Raphaël

Travel information

I am currently

Description

[WHO AM I]

Hi, I'm Raphaël, a 31-year-old permaculture practitioner, massage therapist, tea artist, and poet from Martinique (French Caribbean), currently based in Penang (Malaysia) where I'm involved with a diversity of initiatives such as a permaculture project, an urban farm, as well as a community café.

Between April 2017 and September 2020, I had the opportunity to travel and volunteer within projects and communities around Europe and Asia as I was initially driven by a desire to enrich my knowledge and get more inspiration about permaculture, natural farming, agroforestry, natural building, as well as sustainable and regenerative solutions.

Those experiences were transformative in many respects, and turned into a beautiful, fertile, and inspirational journey fueled by the numerous and precious encounters I made along the way. They were a powerful catalyst for personal growth, nourished by the life lessons that were gifted to me. Being a naturally open-minded and curious person, this also helped me to broaden my horizons and better cultivate gratitude.

Coming back home in the midst of the pandemic helped me to further refine my interests, especially permaculture-wise, where I am now aiming to specialize in local, artisanal seed saving and production. To this end, most of my efforts will focus on several initiatives that will cover the educational [1], practical, and communal aspects of seed saving while building resiliency, food sovereignty, and preserving the cultural heritage that comes with it. I had the opportunity to hit the road again in July 2022 and I'm now based in Penang, Malaysia, crafting a small home base around a community of permaculture, tea practitioners, and therapists friends, where I'm able to make my humble contribution through a synergistic use of my skills while materializing my projects in a meaningful way for the benefit of all. I'm now involved in a permaculture project focused on agroforestry, an urban farm, as well as a community café run by several members of our community.

I'm a certified Ayurvedic Yoga Massage and Dynamic Thai Massage therapist offering – through my own practice (Kůra Růka - www.kuraruka.com) – private massage sessions and special packages for the wellness and hospitality industries. If you are running a spa, hotel, retreat center or another wellness facility, I would be very happy to collaborate with you. Feel free to get in touch with me (raphael[at]kuraruka.com).

[1] One of these seed saving-related projects I have been working is a free educational platform aiming to help gardeners and permaculture practitioners to learn how to save seeds for their community and future generations. The platform can be accessible at www.learnseedsaving.com (still a work in progress).

[WHAT NOURISHES ME]

I am interested in:

– Permaculture, natural, traditional, and regenerative farming solutions
– Natural building (especially material such as adobe and bamboo, structures like domes and kerterres,)
– Self-sufficiency
– Alternative ways of living and consuming
– Primitive skills & ancestral knowledge (especially pottery and basket weaving, which I would eventually like to learn for some future projects)
– Rewilding
– Writing poetry, more specifically haikus that I shared through "Le vagabond bleu", a literary project created in January 2016. My poetry work can be found at www.levagabondbleu.fr and www.instagram.com/levagabondbleu.
– Leading gōng fu chá 功夫茶 (the Chinese art of serving tea) sharing sessions for friends and fellow souls I meet along the way, with a focus on Taiwanese teas and tea drinking traditions. My tea offerings and related projects can be found at www.le-cerf-volant.com and www.instagram.com/lecerfvolant.tea.arts/
– Meditation (mostly using a "just sitting" formless method, referred to as shikantaza, mozhao, or zuowang in Zen Buddhism, Chan Buddhism, and Daoism respectively) and yoga (hatha and yin).
– Massage and holistic therapeutic practices, mostly through my own private practice (Kůra Růka - www.kuraruka.com) where I offer Ayurvedic Yoga Massage, Dynamic Thai Massage, as well as meditation circles aimed to individuals as well as the wellness and hospitality industries. My therapist friends from Malaysia as well as my volunteering experience back in March 2020 in Myanmar helping with physiotherapy within a Buddhist village were great sources of inspiration in the materialization and professionalization of this interest.
– Music: I play the fujara, a traditional Slovakian overtone flute. Currently still practicing.
– Reading books about permaculture, seed saving, poetry, non-dualism, tea, and holistic health.

[ADDITIONAL INFORMATION]

– I am a Permaculture Design Course certificate holder (course took in Thailand in March 2018).
– I speak French (native language), English (fluent), and Spanish (I can understand and read the language without much difficulty). I am also hoping to learn Mandarin eventually.
– I do not smoke and usually do not drink alcohol. While I was pescatarian for 7 years, I no longer have a specific diet. In that respect, I am quite flexible and am always grateful for whatever healthy and nourishing food Nature unconditionally provides.

Most of my Workaway volunteering experiences from my 2017-2020 journey were very positive, and I am thankful for all of them, as all lessons are life lessons. I hope that I could be useful to you and that you would be willing to welcome me and count me as your friend.

I'm looking forward to meeting you,

With gratitude,

Raphaël

Interests

Photography

Music

Writing

Charity work

Gardening

Books

Art & design

DIY & crafts

Hiking

Yoga / Wellness

Farming

Nature

Languages spoken

English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Animal Care

Charity Work

Art Projects

Helping with Computers/ Internet

More details about your skills

Permaculture, seed saving, natural building, massage therapies, arts (poetry, music, gongfu cha), photography, general maintenance, online marketing, translation, computer-related tasks

Age

31

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

• 

  Allergies
  No

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  Special dietary requirements
  No