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Eco-friendly and international community looking for builders in the green hills of Transylvania, Romania

  • Favourited 1697 times
  • Last activity: 29 Mar 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: 1 month or more

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    As a traveler and world citizen, I love to meet and host broad-minded, active, and adventurous people.
    This year I am seriously looking for practical help with building-, carpentry- and other handy skills for a longer term, 3 months to one year. Only If I manage to form a good team of skilled people I’ll be happy to invite more volunteers who are not afraid to work hard and are eager to learn.

    I have experience and knowledge in Permaculture, sustainable building, and organizing social events.
    I just finished a Dragon Dreaming training (Fulfilling dreams and practical projects with celebration and satisfaction for everyone involved). Check . I'll be happy to work with this method in the organization and realization of my project here.

    In the green hills of Transilvania, uphill from the village of Başsa, I choose to live a simple life, I try to be conscious of all aspects of what I am doing and not doing to lower my footprint and to have peace of mind. I live a vegetarian, natural, and eco-friendly lifestyle keeping the balance between idealistic and realistic, theory and practice. I eat and drink for good health, good taste, and good energy.
    This country and this area have a lot of potential for creating a beautiful, sustainable, and thriving community.
    I invite you to join me in this challenge, on this path.

    I offer accommodation, good food, and company and I'll appreciate all the help given. I meditate and do yoga almost daily, you are invited to join. If you play an instrument, have a particular skill, or make art, join. If you are modest, honest, openhearted, and independent, you'll fit in. If you have a positive and open attitude, a healthy TEAM spirit, good ideas, and a good sense of humor while willing to contribute to this place, you are most welcome.
    If you smoke, want to use drugs, drink alcohol, or gossip, then this is not the place for you.

    Accommodations so far:
    What I offer is, sleeping accommodations, a compost toilet, and a natural bathroom:
    -1 room for two or three in the old house uphill, eventually two rooms;
    -The 'gypsy wagon' where 1.5 or 2 lovers can sleep;
    - a caravan, where 2 can sleep;
    -The old tepee, near the lake, where, if necessary, 10 can sleep.
    -I have some old tents and a big army tent that can be set up.
    -If needed or wished I eventually have a bigger comfortable house available in the village,
    - and 2 small houses that need to be restored,
    -and some plots of land where everyone who would be interested can create a private place to stay and settle down for a longer time.

    If you have a good sleeping bag please take it with you to use it, it saves a lot of laundry because so far I don’t have a washing machine. I have some sleeping bags here if you don't have one.

    -For cleaning yourself and washing there is the lake/pond where you can swim
    -there is 'the Beast', a mobile shower space in combination with a pressure-pump-shower
    -A small dam in the riverbed creates a secret and natural bathroom.
    - a bucket or bowl with rainwater, or water from the old well and a towel, can do a good cleaning job.

    -For recycling Nature's goodies, there is the unique simultaneous compost toilet, the so-called ‘Sagrada Familia’-Cacathedral. This is the first and Universal 'Temple of the Holy Shit'. Here some serious shit can be delivered while you connect with the one next to you, in open Dialogue, about what is the best way to change the world, or the purpose of life. So here you give back to Nature what you got from It.
    Yes, up here, in the green hills, 'big Mamma Nature' dances with us, 24/7/51/365,4, day and night, in Her own predictable and unpredictable ways. At times She makes it muddy, cold, wet, slippery, dirty, hot, hard, heavy, confronting, and uncomfortable while at other times She shows Her miraculous beauty and her fascinating, sweet, and generous character. This means that every day you will have to find your way to blend into Her Sacred Dance of taking and giving. She will certainly challenge your courage, creativity, improvisation, curiosity, insight, understanding, gratefulness, acceptance, and determination. She will certainly appreciate your connection, your love, your patience, and your attention, in Her own sometimes invisible way.

    For 6 years now I lived the biggest part of the year in this old house with 3 rooms and 2 chimneys on 2.5 hectares of diverse land, 25 minutes on foot from the village called Balșa. I also own some smaller plots of land up and behind the hills, but I don’t find time to do something with them. This house and land were abandoned for 16 years. I managed to save a big part of the house and still, some parts have to be rebuilt. I call this house ‘the green-house’ because it is painted green. I have been reshaping the land around it as far as I could, in the permaculture way. Now there is a small lake and some slopes below the lake have small swales. Lots of young trees, bushes, and hedges have been planted, and this process is still going on. The house is livable although it still doesn’t have running water, The drinking water comes from a well below and is brought up in containers with a wheelbarrow.

