Help us create a community space out of an old ruin and overgrown park in Drahnsdorf, Germany

Infos

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  Description

  I’m Amanda, a Thai-American (1984) originally from California, and my husband, Daniel (1985), is German. We met in Bolivia, where I created a women’s economic development project and social enterprise. It consisted of a hostel and community center and cafe that brought locals and foreigners together, as well as an entrepreneurial training space for local women. Since I had hundreds of volunteers in Bolivia, we decided to also host them here in Germany. My background is in education/research, international development, urban planning, social entrepreneurship, and tech. Daniel is an anesthesiologist and emergency doctor with some background in plumbing/heating and electricity.
  
  We’re currently working on bringing an old ruin of a DDR castle back to life near Berlin to one day become another community space for things like summer camps for foster kids, live music and theater, artist residencies, etc. That’s many years away given the state of the things now. We have set up our non-profit organization this year and we work with the local village association to host the area’s seasonal cultural events! We just started being able to host in 2022, given the lack of floors and a proper roof before.
  
  It’s about 11,000sqm of truly magical, but mostly overgrown garden/parkland and about 300sqm x 2 floors of abandoned ruin. The structural stuff is in progress, but there’s so much "little" stuff to do that always takes more time. The castle is almost exclusively furnished, filled, and fixed up with used or free things (we even picked up the used toilets free from a Berlin nightclub!). We believe in the Japanese concept of Kintsugi and finding value in broken things, like the castle itself; so we prefer to give unwanted or broken things a second life to divert trash from landfills, avoid unnecessary consumption, and provide an example to others to show that one can have nice things without always buying new.
  
  We have wonderful neighbors and garden club friends in the garden/park area (international Berliners) who are so friendly and helpful. The working language here is usually English, since that is often the only common language, but we can also always practice German or Spanish, if that’s preferred (you'd need at least B1 to communicate without a lot of active teaching required though).
  
  We have all the basics needed for comfortable-enough living. Close by, there is a train station with a direct train (when it's not under construction) to Berlin, as well as a small town with a Rewe, a Penny, and few restaurants. There are also adorable little towns with artisan shops and homemade breads and organic cheeses, etc. for the foodies. It’s a lovely area to bike around in with all the rivers and woods everywhere and the famous UNESCO Spreewald Biosphere is only 20 minutes away by car. Spreewald kayaking and pickles are the best! Plus, everyone is very friendly and it’s culturally quite different, even ethnically, from the typical former East German areas.
  
  * You must be able to speak/comprehend at B2 level in one of our languages to be able to understand directions.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Bénévolat

  Projets artistiques

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Aide dans une ferme

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Centres d’intérêt

  

  Technologie

  

  Culture

  

  Politique/justice sociale

  

  LGBT+

  

  Événements/vie sociale

  

  Dev. durable

  

  Dev. personnel

  

  Films et télé

  

  Musique

  

  Histoire

  

  Bricolage / artisanat

  

  Livres

  

  Art et design

  

  Photographie

  

  Langues

  

  Cuisine et alimentation

  

  Jardinage

  

  Architecture

  

  Écriture

  

  Arts du spectacle

  

  Menuiserie

  

  Animaux

  

  Sports d'équipe

  

  Nature

  

  Yoga / bien-être

  

  Montagne

  

  Danse

  

  Camping

  

  Sports nautiques

  

  Randonnée
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  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

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  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Learning and practicing English, German, or Spanish. Exploring the culture of Spreewald and typical country life in Germany. Chatting with our friendly neighbors can really teach you a lot about real life in Germany. Daniel and I have both traveled extensively around the world, so we can always give ideas and tips. I cook international foods and classic dishes, so if you like to try new things and chat about all things possible, you will enjoy mealtimes. Berlin is only about an hour train ride (when it's not under construction) away for an easy day trip or weekend trip for people who want to explore the city. For those who like to stay in nature, there’s so much in the area to explore, including an artisan glass-blowing village or local factories and farms that give tours. You'll also learn about how to fix up a house, construction basics, and DIY projects. Depending on how long you stay, you'll likely learn a lot about yourself and new ways of seeing and living in the world by being around us and our diverse friends that come here to help.

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  Aide

  This year indoors we'll mostly need to lay cables, prep walls to be redone/plastered, install flooring, sew things, refurbish old doors, paint, sand wood for stair steps and furniture, install baseboards, etc.
  
  Outside, tasks would include raking, weeding, evening mole hills, maybe reviving an old pond, trimming trees, splitting wood to dry/store, mowing, weed whacking, sorting through trash the former owners left to recycle as much as possible, etc.
  
  There's also just a constant accumulation of dust and piles of things left from workers and construction. It would be great to also have help keeping the upstairs clean and managing the mess downstairs so we can still keep doing tasks without it getting in the way.
  
  Although welcome, you needn’t have professional experience or expertise of any kind. All tasks are broken down into the simplest sub-tasks and we would show you how to do things the way we prefer it anyway (or the best way to do it given the limited tools we have at hand). There is never a right or wrong way to do things and as long as you’re open to learning and respect that there is sometimes a preferred way we have to do certain things, we’re good.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Allemand: Courant
  Anglais: Courant
  Espagnol: Courant
  Thai: Intermédiaire
  Français: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  If you have your own self-study materials, we can discuss and I can explain, teach what I can, or practice your English, German, Spanish, or Thai!
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  Hébergement

  Individual rooms upstairs with shared living room, office loft, wintergarden, bathroom, and provisional kitchen. Big things are missing downstairs and little things upstairs. It’s still a ruin after all.
  
  There’s WiFi and a cuddly dog that always loves to play with new people.
  
  In terms of food, we can hopefully switch off preparing dinner, if you like to cook. We mostly eat vegetarian and try to generally eat lower on the food chain. We wouldn’t be able to accommodate a vegan or very picky eaters, unfortunately. There would be at least one big hot meal a day and whoever doesn't help cook must help clean. You’re expected to keep your own bathroom and bedroom clean as well, so as not to make more work for us, since we have quite a lot to do this year!
  
  I am asthmatic and allergic to cigarette smoke, so non-smokers please!

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  Autres infos...

  We really can’t manage people who have many particular needs or are very new to the practicalities of the real world or conscientious group living. It would be ideal to have people who are competent, motivated, communicative, and curious self-starters who can see that something needs to be done and can commit to starting and finishing the tasks well. It can be overwhelming to think of such a project and all it requires, but it just takes a determined and diligent chipping away at the tasks to keep it all from getting daunting. There’s so much to do and it feels so great to witness the little and big transformations you can make with your hands. We would love to have someone who can feel that and wants to be part of this story of finding something that was neglected and abandoned and contributing our knowledge and experience to leaving it better than we found it.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  We have wifi and can also set it up in the garden in summer.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We share our garden with friends in yurts, mini trailers, and vans on the weekend. There’s a compost toilet in the garden and a camper shower and provisional sink for those looking to sleep in a camper van in the middle of nature!

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  We love dogs, but are allergic to cats. Depending on if it’s indoors or outdoors, we can discuss!

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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