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14 Jan 2026
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Description
Karibu! Welcome :)
My name is Ottoman, and I am passionate about permaculture and living a sustainable lifestyle. My mission is to raise community awareness by promoting permaculture. The practices on the farm are guided by permaculture ethics, principles, and design systems.
The farm is located atop a hill in the highlands of Tanzania, and covers 33 acres of land. It includes five zones based on permaculture principles.
As a Workawayer you will spend most of your time on the farm, enjoying the natural environment and sharing daily tasks with the family, farm workers and possibly other volunteers or villagers. The farm features forests, and we are gradually expanding our farming area. We grow a food forest and a fruit forest — these are permaculture terms that you will get to know quite well. We also have an animal zone where we keep cows, sheep, chickens, pigs and in our woodlot we maintain beehives for honey. All the animals are very friendly and cute.
We have three bungalows for sleeping, a kitchen, an open dining room, a toolshed, and sleeping tents (on wooden platforms) in the forest.
We warmly invite you to come support this project, experience Tanzanian farm life, and exchange ideas, culture, and knowledge. We are passionate about collaborating with people from around the world, who can share new insights, help with projects, and further our mission to spread permaculture wisdom, demonstrate its benefits, and educate others on sustainable living.
In Tanzania, and globally, many do not realize that conventional farming practices are damaging our lands and ecosystems. We are tackling this problem by encouraging local schools and our local community to adopt permaculture gardens to improve our community’s nutrition and foster a respectful, sustainable relationship with nature. Through education we can ensure future generations can continue these practices and benefit from the rich natural resources around us. We aim to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of permaculture so our local community can see the small, impactful changes they can make in their lives without compromising essential aspects.
After many years of effort, we are very pleased with our success. We have implemented a garden in two schools and several families from the nearby village regularly visit us to learn about permaculture for their farms.
COME AND STAY FOR FREE:
Stay for free, work 3 hours and cook yourself
We expect you to work for 3 hours per day on 5 days. You cook your meals in our kitchen. Food can be bought at the farmin and in the village.
OPTIONAL: CONTRIBUTE 5 US$ and enjoy 3 meals/day( breakfast, lunch and dinner). Tea is available all day. Also we will provide you free accommodation.
You will be working 3 hours /day, 5 days a week.
All the food we prepare has been grown on the farm. Depending on the season we have avocados, bananas, beans, greens, ugali (traditional Tanzanian maize dish), potatoes, carotes, peas, oranges, exotic fruits, honey, homemade bread from our clay soil oven, and much more. My wife Angelica is an amazing cook, and makes all of our food flavourful and delicious. She also loves to cook with volunteers! Volunteers say that a highlight from living with us is the outstanding food 😋
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Interests
Sustainability
Plant care
Farming
Nature
Animals
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will love your time with us, and will experience our real Tanzanian life. We will teach you Kiswahili and help you explore the area :) Our village, Mdabulo Ikanga, is small and friendl and everyone knows each other. It’s a 20 minute scenic walk from the farm. The locals are welcoming and eager to converse, regardless of your Kiswahili fluency. There are small shops and bars, but no nightlife. If you walk 15-20 minutes more, you will find more small shops and even some food stalls.
Visitors often come to the farm to see our permaculture site, providing opportunities to meet locals and practice Kiswahili. We are close to Ruaha National Park, Tanzania’s largest, famous for its lions and other big cats. It is possible for you to organize a safari before or after your stay at the farm. In the past, volunteers have described their excursions to the park as mind-blowing. We highly recommend it!
Help
During your stay, you are welcome to help around the farm with daily tasks such as preparing garden beds, planting, fertilizing, weeding, turning compost, watering, building structures, feeding animals, harvesting, and meal preparation.
We have several exciting large projects underway, such as building another fish pond, a park to play in and building another garden. We also want to create a daycare for local children, to come play and be taken care of during the day whilst their parents work.
Beyond daily tasks we aim to keep the project growing with various design, buildin and repair ideas. If you have computing skills, we would appreciate help with documents, websites, funding, and social media.
There are always tasks where your help is needed, and all assistance is appreciated. We are also open to hearing and implementing your ideas for how to improve the farm.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Swahili (Kiswahili): Fluent
Accommodation
You will stay in either a cozy wooden bungalow on the farm, or in a tent on a raised platform in the forest. Both options are great, and they are safe, peaceful, and offer beautiful sunrises. We provide warm bedding, but feel free to bring your own if preferred.
We have private wooden cabins for bucket showers with hot water prepared every evening. We pump the water from a nearby stream, and it is very clean. Our toilet is a compost toilet, and it even has a view of the pine forest! All the water that we use goes directly back to our plants, so please bring biodegradable and eco-friendly shampoo, conditioner, and soap.