    On the wild land around, on heavy clay soil, untouched by chemicals, there are lots of wild trees, shoots, bushes, and plants. I gradually reshape this land. Bit by bit I respectfully clear parts and take out wood for the fire, building materials, tools, and materials. Doing this I work on developing green spaces with specific microclimates, I create space for gardens with young fruit trees and new plant species to grow. Nature enjoys herself to the max which is very good for the biodiversity and ecosystem.
    With mulching and other measures, I now maintain 3 vegetable gardens to get reasonable crops of vegetable food. Thanks to the layer of organic material on top of the beds, available for the insects, fungus, and microbes the soil gets looser, deeper, and more fertile, but as soon as I turn my back it grows full of wild stuff again. To hold this process back as much as possible I kept the soil covered and I started to plant a diversity of hedges around the gardens. In the ‘wild’seeding period I ‘chop&drop’ wild stuff that grows near the gardens before it seeds itself out in them.

    I am creating a heaven on Earth, a modest, safe, comfortable, and practical home for myself and others, surrounded by fertile lively gardens and orchards. That is why I call this project ’. The neighboring land, where my son David and his family live was called Gradina Edenului, Garden of Eden, I think that fits pretty well and inspires all that we do.

    The Bratea ’community’
    What I call 'community' is, in our case, a group of about 6 families with kids and some individuals who live at a safe distance from each other and are closely connected for mutual support. We highly respect each other's private space so we don't see each other every day, we are very good friends and neighbors. Some of us share things like an old 4X4 car, a fruit press, some tools, and a vision for a good future. Sometimes we (voluntarily) exchange volunteers or we create a bigger team working in different places. As a self-organized international, and multilingual group of diversely skilled people, we modestly blend into the community of the village called Balșa, We respect the history, culture, and traditions of Romania and look ahead. Where possible we are interested in taking part in its bright future.
    We call our group "Bratea', as the group of small family farms up in these hills was called.

    My eldest son David, his girlfriend Iris, and their kids Felix, Norah, and youngest Lotte, are my nearest neighbors with their land and their house at 150 meters away. They take care of lots of different birds, chickens, geese, ducks, and turkeys. they have a few sheep, 3 pigs, 2 dogs, and some cats. The former owners called their land 'Gradina Edenului', meaning 'Garden of Eden'.

    Almost 5 years ago Mathias and Jennifer, with their daughter Emilia, landed here. They built a nice wood-mud and straw house with help from us, friends, and volunteers. Their Son Kian, now almost 4, was born there, the next baby is on its way. They also cultivate their plot of land and have a bunch of chickens and 2 dogs.
    Nearby, behind the Eastside hill, our friends George and Dina live with their kids Jean-Paul, Daphne, and 4-year-old Sacha. They herd some goats, keep bees and have a very nice garden, they develop some fields by planting special trees.

    Three other families and a special volunteer Andrez recently landed nearby. and more people from outside of Romania are in the process of joining. A nice family with 3 kids joined and lives at 30 30-minute walking distance through the fields, they have some nice land around their house and are enthusiastic gardeners now. Another nice family with 5 kids settled down halfway down that path, in a big house that needed a lot of renovation. They have two horses now and some more animals and they are pretty happy with the freedom and space, while the house gets better and more comfortable. Everyone seems very happy despite the challenges that we face. Bratea is like one big family, we have fun together and help each other when needed. Widely spread in the hills we are now about 26 permanent 'Brateans', more kids than adults, plus a changing number of temporary 'Bratea volunteers''. More and more families with children come to visit and like to join. We welcome them as long as it works for the whole of it. Bit by bit all the houses get habited again, as in the old times.

    In this little valley, we find and create what we were dreaming of and are committed to working out in reality: We see rich plant-, insect- and animal diversity. We hear silence and natural life, drink clean water, breathe fresh air, feel fertility, and enjoy space, freedom, peace, and harmony. In this healthy ecosystem, we find all the resources that provide us with basic and deeper needs, and enough challenges to keep us alive and busy for generations to come.

    Every day we learn, teach, and organize, we move, repair, and clean stuff. We bake bread and collect berries, eggs, raw greens, eatable flowers, fruits, and mushrooms. We work land and buildings, we enjoy pizza- and other parties, music sessions, creative days, campfires, stargazings, hikes, and games. We have philosophical dialogues and practical conversations, leading to nowhere, everywhere, and solutions. We endure and try to enjoy the rain, sweaty bodies, muddy shoes, dirty hands, scratches, lost chess games, smoky fires, back pains, cold water, and power failures. We grow pumpkin, potatoes, friendships and tomatoes, food, muscle, six-packs, consciousness, skills, life experience, immunity, and wisdom, as far as we know what that is.

    In my old (green-)house uphill, there is electricity from the grid and fast Wi-Fi (Starlink), both for restricted and conscious use. I try to keep this, and the rest, as 'off-grid' as possible for reasons of independence, sustainability, and reducing human footprints.

    In the village, I own 3 more houses that have to be restored or at least finished, with some garden space, a red, a blue and a yellow house. The big red house is in fairly good shape, it needs some extra cleaning of spaces and small repairs, for comfort it only lacks a bathroom that I want to create in the old pig sty. This will be fed with rainwater for which a gutter has to be repaired, storage will have to be created with 1000liter tanks, a heater, and a tap and shower system will have to be installed and finetuned. The space will be finished with wood tiles, etc. I will place a good washing machine there as well. The functions of this house are reception, headquarters, office, guest house, movie theater, and shop for local and homemade products. I think working on this is a high priority because it will make life around here a lot more comfortable, it can serve as a small source of income and as a headquarters for integration activities with villagers and the rest of the world.

