Portugal
604 “me gusta”
Hi, we are Ugo (Italian) and MaryAnn (1/2 american and 1/2 italian brought up in Madrid) who moved to Portugal after 10 years living in Hong Kong.
Ugo, an italian food connoisseur and entrepreneur, MaryAnn, a mindfulness and compassion and executive coach entrepreneur.
We are the guardians of 74 acres of magical land in Serpa, Alentejo, where we are following our dream of creating a land and people regeneration retreat center, a natural refuge where nature, animals and people can work together in harmony.
When we open the retreat in mid 2022, it will be based on the Retreat - Reconnect - Regenerate concept; reconnecting and taking care of ourselves as integral parts of nature via mindfulness and compassion practices, writing, mindful movement, yoga, healthy eating from veggie garden and soaking in the natural peace of Alentejo, and reconnecting with nature through sustainable agricultural methods (permaculture and agroforestry).
Right now we are getting the land and food production part ready while we are almost finished with the renovation of the buildings by an outside constructor.
We moved into the property in January 2019 and with already the help of many volunteers, we have 5 beautiful veggie gardens that have been giving us wonderful food, and now we are readying to plant winter vegetables.
We have 2 horses, 3 donkeys, 11 chickens, 3 dogs, 2 cats and we are in the midst of building a tool shed, as well as regenerating the land by planting cover crops and giving organic matter to degraded areas of the land, mulching the beds and planting the winter seeds, preparing raised beds, cutting wood for the winter, etc.
We are looking for strong, proactive, helpful, organised, neat and clean volunteers as we will be living in the newly renovated part of the retreat center and we need to keep it as new for when we open hopefully in May this year (the rest of the living space is being renovated).
Write only If you are interested and capable of being super careful and keep the common areas clean and neat :-)
Let us know if you are physically strong and want to be part of this project by joining us to work on building, upkeep of the veggie gardens and food forest, land clearing, pruning, planting, mulching, animal care and other projects that come up each moment.
We are also looking for potential chef's for the retreat center who would start out as volunteers and if it works, we would speak about renumeration possibilities.
Ayuda en proyectos ecológicos
Jardinería
Proyectos de construcción y bricolaje
Cuidado de animales
Ayuda en una granja
Cocinar para toda la familia
Ayuda doméstica
Mantenimiento general
Ugo is Italian and MaryAnn is half Italian, half American, but grown up in Spain. We have lived for the last 10 years in Hong Kong, so we have quite an international background. Ugo is a food lover, worked in food for the last 7 years,
MaryAnn is a Mindfulness (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Compassionate Living (MBCL), executive coach and passionate about trying out new vegetarian recipes.
Ugo has attended a PDC (permaculture design course) and a natural building course so he can build the different structures needed for the farm part of the retreat center. He is very excited to share his knowledge and experience.
We are happy people and we like happy, interested in our project and proactive volunteers :-).
We are very keen to arrive to almost a 0 trash impact with our project.
We love animals, and somehow they love us and the many volunteers back :-)
Please write if you are a neat, precise and clean person as we will be living in a newly renovated area that we must keep as new until March 2022 when we will open to the public (if renovation goes as expected - fingers crossed :-)
We welcome physically strong people who are proactive and not scared of hard work and will be happy to work in the land, (clearing land, cutting, veggie garden maintenance, pruning, etc.) and building, with a positive attitude and who will contribute in the upkeep of the food forest and veggie gardens, building project and manage and take care of animals as well as live towards a zero waste (minimising plastic use) and sustainable living.
We welcome people who are interested in our project and are not scared of hard work :-)
We are also looking for potential chef's for the retreat center who would start out as volunteers and if it works, we would speak about renumeration possibilities.
Cheers
Ugo and MaryAnn
Inglés: Fluido
Español: Fluido
Italiano: Fluido
Portugués: Intermedio
Francés: Principiante
Japonés: Principiante
We offer a room with 3 single beds for our volunteers and 1 shared bathroom with hosts.
We will be living in the newly renovated service part of the future retreat center.
We have a common kitchen used to cook main meals, and a common living/dining area with a fire place. The rooms are heated during the cold nights, please bring your own towel.
Food wise we provide 3 vegetarian meals a day, you can provide your own snacks.
The help required is 5 hours per day for 5 days a week plus community work (house cleaning, cooking and washing up in turns) plus help around the farm if you are interested in learning to live a nature connected lifestyle.
During your free time you can enjoy the property or the close by little city, Serpa, where there are restaurants, bars and all the commodities that a small town can provide. Nearby there is also a river and a water fall and natural park.
Regarding transportation, we will pick you up in the bus station in Serpa. You can go via Beja (bus or train from Lisbon) and from there catch a bus to SERPA, which is 10km far from the property.
Ideally you can arrive on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday (if possible - we can discuss that when we communicate about your arrival)
Acceso a Internet
Acceso a Internet limitado
Tenemos animales
Somos fumadores
Puede alojar familias
We have space for you if you are traveling in a camper van. It can be a big or small one.
Más de dos
5 hours a day, 5 days a week plus community cleaning of the house and cooking and washing up
Son opciones de calificación adicionales para cuando los miembros dejan sus comentarios. Se muestra la calificación media dejada en cada opción.
Precisión del perfil:
(5.0)
Intercambio cultural:
(4.9)
Comunicación:
(5.0)
