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Host rating
85 %
Last replied
29 Mar 2024
Reply rate
100.0 %
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Details
Description
Hello and welcome to our place!
We are an emerging community in the Alentejo - Portugal. The south of Portugal is suffering from severe drought and exessive farming since many generations. The cork oaks are dying and the land is drying up more and more.
One of the main aspects that we are pursuing is the regeneration of land and human beings. A holistic life is not only about living in a healthy environment but also to have a healthy and holistic relationship to that environment and ourselves as well.
Here we regenerate the land, but the land is regenerating us as well, if we are available and open for that. Life is about one relationship and the more we give, the more we receive.
The place was born through Pedro who met the land several years ago and had the calling to become its guardian and regenerate it. He started to observe the land, the weather and water patterns and implemented first steps to keep water and moisture in place.
His dream was not only to have the land become healthy again and thriving with biodiversity and micro climates but also to have people join him on this journey and to create a sustainable future for generations to come.
In December 2023 Joel and Sandra joined him in his endeavor. They both felt a deep connection to the sacred land and brought their own vision of a sanctuary for animals and all living beings. The Sanctuary was born:
The Sanctuary is dedicated to discovering, preserving and promoting the sacredness of true-relationship between humans and non-humans. Its foundations are respect, trust, cooperation and the recognition that ultimately the essence of all relationship is Love.
Fast forward one year and it is starting to thrive with a permaculture-regeneration-project desigend and ready to be implemented and 4 horses residing at the Sanctuary.
What is missing are helping hands to move the vision further and people who love nature and have a deep yearning to connect with the earth and themselves.
Types of help and learning opportunities
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
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We want to share our live with people so that you can be touched and impacted by the wisdom of the land and the animals - and we can be touched by you.
We believe it is important to share life and build up together instead of each of us doing our own thing.
Pedro, Sandra and Joel were part of a spiritual project/community for 7-10 years and share a common context in life.
We believe that honesty, trust, respect, vulnerability and openness to the other are key values for a successful living together.
True relationship is based on the freedom to be fully ourselves, without impositions, projections, expectations- without using and objectifying each other for our own selfish agendas and gratifications.
This is easier said than done but we endeavor to the best of our possibilities to support each other to grow and to live a happy and healthy live.
More than ever, we need places where healing in ourselves and in relationships can take place. More than ever we need such beacons of light in the dark time we are living.
We invite you to join us in our vision and to learn from our many years experience in living in community and communing with the land and animals.
Help
We want to open this place and share our vision and passion with like minded people.
We are still in the beginning phase and need lots of help to set up the infrastructure (building bungalows, showers, compost toilets etc) If you are a carpenter or handyman/woman you are most welcome!
For the regeneration of the land we need help with tree planting, creating a nursery, preparing irrigation systems etc. Somebody with experience in that field would be most welcome!
We have a garden which is giving 95% of our vegetables! We havent been buying vegetables (except onions and garlic) since one year :-)
We need help in the garden to enlarge it and to feed everybody from it. We would love people with permaculture garden experience!
We need help for general house keeping and cooking, allthough this is also shared between everybody.
We have 4 horses that live free and wild. Nevertheless we need help with feeding, creating fences and poo-picking
Are you a website developer or good with marketing? Great, we would love to hear from you to get our website and social media going!
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
Accommodation
Volunteers will be sleeping in a dorm in the house or in a dorm bell tent. We ask our volunteers to be flexible with the accommodation.
We are cooking vegetarian food and have usually 2 meals during workdays together. Breakfast is help yourself. we offer 3 meals a day plus snacks
Weekends are more flexible and volunteers can coordinate to cook for themselves. We share cooking during the week unless we have somebody specifically assigned for it. We ask you to not drink alcohol on the premises and also not to smoke. This is especially important during the dry season as the fire risk is very high.
Everybody takes part in cleaning up after themselves and to keep the communal and personal areas clean and tidy. This is very important to us as the house has been built with a lot of love and care and we want that it stays beautiful for everyone to enjoy.
Unless somebody is assigned to cleaning, we all share in weekly cleaning tasks.
Here we also ask you to be flexible and available for what needs to happen. We can all have the best plan and organisation in the world but life tends to throw everything out of order sometimes and then we can all play and adapt :)
What else ...
This is a haven for nature lovers and people who want to slow down their pace of life.
In your time off you can enjoy the company of the horses, dogs and the land. Go for a swim in one of the lakes (if the water is still high enough) or just listen to the silence, birds, frogs and crickets and watch the millions of starts on the many clear nights.
We live quite isolated and don´t have public transport close by. Having a car is a plus in terms of flexibility in moving around. If you come without a car we can pick you up at the nearest town Grandola (25 min. from us) and we will arrange for you to get out of the land but you need to be working in accordance with us.
Adventures close by are the beautiful beaches of Lagoa de Santo André and Melides (20km). Lisbon is 1.5 hours away and a great get away during the weekend. Also the algarve and the stunning beaches of the Costa Vincentina are starting 1 hour from us.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
If you are a digital nomad lets have a talk about your needs and if we can provide them :)
Space for parking camper vans
If you have a small van that you are living in we can discuss about possibilities for you to stay on the land.
Can possibly accept pets
Needs to be discussed. Get in touch with us and we see what we can do.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
5 hours a day, 5 days a week