    The blue house is now partly restored, it still needs windows, and a small chimney and it has to be finished in detail in and outside, and furbished. There is an old and a new well that doesn’t give much water but on the land is a source that can be bettered and used, maybe even for drinking water. I started to plant some fruit trees and berry bushes that have a hard time because of the grass and other plants that grow so high. The field can become a beautiful orchard /fruit forest.

    The Yellow House:
    Next to the red house on a small hill, I bought what I call the ‘yellow house’, only because it has a yellow wooden balcony on the front and the other colors have already been taken away. This beauty is seriously on its way to being completely ruined. It has to be restored from the foundations up, which is a lot of work, but it will be worth it.
    The small plot of land has some older fruit trees and there is a nice barn. The view over the village is very nice.

    Impulsively took on me is that I bought the framework of a now more than 100-year-old oak-wooden house coming from Maramures, the region in the North of Romania. I stored the whole frame at a friend’s place down in the village. The idea of this is to rebuild it on a foundation uphill. I did this because I like to challenge my optimistic attitude a bit more. Some of the worked beams are 7 meters long and all beams are pretty heavy. A part of the challenge is to get it all uphill, to sort the pieces out, and to place it all on a nice straight foundation, in the best spot. One more little big job.

    I have to mention the Tarzan & Jane tree Villa and the magic barn/sauna/greenhouse solar-energy plant that have to be finished.

    My back tells me that this year 2024 will have to be (re-)organizing year, I intend to work out a master plan for the coming 5 years. I want to get the complete picture sharp, set priorities, and involve some key stockholders in the fulfillment of the plan and buildings. As I mentioned before, for the time being, I will only invite physically skilled and organization-skilled volunteers who can commit and take on some responsibility in some long-term jobs. I eventually have an additional budget covering serious work.

    I am also working on a documentary on the subject of what we are doing in Romania and why we are doing this. I do this in cooperation with Roman who was volunteering here a few years ago. When he’s around you’ll have the chance to appear in it.
    In between I am writing a novel, sort of science fiction, and back to now. The story is written for a big part but a few chapters have to be rewritten and the whole thing will have to be edited.

    Guarantee: You will not get bored!

    As soon as the facilities are better I want to organize interesting workshops. I am considering setting up a foundation that will be recognized by the European Union. This way the foundation can apply for certain Erasmus+ grants. If you have qualities in this kind of work I’ll be happy to meet you.

    I look for serious leaders and/or couples with skills that are willing to join me for longer periods, and eventually settle down to work out a win-win-win masterplan.
    If you think this might be something for you, contact me and we’ll communicate about it. I’ll answer all your questions and requests and we can discuss possibilities.

    I look forward to welcoming you and working with you.

    Mike

  • 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
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We'll take good care of you. We'll discuss what kind of tasks you like to do. We'll give you the time you need to discover the environment and the country. We'll help you to get the experience that you are looking for. We'll see that you have a good time being part of the team. You will have a very good time and unforgettable experiences. You will learn everything you want, from philosophy and meditation to gardening and building, music-making, and other ways of being creative and living in a community. You will make new friends.

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

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

  • Help

    Help

    Building a barn/Sauna/greenhouse with recycled material, cob and wood; Building a tree-villa with recycled material and wood. Restoring a few old houses. Gardening, daily maintenance, some greenhouse work. Planting trees and bushes; Restoring and developing the old main house. Working the land and the waterways. Cleaning wild land. All kinds of jobs are needed, see the description above.

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    German: Fluent
    English: Fluent
    French: Fluent
    Dutch: Fluent
    Spanish: Intermediate
    Italian: Intermediate
    Portuguese: Intermediate
    Romanian: Intermediate

    This host offers a language exchange
    Language is a living thing and, as a traveler and discoverer of the world, one discovers the beauty of communication and the art of language. In this community, we have at least 6 different native speakers: French, Dutch, English, German, Romanian, Latvian, and Swedish. Some of us speak reasonably Spanish and a touch of Arabic. We also practice the language of Silence in which one can hear everything and the language of Love and Patience that heals and connects.

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    You'll get a sleeping place for yourself, in a tent, the gipsy wagon, the Tepee or in the house.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    Check out availability and contact me with all your questions.

  • 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 have fast internet thanks to Starlink.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    The last part is uphill over a tough dust- / mud road so if your van is low on the wees you better park it on the safe parking space in the village and walk uphill. In the summer it is easier to come up the dry road, it is wise to check it beforehand.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    Pets allowed if they are well educated, not aggressive and if you take care of them for the full 100 %..

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Organic way, average 5 hours × 5 days per week of serious contributing, according to what is needed and works optimal in the team.

Host ref number: 677317723941

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