Bring an off-grid mountain village in the Italian Mountains back to life near Orasso, Italy

Detalhes

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  Descrição

  *WE ARE FULL UNTIL MID JULY SO PLEASE DON'T MESSAGE ME FOR ANYTHING BEFORE THEN*
  
  *THE ONLY LONG TERM POSITION WHICH IS STILL AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER IS THE SOCIAL MEDIA HELPER, NEEDED ASAP*
  
  Hello workawayers!


  
  So nice to meet you this way :)
  
  
First of all, a little about me; my name is Viana, I am 26 years old, and I am the director of this project. I am originally from Switzerland, although I have been all over. I grew up in Kathmandu, studied in the Netherlands, and have travelled with my trusty tent from Spain to Georgia (although not really in a straight line :P), and now, since 2023, I am spearheading this project of mine in Italy. Oh yeah, and guess what - I have also been a workaway volunteer! This is another reason I am excited to host you all <3 because I know exactly how it feels to be on the other end of this experience, and its fun and exciting for me to be on this end now and be able to offer people something.
  
  So what the HELL is my project, huh?


  
  I am currently living off grid on a beautiful property in the mountains of Northern Italy. This place is very close to my heart because it is an old family property, and for me, one of the most magical places in the world. The property is a very teeny tiny village, once upon a time a shepherds pasture, nestled between forest, rivers, and mountains. Not only do I want to make my personal base here, but I want to turn this place into something full of life! The vision for the future is creating a Centre for Arts, Spirituality and Natural Living; a village with permanent residents, as well as many longterm/short term visitors and guests. We will support each other through life, we will live as self sustainably as possible, and organise diverse workshops/ events/ courses etc. This is the very basic premise of where things are going, but of course as life has taught me, I have no idea what the actual outcome will be.
  
  The minimum stay here for workers is 1 month. There is a lot to learn even just about every day life, and if you stay less than 1 month it will take way too much of my energy and time to teach you everything, only to have you leave so soon. And I think you need at least 1 month anyway to adjust, really settle in and get the full experience. I also want to make it clear that the first 10 days of this month will be a kind of "trial period." And that counts for both sides. That simply means, after you have settled in I would like to sit down with you and check in about how things have been going; if it is the case that you realise it may not be the right place for you, or it is not how you imagined, it will also be the time to tell me. And from my side as a host, if I have any concerns or queries with you or am dissatisfied with your effort at work or behaviour, then I will let you know as well, and may ask you to leave. On the other hand, if things go well and you really enjoy the lifestyle I will be very open for you to extend your stay! Open communication is really important for me, as a host, as well as a private person - but more on that later!


  
  For me it also goes without saying that any form of discrimination, violence, or erratic harmful behaviour towards the people, animals, and nature of my place will not be tolerated at all. Sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, ageism etc. etc. etc. - big no go. This is an open and safe space for all and any kinds of people and if anyone is made to feel uncomfortable here by you I don't have any problem in asking you to leave.


  
  ALSO!!!! I know I wrote a lot but don't message me if you haven't fully read my profile and really want to be here - it shows.

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  Tipos de ajuda e oportunidades de aprendizado

  Projetos artísticos

  Ajuda em projetos ambientais

  Jardinagem

  Construção/faça você mesmo

  Ajuda em fazenda

  Criar/cozinhar refeições caseiras

  Ajuda a cuidar da casa

  Manutenção geral

  Ajuda com computadores/internet
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  Oportunidades de intercâmbio cultural e aprendizado

  Travelling and getting to know different cultures means having the privilege to see and experience a different way of life through a different set of eyes. This kind of experience is invaluable. What I want to offer workawayers is the opportunity to live a different kind of life than what they may have experienced until now. To make new experiences in a new world! My personal culture is a blend of flavours, the culture of the country I am living in is an entity of its own, and the culture of the lifestyle I have chosen is something wholly different on top of that.


  
  You will learn so many things. You will learn how life actually exists in circles that constantly feed into each other; when you live in the city these circles often get distorted or disjointed, or they are just harder to see. If you are interested in anything like off grid living, sustainable living and community projects it is definitely the place for you. Don't be intimidated about the fact that you may not have any prior experience with the kind of lifestyle that requires planting your own food, chopping wood, making fires etc. because neither did I until recently. I very much believe that anyone can learn anything if you have the right attitude and work ethic, along with a good dose of common sense. You just have to know that you are capable and intelligent and most importantly be willing to fail a couple times (or many times) while you learn until you get there. The thing I love the most about living here is this whole trial and error learning process. Sometimes it's so hard. But it's an amazing feeling to figure something out all on your own and see the results at the end of the day...week...month...year.
  
