Mike (Philip)

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Working on a great horse ranch and farm since may with a bunch of great returning and new workawayers from all over. I've mostly been doing more labor intensive projects while still working w/ the 🐎

Description

Hi everyone,

E-greetinngs to you all!

My name is Philip but most people call me Mike because there are too many Phils in the family. My parents and siblings are from Ireland but I was born in the USA and so I am a dual citizen, my Irish passport became extra handy after November 2016 because I was able to leave the US and avoid living in the deeply polarized and disturbingly extremist rhetoric suddenly emerging out in the open and welcomed by then President-elect Trump. I left the US to go to Kurdistan after discovering the what the Kurdish Freedom Movement was doing in North East Syria and how it had set up a viable alternative to the way the world is ordered. They had created an autonomous region that was based on Democratic Confederalism which in a very simplified explanation, is radical grass-roots, bottoms up, direct democracy, women's liberation, youth empowerment, pluralism, multiculturalism and ecology all tied together by a social contract that was crafted by the people. I will leave it there as I don't want to get on the old soap box. I joined as an internationalist volunteer in the YPG/J (Peoples Protection Units/Women's, non-mixed,Protection Units)-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

In short, the answer is yes, I did see combat, and I remained in the SDF but was moved to the special forces and anti-terrror units (YAT) after I had fought in the liberation of Raqqa from Daesh (ISIS) and the defense of Efrin (Afrin) from the full-scale invasion from the north cynically called "operation olive branch".

Over the last decade my life was dedicated to my various roles in the constantly developing and unfortunately under attack Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria, which even brought me over to support Ukraine in a similar special unit from 2023-2024. I then spent some time taking a break from military life and took up work with an old comrade from the YPG and worked doing construction in the Netherlands, specifically kit work with concrete and brick climbing up and down scaffolding. After moving back to Brussels I took some time to find my own studio and set up a little base and from there taught some courses in Kenya in November and December as part of the beginnings of a small side company a good friend and colleague and I started that aims to teach ISR in the private security sector to help mitigate risk and plan best courses of actions to ensure the highest likelihood of a safe, minimal risk day on the job.

As of this last month I decided that after a decade of intense and challenging unconventional military life and 3 intense military masters programs to take a break from the world of being a researcher/practitioner and get back in touch with nature in a more peaceful way. I especially really want to learn how to be a good ranch hand and work with horses, I'd also love to get a refresher course in how to ride and really get good enough that I can once again ride at a more than a trot. I look forward to the simplicity of a routine, a productive day of the good kind of hard work and the comradery of working with a team of ranchers and ranch hands. I look forward to painting barns, mending fences, mucking the stalls, shoveling manure haha, and doing whatever extra chores there might be.

Interests

Movies & TV

Charity work

Farming

Self development

Technology

Sustainability

Culture

Events & social

Pets

Politics / Social justice

Performing arts

Art & design

Books

History

Music

Cooking & food

Gardening

Animals

Camping

Outdoor activities

Fitness

Nature

Yoga / Wellness

Team sports

Mountain

Hiking

Languages spoken

English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Kurdish: Fluent

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Life at a Farmstay

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Animal Care

Babysitting and creative play

Hospitality/Tourism

Charity Work

Art Projects

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Able to teach about:  

Helping with Computers/ Internet

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Teaching

Helping around the house

Languages

House sitting

More details about your skills

Well, I have gathered a pretty eclectic set of skills over the years . I've done a lot volunteer work on ranches and farms when I was in my teens and mid 20s. My mom and I have always been the ones responsible for fixing everything in the house and tending to the garden. I've done a lot of manual labor and work with my hands and learned how to operate everything from powered industrial vehicles like Bobcats and forklifts, although my certification was back in 2014 so I am a bit rusty. I've been driving cars to larger moving trucks since I was 15, I have my US license still which is legal to use in the EU as it comes from Illinois, I can cut earth into terracing and use rail ties and steel Ribar ties to keep them from eroding, just in case you have a piece of land that is at a 45 degree angle that you'd like to use. I know how to do what the Dutch call "Kitting or Kitwerk" so replacing the foam filling and silicone strips that go between concrete/concrete or concrete/brick to prevent water from damaging the placement etc.I have experience working with horses from when I was about 10 until 18 in different places, and I absolutely love working with horses and animals in general. Any ranch or farm chores or work that needs doing I can re-learn or learn quickly, and I do enjoy to learn new things.

Outside of that I spend 9 years in the military world with the Kurds in Syria and some time in Ukraine. I also focused my 3 masters on military and intelligence related studies and have been a researcher/practitioner for the last 5 years. I also have a number of professional, internationally accredited medical, military and security certificates and licenses. However, at the age of 36, I'm now happy to find a way to get back into working with horses and out in nature and in the near future pursue my Ph.D and move towards teaching and instructing at universities and in the private sector when I'm not working on a horse ranch.

As for languages I speak English, French and Kurdish along with some Spanish and Italian and very little Arabic and Turkish.

Prior to my military work, I did media strategy and analytics, while I understand marketing science, it is not my passion but I learned all the office skills and can run backend work like excels and the like.

Otherwise, I am a patient, eager and quick learner if given a patient and kind teacher. I am open to constructive and respectfully delivered criticism that also comes with a suggestion for improvement and I will also be the first to self-criticise myself when I see that I have made a mistake or if I am responsible for something not being achieved or expectations met.

Age

36

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements