Because I met enough people who've never done any volunteering experiences and start to use it as a cheap way to achieve their goal without any human curiosity! Also I want to be as clear as possible about the desciption of the project but it's hard to cover every aspects so feel free to ask as many questions as you need ;)
Well, now I will try to explain the "project" in a few words :
My mother, Anne-Marie, have a big beautiful house and an old barn that she turned into a concert place by her own. Most of the work that has been done here was DIY and spontaneous ideas, aaaaand not always working perfectly.. That's why i want to help her to have a better environment to live and work. Everything is charming here, she put a lot of love and imagination to build this place, the only thing is that it needs to be more "efficient" now cause she is doing the whole maintenance by herself and it needs a lot of energy !
How to improve the place?
- There are many small stuff to do like covering a wall with wood planks, preventing floods by setting cofferdams, making a wooden floor for the back door, fixing stuff (chairs, tables...), put a handle on a door (not a classic door lol), implement a fence around the field to guard animals who will eat the grass instead of machines, and build a gate...
- For builders there is a wood shelter to build to cover the caravan, also a gate for entrance and i heard about a project of building a bridge above the river.. (its not a priority except if you are a brillant bridge builder :p)
- For artists there is a mosaic to finish on a fountain, coating a wall with pigmented chalk, some paints and esthetic improvements.
- For green lovers there are some gardening work like cutting trees, hedges, grass.. keeping the vegetation at a correct level of invasion in the respect of nature and harmony :)
This is kind of a complete list of things to do here, it can be impressive but I made it like this to give you a large perspective about what you can do and how you can help. Not everything has to be done !!
During your stay, we will welcome you as a friend and discuss about what we want to do together according to the motivation and energy of everybody. We are not in a rush, and we like to take it easy to keep a good mood ;)
By the way, we will provide you a place to sleep (see under) and 3 meals per day, mostly vegetarian but we do eat some meat sometimes. Come with your best recipes please ;)
If you are interested, please send us a short description of you and we will give you an answer as soon as possible.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Well, if you want to learn french we can teach you some basics for sure :)
Also, I like to go in the Pyrénées, we can go hiking, climbing or trying something else, why not? There are many events during summer around here and it's really good for meeting local people and having fun !
I have many friends whose are running their own business or project around here, mostly in the field of agriculture and animal raising, or alternative way of living. A network of mutual aid is slowly blooming, and I would be glad to bring you in those different places to meet them and also organise collective project to spend time together and help one or an other !
Help
As written above, there are many small stuff to do like covering a wall with wood planks, preventing floods by setting cofferdams, making a wooden floor for the back door, fixing stuff (chairs, tables...), put a handle on a door (not a classic door lol), implement a fence around the field to guard animals who will eat the grass instead of machines, and build a gate...
- For builders there is a wood shelter to build to cover the caravan, also a gate for entrance and i heard about a project of building a bridge above the river.. (its not a priority except if you are a brillant bridge builder :p)
- For artists there is a mosaic to finish on a fountain, coating a wall with pigmented chalk, some paints and esthetic improvements.
- For green lovers there are some gardening work like cutting trees, hedges, grass.. keeping the vegetation at a correct level of invasion in the respect of nature and harmony :)
I may forget many of the small things to do but now you can see the type of work that has to be done.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Intermediate
Spanish: Beginner
Turkish: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
I would be glad to learn the basics from an other language. I'm particularly interested in Spanish and Turkish. My mother is willing to speak and learn english, she already has the basics. We can teach you the basics of french language for sure :)
Accommodation
There are two options :
First, you can have an accommodation in a pretty caravan apart from the house, in the forest : more intimity but more mosquitos! There are 2 big beds if several people are willing to share this place.
Secondarily, you can have a bedroom into the house but most of the week ends are rented for events so it will be asked to pack all the personnal effects to make the bedroom free according to the schedule.
In this way, week ends will be days off and I will organise activities to move around and discover the country ;)
I like to go hiking and camping in the mountains Pyrénées, it is only 1 hour from my hometown as well as the ocean, i love also cliff climbing, and i'm getting curious in water and air sports. Anyway, we'll find a way to enjoy week ends ;)
Let me know what you want to discover in the region !
What else ...
There are many things to do around here, like going to the mountains or to the ocean, both are around 1hour away from the house, we can move with my car or I can also lend it to you if all the conditions are matching. There are also some bicycles for short moves. There is a train station close to my town and also there are buses everyday going to Pau the main city.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
There is a parking in front of the house where you can park your van easily. The only thing, there isn't so much shadow during the day, but you can enjoy a nice covered terrasse beside the parking.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
We want a fair exhange :)- max 25 hours/week