  People with experience in these fields of work - gardening, construction, carpentry, plumbing, renovation, anything hands on and/or outdoorsy, are greatly appreciated and very much needed. Please tell me all about your skills!! But I want to make it clear that as long as you are motivated, have a good work ethic and are willing to learn I greatly appreciate anyone with two hands reaching out to me and wanting to join this project. Everybody knew nothing at some point. I will be happy to teach you what little I know, but mostly, we will also learn in this project together :)



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  Anfitriões que oferecem uma remuneração de acordo com o salário mínimo do país.

  Este anfitrião oferece acomodação e remuneração.

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  Ajuda

  So WHAT do I need help with?


  
  This is where you come in. The "dream" I have described above is a very concise and very long term vision. In reality it will take a lot of years of hard hard hard work to get anywhere close to this point.
  
  A little overview of the work in general:
  
  The property of our village was abandoned and out of use for several years. This means a massive focus of this project is the renovation of the property; making it completely functional, comfortable, and safe to live in again. The property is not a complete ruin, it is totally possible to already comfortably live here. But almost everything is very old, starting to break, or already broken, if you get the picture. It means that everything needs renovating/fixing in big or small ways. Every house on the property is suffering some kind of damage. Some things are more serious, like water damage, leaking roofs, or mold problems. While others are more superficial and can be solved with a new coat of plaster and paint. All the land, the fields, and the trees and vegetation, of course need maintaining too; things need to be cut down, pruned, and rebuilt all the time. 


  
  A big challenge is that we don't yet have stable funds for everything. To generate an income I am running a B&B. Tourists can rent rooms here and I also provide breakfast and dinner. Specific workers help me run the guesthouse, but in high season, anyone may be asked to lend a helping hand to the guest house. It is a big part of the daily life here as we also share meals and generally live closely alongside our guests. It is also a very seasonal thing; summer is high season, any other time of the year will see very little action in terms of number of guests. In 2024 I also hope to organise the first couple of workshops/courses here! It is definitely an exciting time for me as it is a big step towards the kind of things I want to be organising in the future. 


  
  Alongside a general worker position we are also looking for a variety of workers for more long term periods of time to take on more leading/managerial roles in this project. All positions are paid. All working hours will be monetarily compensated - the wage will correspond with the hourly minimum wage of Italy.
  
  DIVISION OF WORK
  
  

Below you will find all positions and their corresponding responsibilities:


  
  1. GENERAL WORKER (5h a day, 5 days a week, All Year Round)
  As a general worker you will almost act as a sort of “runner” for the village. You will essentially be available to help with anything and everything that we do here. You will support myself and other team leaders in their projects, and have to be quite flexible lending a helping hand wherever necessary. Maybe you will even take on a smaller project of your own, depending on your own skill set and interests. Depending on the season and the projects at hand your tasks during your stay here will vary a lot.
  
  All workers will also share responsibilities of everyday tasks and general household chores i.e. cleaning of bathrooms, kitchen, and common spaces (things get dirty fast here whoops).
  
  AREAS OF WORK:
  Below I have outlined the three rough areas of work that we are concerning ourselves with this year. As a general worker you may be asked to help out in any of these areas. Leadership positions are also open for each area. This simply means if you have the skill and knowledge for a certain area, and feel you are capable in taking the lead for certain work projects during your working period, don’t hesitate to do so!
  
  

A. INDOOR RENOVATION/MAINTENANCE 

  Our biggest project is the indoor renovation of guest rooms; this work will continue the whole year. The beautifying and fixing up of rooms includes upcycling/fixing old furniture, building new furniture, repainting/recementing walls, building/replacing/sanding/oiling wooden structures, sewing/repolstering fabrics etc.
  
  B. GARDEN
  Although we aim to grow as much of our own food as possible, this year we have to put a bit of a break on the garden project. We will not be planting a garden as large or as diverse as previous years, instead, the idea is to pick just 2-3 very easy and low maintenance crops, such as potatoes, for entire terraces. Garden work also includes maintaining the compost and fortifying the garden fence, which is extremely important because the forest animals always try to get in there to have a tasty snack.


  
  C. OUTDOOR RENOVATION/MAINTENANCE 
This refers to taking care of all outdoor spaces. Cutting back and pruning overgrowth and trees. Cleaning all the terraces of the property of bushes, brambles and shrubs. Cutting down trees. Outdoor landscaping such as rebuilding stone walls of terraces, rebuilding bridges and footpaths, outside patios may be a thing too.
  
