Bélgica

11174

Data de início: 01-07-2022

Data de fim: 31-10-2022

Vagas: 1

Duração: 4 mes(es)

Data limite de candidatura: 25-05-2022

Financiamento: Financiamento por aprovar

Subsídio mensal (Dinheiro de bolso): 105 €

Candidatura: Para te poderes candidatar tens de fazer o teu login. Se ainda não estás registado faz o teu registo primeiro.

Resumo: The aim of the hosting organization is to facilitate the transition to a society that is fair and is organized in such a way that it is easy or at least possible to live within the limits of the ecosystem.

We do this by giving people the opportunity to try something else on our two experiential permaculture farms and to then share this experience.
This helps in three ways to reach our aim.

First: it is difficult to fight for something you cannot imagine. A lot of people come to the organization because they don’t know if they can be happy with fewer things. While living here, they learn they can do without and they discover (subtle) sources of happiness they did not search because they could not imagine before. Armed with this experience, it’s easier to write an empowering blog to inspire others or to convince kids in the school that this life is not that impossible as they think.

Second: if people don’t realize there is an alternative, it scares them. Out of fear, they can choose less useful ways of coping, such as blaming it on others or becoming fatalistic. If you see a realistic alternative, even if it’s hard work to reach it, it triggers more effective coping mechanisms such as wanting to fight for it or seeing it as an adventure. And then it’s good to have the blog and the activities we have to reach out to people, to be able to act.

Third: visitors learn practical skills and attitudes they can apply for themselves or in their organizations. In this way, they contribute directly to the society we are striving for.

We focus on low-tech local solutions because:
- it’s too late to wait for the miracle technology that will make current western lifestyle possible for everyone
- until now, technological advances led to more consumption, rather than a smaller footprint or a fair share
- we have to learn to live with limits anyway, why not starting from what there is already
- we believe there is more happiness and satisfaction to be found in small-scale projects in contact with others and natural materials

Our activities are organized in two farms in the ‘Vlaamse Ardennen’ with:
- soil-building production gardens
- diverse wildland with opportunities to harvest natural resources for crafts and raw material for the gardens
- place for people to lodge and to organize activities
- a website to spread information
- use of natural construction methods
- workplaces for crafts
- stone oven (bread, pizza), rocket stove, ...
- …

Perfil: Age: 18-30
Volunteers don’t need skills, but must be motivated to taste this kind of life and grab the opportunities that are available on the farm (wood, soil, herbs, tools, books, skills, a website, companion volunteers, ...). We are small: two families and some volunteers. We touch a lot of things but we have no complete answers. We cannot teach everything and also you cannot learn/do everything in some months. Volunteers help with the basics. Together we decide what extra projects to focus on during your stay. We accept no drugs or smoking. Alcohol is limited to special occasions.
volunteers live AND work on the project, and this way of living is rather basic, it is very important that the volunteer is really searching this experience

Tarefas: We are two cooperating farms at 8 km distance, each inhabited by a family with two teenage kids and some volunteers. Society needs a radical change to make living within the boundaries of the ecosystem easy and self-evident. In our farms, volunteers can experience and explore parts of this solutions that are not (yet) possible in the current, growth-directed system. In this way they can better judge what’s next to do or discuss about it. Resilience, fair distribution, low-tech and nature are parts of our solution. We grow vegetables for our small community and give surplus to the poor. We’re experimenting with energy (rocket stove), ecological construction and crafts. We organize activities such as an open door, crafts evening, workshop or workday. We host some young people for a time-out. We have some animals (dog, cat, chicken, sheep, horse or donkey). Volunteers help with activities, garden and food processing during the busy summer months.

Condições: You stay on the farm in a private, not heated room. There is a communal kitchen/living room, outdoor dry toilets and a sun-heated outdoor shower. All water, except for drinking and cooking, is rainwater. That supply is limited, so showering is functional. There is electricity, WIFI and a laundry machine. You share the cooking and meals with the families. The food is local, organic, seasonal, mostly vegetarian and home-processed. You get food money on days off. There are bikes and you get free bus and train.

Documentação: CV + Motivation Letter