Come and help us build a dome and create a permaculture food forest in Vratsa, Bulgaria

Infos

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  Description

  Hello fellow travelers! We are Stanimir and Claire, a Bulgarian-American couple living in a community in northwest Bulgaria. After travelling around for many years (and volunteering with Workaway!) we finally bought some land and are starting our own project. We live in a small village that is part of a growing community. As a community, our shared projects and values centre around breathing life into our (once nearly-abandoned) village through various events, sharing a community garden and hosting a summer festival.
  
  While we will definitely do things together with/for the community, this profile is more focused on our personal project, which is building a geodesic dome on our land, as well as designing and creating a permaculture food forest and two small dams.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille
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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

  We are part of a Rural Renaissance! By volunteering here, you’ll have a special opportunity to experience life in a rural Bulgarian village that is currently being restored and brought back to life.
  
  You can also learn a lot about:
  
  • how to build a geodesic dome
  • construction and building with natural materials (and a few non-natural ones, we're not perfect!)
  • permaculture design and earthworks (dam, swales)
  • gardening and growing vegetables
  • how to make your own cheese and yogurt
  • foraging and preserving native plants
  • local cultural and historical heritage (here we have a megalith complex and caves)
  • a chance to meet amazing local artist and changemakers
  • group work, group dynamics and principles for forming a community
  • healthy eating
  • crochet and knitting
  • ...and if you're interested in music, Claire plays the harp and Stanimir the hang drum

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  Aide

  DOME
  We have all of the parts for it, and we have built it up once before. We need help building it and insulating it. As we already have all the material, it should go quite quickly and we are hoping to get it up in April/May. If you’re interested in domes, this is a great chance to see how simple it is to build them. (:
  
  FOOD FOREST
  The future food forest is currently a meadow with a few trees on it. We are planning to go in soon with a digger and remove earth for a dam and also to create swales. Our property has a lot of underground water, so we have a great opportunity to implement a system which will manage and store the water. If you’re interested in permaculture principles and water management, this will be a great learning opportunity; you can learn how to mark contour lines and the best place to create swales.
  
  DRY STONE WALLS
  Our property is surrounded by dry stone walls which have fallen down over time. We need help repairing them, and we also would eventually like to create a living wall out of willow, so we may need help planting willow cuttings.
  
  COMMUNITY GARDEN
  We go a few times a week to the community garden, which is located in a neighbouring village. If you’re interested in growing vegetables, you can see it done on a large scale here. The entire farm is off-grid, with energy coming from solar panels and water coming from a reservoir. Oh, and all the veg is organic. (:
  
  FORAGING
  We like to collect and preserve edible plants, herbs and nuts according to the season. Some of the wonderful native plants that grow here include nettle, dock, elderflower, St. John's wart, yarrow, hazelnuts and many more!
  
  COOKING
  If you’d like to help with the cooking sometimes, it’s always greatly appreciated. (: We eat a vegetarian diet (plus fish on occasion). However, if you're not into cooking it's okay.
  
  DOG AND PLANT CARE
  We may on occasion ask you to water our small garden. We also have a friendly dog named Zara who loves spending time with people. (:

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Bulgarian: Courant
  Anglais: Courant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il souhaitait faire partager sa propre langue ou en apprendre une nouvelle.
  Contactez-le pour en savoir plus.
  
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  Hébergement

  We have a community guest house for volunteers, friends and, well, guests. (: There are three bedrooms, each with 2-3 beds. Depending on when you come, there is a chance you’ll share the room with someone else (of the same gender). If you’d strongly prefer to have your own space, please mention it when you write and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
  
  Our friends and neighbors in the community are also workaway hosts, so they may have volunteers that would be sharing the accommodation with you.
  
  For those of you who like camping, we can also provide you with a tent and you can find a nice shady spot in the forest around the guest house to set it up. There is a stream that runs nearby as well.
  
  At the moment, there is still not a kitchen or an indoor bathroom at the guest house. There is an outhouse (WC) and an outdoor shower. However, our house is located right next to the guest house, so you can come to ours to use the indoor shower, do laundry, and share meals.

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  Autres infos...

  We are located 100 km from Sofia, and there is a train stop in our village, although it's a bit of a hike (40 min). We will pick you up if you come by train!
  
  We have a beautiful baby boy who was born last year. We are not looking for any help with childcare. However, we do tend to wind down early in the evenings with our baby, so it's best if you're comfortable spending the evenings alone or with fellow volunteers. The village is small (around 100 inhabitants) and is quiet in the evenings.
  
  There are many spectacular places to discover IN THE AREA:
  
  • • Ancient megalith complex with cave and ruined fortresses (in the village)
  • • Centuries-old oak trees with sanctuary (in the village)
  • • Three rivers which run through the village and great swimming holes
  • • Ledenika cave - one of the 100 National Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
  • • Rafting on the Iskar river (rafting takes place in the safest and most beautiful sections of the river)
  • • Horse riding - Milanovo, Ledenika
  • • Waterfall Skaklya
  • • Waterfall Borov Kamak
  • • God's Bridge - stone phenomenon
  • • Vratsata - proven the best climbing place in the Balkans!
  • • Magura Cave - stone age 7000-year-old spectacular drawings
  • • Lake Dabnika
  • • Ritlite rock phenomenon
  • • Belogradchik rock phenomenon - a UNESCO world heritage site
  • • Belogradchik fortress
  • • Cherepishki monastery
  
  ....and really a lot, lot more! We can give you a map with locations that you can visit.

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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 a good wifi connection and an unlimited supply of wifi. (: We mostly work earlier in the day, so late afternoons and evenings would be free for your online work.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  There is a spot for campervans in the village, as well as an outdoor sink and compost toilets.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week