  2. KITCHEN CREW (x2) (8h a day, 5 days a week, June-September/October)
  Hungry people are not happy people! So your work is essential ;) We are looking for two people to head the kitchen. Essentially, the kitchen, as well as the outdoor and indoor dining spaces will be your domain. Your responsibilities include preparing three simple meals a day for the workers as well as guests whenever they are present. Cleaning and general maintenance of the kitchen as well as dining areas. Managing the food storage and going on tri-weekly food shopping trips. And lastly, foraging is also a big part of our kitchen here. Being head of the kitchen would therefore also entail taking initiative to forage for whatever is in season in our environment (nettles, edible herbs, mushrooms, chestnuts) and making use of and incorporating said foraged items into the kitchen.
  
  This position requires an availability of at least 3 months.
  
  In the case that we are out of season and are a small group of workers and no single “chef” is at hand, kitchen responsibilities are shared and rotated between workers.
  
  3. GUESTHOUSE MANAGER (X1) (8h a day, 5 days a week, June - September)
  We are looking for someone to be responsible for the guesthouse. Your responsibilities will include the cleaning and general maintenance of the guesthouse itself (with the support of other workers when needed); this includes all the guest rooms as well as all public spaces such as the common room and bathrooms. You will also act as receptionist and care taker of the guests. This means you will manage our booking pages; managing bookings and having correspondence with our guests via email and phone prior to their arrival. You will also be their first point of reference upon their arrival; it will be your job to welcome them to the property and attend to their needs during their stay, making sure they are comfortable, and taken care of. Language skills are extremely important for this position (fluency in English, as well as at least an intermediate level of Italian is necessary. Any other languages are a plus).
  
  This position requires an availability of at least 2 months (July and August).
  
  
4. SOCIAL MEDIA MASTER (x1) (5h a day, 5 days a week, All Year Round)
  We are looking for someone to take care of all social media and marketing related things for this project. We have several social media pages as well as crowdfunding pages and a website to take care of. This is a full time position as you will have to consistently create quality content for our platforms. Photography and videography skills are therefore also essential. In this day and age this position is essential for the success of our project; making our project visible online can help us get the support that we need to carry on our work, and is also an important marketing tool to receive visitors. This position is very flexible I.e. can also be done semi remotely, although this would of course have to be discussed. It is important for me to find someone who can not just create content like a machine, but be part of the experience here, to really share the story of this place in a real and true way, and capture the everyday moments.
  
  This position requires an availability of at least 2 months.
  
  
So…! Please let me know in your message what role you would be interested in taking on. Of course, I’ll be happy to tell you more about any area of work when we are in contact!
  
  WHAT I NEED FROM YOU
  
  After one full year of hosting I have learned, that more than anything, workers need to be independent, creative, flexible and proactive. I need you to be able to work well independently and to be able to think of solutions for yourself, because unfortunately I don't have all the answers! I need you to have the attitude that you are coming here to work together with me, not wait until I give you instructions for every single detail. This also ties in with proactivity. You need to be able to take initiative with all the work you are doing, and see what has to be done without me spelling everything out for you. Independence and taking initiative are not the same as not knowing how to do something. I am happy to spend time with you teaching you something and guiding you as you learn, or for us to figure out something together. I just need to eventually feel like I can rely on you and that I am not the only one thinking, or expending my own energy to get some work out of you. You will also need to be very flexible and creative; you need to be solution oriented, because you will face a lot of problems every day, and that may be very frustrating. Those problems may range from wanting to cook a meal, but not having all the exact ingredients, or wanting to fix something, but not having all the right tools; and you will have to find a solution!

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  Idiomas

  Alemão: Fluente
  Inglês: Fluente
  Holandês: Intermediário
  Italiano: Iniciante

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  Acomodação

  There is one house where only workers live: The Worker House! There are several rooms so you can have your own private room, although with a large group it is likely you will be asked to share rooms. Room allocation will simply be on a first come first serve basis. It is also possible to bring your own tent if you prefer and camp outside. All bathrooms are shared.
  
  In exchange for five real working days with a good work ethic all three meals a day will of course be totally free and included in your stay, also on the weekends. I am vegan, although our kitchen is still vegetarian. We cook hunted meat only on rare occasions for the B&B guests.

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  Algo mais...

  I live in a mountain village, and I need you to understand that this place is isolated. I need you to understand that for the daily life as well as for your days off. I live a 45 minute hike away from the nearest point of civilisation (a little village - another 20 minute drive away from the closest small town). The biggest town, with large shops etc. is a 40 minute drive away from that village. You cannot reach my place by car. There is only a footpath. This means that it is a little complicated to go very far away on your days off. Not only because we are isolated but also because public transport in the valley is very limited. When I go to town I always hitchhike from the village, which works quite well. If you have a car it will be no problem at all, because in terms of distance things are not so far, the accessibility is the issue. We can definitely discuss all the details once we make a connection because there is of course local taxi drivers, elusive buses, and a train station relatively close by.
  