Our electricity comes from solar panels, which can easily charge your devices. In the middle of the farm, there are four big benches, perfect for relaxing and enjoying the view and good network reception.
What else ...
There is no Wi-Fi at the farm or in the village. If you need internet we recommend buying a local sim card. Vodacom will provide you with the best connection.
We produce electricity trugh our solar panels - so there is no electricity during the night. We also don't have a washing machine and wash cloths by hand.
The weather in Mufindi is pleasant: it is warm and sunny during the day, never gets too hot, but it gets cool at night. It starts to rain on some days n december and we experience much rain from march to april.
For your arrival, I will assist you with travel arrangements to Mdabulo, and you will be guided here by my friends in many places. Local transport can be confusing if you don’t speak the language. So, share your travel plans with me, and I will be happy to help.
Things to Bring as a Volunteer:
1. Essential Clothing & Gear
- Warm layers for cool evenings and long pants for work
- Rain jacket and sturdy shoes for muddy days or rubber boots
- Gardening or work gloves
-If, by any chance, you have a bee suit, please bring it ;)
2. Personal Items
- Local SIM card or eSIM (Vodacom recommended) for internet access, as Wi-Fi isn’t available
- Reusable water bottle
- Quick-dry towel
- Headlamp or flashlight for early mornings or evenings
- Eco-Friendly Toiletries: Organic shampoo and soap are preferred to keep farm water sources clean
- First aid supplies like band-aids and antiseptic
- Solar charger or battery pack for electronics (nice to have, not necessary)
- Snacks for in-between meals
- Cash for shopping in the village and your stay at the farm (VodacomMpesa is also widely accepted for payments)
3. Optional Gifts for the Farm
- If you’d like to bring something extra to contribute, here are some ideas to make a lasting impact!
- Cold-Climate Seeds – Vegetable, herb, or flower seeds suited to cooler weather to expand our planting options
- Dried Spices – Turmeric, cumin, paprika, oregano, and more to spice up our communal meals
- Pantry Goodies – Soy sauce, vinegar, Nutella, chocolate – treats that are always welcome!
- Educational Books – Books (in english) on permaculture, sustainable farming, or general educational materials
- Books for All Ages – Any books you no longer need, whether educational or fiction, to help build a community library
- Kids' Books & Toys – English activity books, coloring books, wood toys, puzzles, or games to bring smiles to young faces
- Outdoor Games – Frisbees, jump ropes, or simple sports equipment for casual fun with the community
We’re excited to welcome you! Any contributions you bring add so much value to the community, and we look forward to exchanging ideas and advancing our vision together. Thank you for helping make this place even more special!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
You may park your campervan on the farm and use our facilities, but we are not able to connect you to electricity!
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
20-30 chicken and a few turkeys
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (26)
I really enjoyed my time at the farm and got to meet the lovely family and my awesome co-volunteers, as well as got to know permacultural agriculture a bit. The work at the farm is very… read more
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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
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I really enjoyed my time at the farm and got to meet the lovely family and my awesome co-volunteers, as well as got to know permacultural agriculture a bit. The work at the farm is very… read more
They are kind, friendly, enthusiastic, loving and hardworking people. They have been involved in many projects on the farm and have provided great help and contribution to the farm. They have helped build duck ponds, dig fish ponds,… read more
We met many friendly and kind people here. We met 10 volunteers from different countries in total. It was cool to chat, share ideas, work and learn together.
We have so many… read more
Thank you so much for your help and dedication to the farm! We are like family and you have done such a excellent job in the two and a half weeks you have been here.
Thank you for helping to raise funds and now the farm has installed two 5000L water tanks, which has given the farm plenty of water resources. This is a great job and… read more
During my three… read more
Such a lively and… read more
You are left with gifts of knowledge to take you further in this life,… read more
They are amazing, hard workink, full of kindness, creativity, responsibility and really present and conscious. I wish our ways are gonna stay connected.
She is amazing , hard working, full of kindness ,creativity, responsibility and really present and conscious!
I wish our ways are gonna stay connected.
1. All the people were open minded, helpful, soft, friendly and with an incredible spirit.
They all work on realizing this dream – and it looks already so very well! Ottomans knowledge around permaculture is impressingly deep and profound. Angelista, his wife, knows a lot about plants. She is such a kind person… read more
Communication is easy, he helped me to organize my journey to the farm. I was staying at the permaculture site, 20 min walk far from the village. The village is about 2 hours from Mafinga. The place is peaceful, green and surrounded by… read more
The landscape is really… read more
Nina is a very nice girl, hardworking, respectful, curious and she teached me a lot of skills, especially tips about seedlings that have been very useful and that I… read more
Everyday there is something to do on the farm, if it is feading the animals, cleaning an… read more
They helped me to plan and design the buildings of the institute,… read more
