Join our permaculture farm & community on Madeira island, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  Our story starts 6 years ago, when Markus, the founder of the project, came to Madeira island with the vision of recovering an old agricultural land, regenerating it with Permaculture, and creating a self-sufficient community of like-minded people, that can live in harmony with Nature, while opening space for healing, cooperation and continuous learning. A big dream uniting a growing network of friends and helping hands.
  It is a very big place, a work in progress, and a learning process for everybody. There is still a lot of work to do in order to achieve the initial vision, and we appreciate the support of volunteers. We are working on establishing an effective management structure, so for now we all contribute and do our best. A strong sense of initiative, empathy and clear communication is important if you want to easily integrate with the community.
  
  Currently we're an international team of 7 people, including a family with their kids, plus the volunteers who join us throughout the year.
  
  
  Please read thoroughly before contacting us and be mindful of the following:
  *Minimum expected commitment from volunteers is 2 months.
  *Be specific about your motivation, intentions, and how you think you can contribute to our project.
  *Please write in English, and keep in mind that English is the language we use daily to communicate, although other languages are also spoken in the community.
  
  
  Around 7 hectares of land are divided into a few zones:
  
  
  The main zone of the community residents & volunteers;
  the farm area with all the animals & birds;
  4 fruit orchards (citrus, bananas, avocados, annonas, plums, apples, chestnuts etc);
  the "work in progress" area, with 2 greenhouses being slowly (very slowly) assembled, where we also started experimenting with mushroom farming last winter, and some gardens that need more care & attention;
  the self-directed learning project for the kids of the community and the island, for the moment we are still building new facilities to accomodate this
  
  
  
  There is another area further down the valley, that is being developed for tourism, with occasional guests staying in our Superadobe domes- natural buildings, with 1 of them still in construction.
  Please note, that this is another area of the project entirely, separated from the community area, where the volunteers live & work. We have paid workers managing that side of the project and the volunteers do not get involved there at all.
  
  On the same note, none of the produce WWers help with is being sold - that is all for personal consumption for the community needs. Our production of veggies and fruits etc is still very humble and limited, but it's something we'd like to expand in the future.
  
  
  We are located on the hills of Tabua village, municipality of Ribeira Brava, around 1h away from Funchal and the international airport, at an altitude ranging between 300-650m above sea level.
  The nearest town is Ribeira Brava, a 12- 15min drive down the road, and there you will find the nearest beach, restaurants, shops, supermarkets and the farmers market open daily.
  
  
  We recommend renting a car as the best way to explore Madeira and for easier access to our farm. However, there are also local buses, including a bus that passes by our farm a few times a day. There are also affordable taxis, and Bolt app (like Uber). We'll happily provide bus schedules, useful contacts and any guidance needed.
  
  Thank you for your time, interest and support!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  LGBTQ

  

  Events & social

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Culture

  

  Van life

  

  Self development

  

  Farming

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Art & design

  

  Photography

  

  Languages

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Architecture

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Camping

  

  Dancing

  

  Mountain

  

  Beach

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Hiking
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  If you'd like to understand the process of designing your own project or joining a larger community, we're happy to share what we've learned so far about project design, community management, Permaculture farming, soil & water management, animal caring, bio-housing, alternative education etc.

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  Projects involving children

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

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  Help

  Some of the ongoing actions you could join & help us with:
  
  Gardening & farming- we have several gardens in progress & fruit orchards that need constant attention, weeding, grass streaming, chop & drop, transplanting, pruning, harvesting etc.
  
  Animal care giving (we got cows, goats, pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, angola chickens, cats & dogs, beekeeping), long-term position only;
  
  Natural building, cob, Superadobe, converting containers into living spaces, building skills in greneral
  
  Alternative education for children & homeschooling- our community is open for growth and we welcome families with children to join the project long-term.

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  Languages spoken

  German: Fluent
  Greek: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Volunteers are accommodated in the two converted container bedrooms, they come with beds & all bedding provided, although we do recommend you bring your own sleeping bag.
  
  Accommodation on the land, use of shared facilities (kitchen, bathrooms, laundry etc) and vegetarian meals are provided to all volunteers. During work days Mon-Fri, at 13:00 lunch is served at the shared kitchen area, by our resident farm cook.
  For breakfast and dinner, and also weekends, everybody manages independently. The kitchen space can be used for preparing meals, storing food etc. Usually, it's our social space, and we get together to cook and share food and laughs. Staple ingredients, grains, rice, veggies, fruits etc are provided and made available in the kitchen for everybody.

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  What else ...

  Madeira island (& island of Porto Santo) is part of the Macaronesian bio-region, with mild sub-tropical climate, dramatic landscape of volcanic origin, and endemic Laurisilva forest- an UNESCO world heritage site.
  In your free time, there's abundant hiking trails all around the island, black sand beaches and swimming spots to explore, cultural events and a rich digital nomads & expats community to connect with.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We manage independently with the internet, some of us have MIFI/ pocket wifi device, it's a portable mini-router that gives you wifi on the go, it worked for us so far. The shared kitchen area can be used for computer work, it has a seating area indoors & outdoors, and most of the time there will wifi available there.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Campers, caravans, motorhomes, more than welcome- 7 hectares of land you waiting for you.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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