Profile information
Host is looking for help immediately
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
6 Jul 2025
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 7 days
Feedback
16
Email verified
Badges (3)
Details
Description
I’m Annika, a woman living with my 10 year old daughter, in an ecovillage on the island Orust in the swedish westcoast. There are 17 households in the ecovillage. Everyone owns their own house and garden, and share some forest and community systems for taking care of cleaning the water and such. In the middle of the village we have a forestgarden, runned by a society. We have a lake close by for bathing och fishing. This ecovillage is mostly a quiet and laid back place. Sometimes too quiet! The residents are very interested in gardening, being busy with gardenwork, maybe we could be more social and less busy working. But then all of a sudden we're very social, inviting each other to dinners, helping each other out or work with building an community outdoor kitchen.
I have a lot of projects going on. The most important is to build an extra room and a bigger kitchen in my tinyhouse. As a volunteer at my place you would be helping out with that, including carpenting and constructionwork, there will be trips to the hardware store and secondhand bargains. There will be digging for drainage and foundation. We will also work some in the garden. But the main work this year is construction. Some days I will "lend" you out to help other members in the ecovillage and friends in the neighborhood, as we sometimes help eachother out with projects that need several persons, or just beacuse it's nice to work together. We have also common workdays in the ecovillage and in the forestgarden, where I usually bring the volunteers. I have friends that also hosts volunteers, and this can give a opportunity to meet and work with other workawayers.
I've been a host for volunteers for many years and I really enjoy it! My profession is gardening, but I have a cronical disease and I'm not able to work. I have limited amounts of energy, and need to take brakes several times a day. Sometimes you would be working on your own. I'm not a carpenter, but I have several friends around that can tell and learn us how things should be done, so we'll work it out with some planning, youtubemovies, experiments, learning by doing and handy creativity.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Architecture
Music
DIY & crafts
Art & design
Gardening
Drawing & painting
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Many people in this area are interested in caring for the environment, gardening, arts, culture, handicraft and building with sustainable material. It's can be possible to learn about these fields.
We have a little village close by where you can swim in the sea, and have an icecream at the vegancafe'. Sometimes we go and see some art, or culture event. And all of a sudden, if I feel well I go away for a concert or a festival (fuzz, stonerrock&metal, doom, progessive&psykedelic rock is my taste in music :). Of course you can join if you want, or stay and relax in the ecovillage.
How many people we are, working together, can differ very much depending on if you are one or two in the caravan, if there's volonteers coming in their own van or tent, if someone doesn't show up, if friends and family are around helping me work on the house. Mostly we are several people, but there are times when you will be the only guest here. If so, I will try to invite people here, or go visit friends, so you will get the chance to meet others. But it would be nice if you are selfgoing and like your own company as well.
Help
I wish to have a lower limit of age of around 25 years for the volunteers. This is based on my own experience, but of course it's induviduaI and can differ alot. But usually when you reached 25 or so, you've gathered more experience and knowledge from life.
I would like to host persons who are not afraid of hard tasks such as dig in the soil, carry stuff around by hand or in a wheelbarrow, planting and weeding, and most important: Construction and DIY all kinds. Of course special skills like carpenter or constructionworker are welcomed.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Swedish: Fluent
Accommodation
The volunteer accommodation is a caravan placed in my garden. See pictures. The caravan is old but nice and clean. There are one kingzise bed and one smaller bed in each end of the caravan. The first volunteer decide if you want to share the caravan with another volunteer or not. If you want company you have to share the caravan :)
I live very small, so volunteers will use an outdoor toilet and an outdoor shower when the weather is nice. if the weather is bad you can use the bathroom in my house. With sustainability in mind we need to use the indoor shower as little as possible. I have a washingmachine you can use.
We will all take turns in the kitchen cooking, wash up and clean and other housework.
I will mostly provide vegetarian or vegan food.
If you have special foods just ask and I try to solve it.
What else ...
There are bikes to use.
Thanks to Johanna Fraenkel-Eidse for all the beautiful pictures in the profile.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
I have a parkinglot in level where a campervan can park..
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
My animals / pets
Feedback (10)
On days off, we were able to explore the beautiful… read more
Photos
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(5.0)
On days off, we were able to explore the beautiful… read more
Back in Orust they helped with a… read more
First day me and my buddy arrive, Annika and Andreas were on their way to Sweden Rock, so Keegan and I found a way to volunteer; turns out Heavy Metal is just CULTURE for Sweden: what an amazing experience that was.
On the way home to Orust, Annika… read more
In the middle of the village you can find the magnificent forest-garden which… read more
He had been a volunteer many times, and also been a host many times, and this was shown in daily life. He got part of our community at once, very social, self going, took responsibility, very kind och easy going. He did every task with a positive mind and good effort. He is open minded and very… read more
We (my 6yo son and me) left this beautiful Eco village two weeks ago and we really miss you guys every day. We stayed for around one month and the time just flew by. Annika and Marie are two single moms and neighbors and in my view two real superwomen. I worked most of the time at Annika’s place, where I did a loooot of painting (inside… read more
The ones we'll never forget...
These guys are the best diggers in the world! If you have plans to build a swimming-pool, a tunnel or a bunker, these are the volunteers you need!
They are also good with gardening, carpentry jobs, building impossible stuffs, cooking (vegan), playing music and telling stories.
Now, my kid want… read more
Utsiken Ekoby is a beautiful ecovillage with great people and we enjoyed every moment there : the work (for Anika, Marie, Veronica or the village ; but the best was the work we did for Vigo =p), the jumps in the lake before and after the work, the… read more
Creative, easy going and independent. Florine and David are also great with kids: my boy is very very proud of the tree hut you made...now he's organising guiding tours.
I miss the flute in the morning, and my buddy Pirate.
Welcome back, any time!
PS: They also make cookies! :-)