  

I am not trying to scare you away! I just want you to be aware that it is an isolated place and that means that life here can look very different. And not just in terms of transport for coming and going but also for the daily life. You have to not just be okay with but enjoy time by yourself, because it is a very quiet place. And of course you have to love nature and being outside, since we live in the middle of it <3 

Of course there is so much to explore and discover here in your free time! This area is so beautiful; full of forests, mountains, rivers and lakes. From my property you can hike all over the forest and valley. If you like hiking you are going to fall in love with this place. Our forest is also full of rivers where you can swim. You can also hike to neighbouring villages and enjoy a cappuccino and gelato there. The Lago Maggiore is a really beautiful lake also near by which I would recommend for day/weekend trips. There is also other national parks nearby, but I think there is already plenty to see close to home.


  
  Another thing I want to point out is that to live here means to not always live in convenience, and to sometimes even be very uncomfortable. Although we have all the amenities of modern housing we are also living off grid. That means you cannot take a hot shower or do laundry every day, you cannot needlessly leave lights on or use all five different vegetables for a single meal. Some buildings don’t have any heating, some don’t have any hot water. Living here forces you to be mindful about every single thing you are using because nothing is infinite. Of course, no resource anywhere is ever infinite, ha! But it's easy to willingly ignore that when you live in the city and just consume as you please. Here you cannot avoid seeing the reality. You need to be conscious and mindful about what you consume all the time, which is harder than it sounds, and means that life can feel inconvenient at times. If you cannot respect the realities of life here, we will probably have to have a few hard conversations…
  
  
And you need to be conscious of the fact that we are living in community! Everything you do or don't do affects all of us. This doesn't mean we have to be a happy clappy family all the time or something like that. Time alone as well as time shared is important, but what I mean is that an attitude of individualism and lack of mindfulness towards other people just really doesn't work here, and won’t be tolerated.
  
  I would also like to add a word on what you might refer to as a code of conduct. After hosting for one year now I have realised that I need to be careful with my boundaries as a host, and make sure that people respect the place they are coming into, and the person who is making that space and this experience available to them. I just need you to realise and understand that as your host I am not only inviting you to work for me, or to join in on this project, or have “an experience.” I am actually inviting you into my very real and very personal life. And if not treated correctly it can be very depleting for me. This is why I ask of you to please reshape how you might be thinking about this experience; please, don’t think of this exchange as transactional. You give me five hours of work; working just to tick off the hours, taking a 45 minute coffee break to get closer to the end of the day, and then you disappear. You will become a part of my life, even if for a very short period, and that’s a big thing. So please treat this with respect, not just as a great and interesting opportunity for your cheap travel.
  
  Since we live so isolated from everything else, the human contact that we do share with one another here is very poignant. This means that to have harmony amongst the group and between individuals is extremely important, and whether you realise it or not, or take responsibility for it or not, every single member of the group is responsible for nurturing our collective well being. The lines between personal and work relationships are really blurred here, and I want to point out to you to be aware of this. Negativity, social violence, passive aggressiveness, dishonesty, immaturity or disrespectful behaviour of any kind are devastating, and have great ripple effects across our social makeup. It leads to feelings of discomfort and claustrophobia, and of course I want to avoid this. I need you to be consciously aware of the things you are putting into this social space and dynamics, if you become a part of this space; open, honest, direct, and respectful communication is key for all of this. If you have an opinion about something, if you have a problem with something, or if you have a problem with someone, you have to talk about it. It might sound uncomfortable for you, but the alternative is brewing negativity and dissent between individuals and the group, and makes for a really terrible experience. 
I try as much as possible as a host to always create a space for this, but I need you to take responsibility for your part in this as well.
  
  I have made great experiences being a host and am excited to once again use the magic of the internet to meet all kinds of people, and share time together. I hope you can understand my words above and why I write them. And that I don’t write them out of a place of spite or negativity, but rather one of protection and clarity. I am also excited for the growth of the project, and every year and every group that go by, is a part of that growth, and always an honour to witness. I can see new dimensions starting to take shape and I am really excited for whats to come. I hope you are too, and that you feel inspired about what I am trying to build here. 


  
  Hope to hear from you soon <3

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  Mais alguns detalhes

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    Acesso à internet

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    Acesso à internet limitado

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    Temos mascotes

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    Somos fumantes

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    Pode hospedar famílias

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  Pode hospedar nômades digitais

  Digital nomads are very much welcome as long as it doesn't seriously get in the way of the life you are participating in here. Also, I have wifi, and usually it works just fine, but it can become unstable or disrupted when we experience bad weather! So your own data or portable wifi is recommended .

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  Pode aceitar animais

  As long as they are friendly with my two cats because they are my babies <3

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  Quantos Workawayers pode acomodar?

  Mais de 2

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