Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Reply rate
88.9 %
Usually responds within 1 day
Feedback
-
Email verified
Details
Description
We are a meditation community located in a pristine rainforest of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. We -- Nicola and Roger -- have arrived here to share in the discovery of Self through communal living. We invite anyone who resonates with our purpose, vision and intentions to share in our journey of awakening at our ecovillage.
Our purpose is to harmonise the inner reality of the human spirit with the outer reality of pristine nature. Mindfulness is our way of being in the world.
🧘 Meditation is foundational to the life of this community. We are attuned to the presence of Divinity within, which manifests throughout our daily lives through commitment to our practice.
🌱 We eat an exclusively plant-based, wholefoods diet based on what grows here and in our local environs. Our approach to food is minimal, optimal and sustainable. We love what we have and we appreciate the abundance of what nature provides us daily. Staple foods are banana, papaya, jackfruit, taro, coconut, and greens. We also keep dry-goods such as beans and peanuts in storage.
🙏 A healthy community is built upon integrity, respect, honesty and commitment. The relationships we cultivate between one another here importantly contribute to the overall harmony of the community.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainablity goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
In our experience, a community is a microcosm of creation; for those who live in it and share in its life, it becomes a world unto itself, in which the whole order of existence is related from part to whole. In this sense, living as part of a community offers an antidote to the level of disconnect that we experience in contemporary culture.
If you have not lived in a communal or intentional space before, then it will certainly require some adaptation to assimilate with the life of the community. Think about your first day, your first week at a new job: you are gradually getting a sense of how the place works and what your role is in the organization.
Living in a community requires a very different orientation to living in regular society. The pattern of life is not individualistic, but shared; this requires a willingness to live beyond your comfort zone and contribute to activities that enhance the experience of community life.
Everybody comes to an ecovillage with their own unique attributes, perspectives, dreams and gifts. To honour and respect the needs of individuals whilst harmonizing in pursuit of a collective vision is the goal of community: it is a balance, a dance, a work in progress to which we are all aspiring in our day-to-day life.
For some, finding the balance between ‘me’ and ‘ours’ is intuitive and easy; others find it challenging to navigate the unfamiliar terrain beyond societal norms. A lot of these subtleties about the way humans share space can only be understood meaningfully through lived experience.
The way of life that we offer here is simple, yet profoundly healing: everybody comes here with a yearning to connect with a more tranquil state of being, and departs with a renewed sense of purpose and peace. Nicola and Roger, the hosts of this space, are here to share about the journey of self-realisation.
Help
Everybody here contributes four hours of active service per day, six days a week, to the upkeep of our beautiful home in nature. What you spend your time doing in support of the community really depends on your unique capacity, skillset and personal inspiration.
Whilst there may be one thing that you are really good at, we all contribute in a small way to all aspects of our daily life, which often requires learning a new skill. Gardening is a priority, as we live off-grid, but there are myriad ways you can express your creativity through offering work on a daily basis. For example:
🌱Organic gardening, permaculture or syntropic agriculture
☀️ Off-grid systems management (solar and micro-hydro power, water supply)
🚙 Vehicle maintenance (electric/diesel)
🔨Carpentry, furniture-making and joinery
🍉 Cooking and food preparation
🧹 Housekeeping, tidying, and domestic management
🎨 Childcare, homeschooling and early learning
🧵 Repairs, mending, sewing or crafts
💻 Publicity, digital media and communications
🎥 Videography and filmmaking
Languages spoken
Bislama: Fluent
English: Fluent
Italian: Beginner
Accommodation
Shared accommodation (men's and women's dorms) in spacious, well-appointed cob bungalows with a view of the mountain and a located beside a river for swimming. Houses are equipped with fresh springwater and solar-powered electricity. We have hot showers and a sauna on-site, as well as walking trails through the forest, access to a private waterfall, and abundant gardens full of tropical fruits.
✨ Daily Program ✨
5.30am: Shared morning practice (yoga, prayer, meditation)
6.30: Breakfast – fresh fruit, smoothie, or cooked local roots and greens
7.30am to 11.30am: Mindful service – landscaping, gardening, cooking, childcare, cleaning, building maintenance, administration and other relevant tasks.
12noon: Lunch – soup, salad, home-grown vegetables, coconut milk, roots and greens, fruits, pizzas.
2pm: Afternoon projects — harvesting, collecting firewood, making repairs, tidying up, sewing and crafts, whatever needs doing.
4pm: Time for rest and relaxation – swimming in the river, walking the forest paths, individual creative projects, shared study groups, lively and engaged discussions.
6.30pm: Community gathering for meditation or shared devotional practice.
What else ...
Our ecovillage is a sanctuary for meditation and connection with nature, and we require that all visitors come with a willingness to disconnect from any internet usage beyond the bare essentials.
We do have WiFi access via satellite for communication purposes with your friends and family, however it is not a place to scroll mindlessly on your phone.
For the duration of your stay here. you will be expected to limit their internet usage to a specific timeframe on weekends. This is to encourage attunement to your own inner nature and the people that share this sacred space.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4 hours a day, 6 days a week
