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Host rating
80 %
Last replied
23 Jan 2025
Feedback
38
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Details
Description
We are Adriana and Peter, a Colombian/Dutch couple. We are working to transform our Gastro Bar / Workshop place to an intercultural center / hostel in the Indigenous reserve Escopetera y Pirza in Bonafont, Caldas.
We would love to make this space for social and cultural exchange between the local rural/indigenous population and world travelers. We believe in the potential of rural communities but to improve the sustainability of these communities we need to combine ancient (local) knowledge with modern global knowledge. Receiving international volunteers is one of the ways we can help to create this intercultural connection.
We need inputs from international travelers to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our territory for sustainable tourism, as well as help us to develop this plan.
In our intercultural center, we would like to develop all kinds of cultural activities directed at strengthening "wellbeing vs consumerism".
Adriana has worked for 10 years in an NGO and later as a schoolteacher and now wants to set up her own NGO. This new NGO focuses on propiatary education for the local community. This propiatary education is promoted by the indigenous counsel of the RIEP and is based upon the teachings of the elders and the territory. The idea is to strengthen the historical roots of the population by means of all kinds of social and cultural activities.
! Note: The majority of the references on this profile refers to volunteers that worked with me on my last project (a mushroom farm), but this new project in Bonafont has only a few feedback at the moment. So feel welcome to come and add your experience with us! ;)
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Hospitality/Tourism
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You can interact with the local community of the Indigenous reserve, learn about their ancestral knowledge and practices (with plants, seeds, medecine, energies…). You can also improve your Spanish, learn about the indigenous languages, ancestral petroglyphs and its symbology.
You can develop your art skills and/or organise workshops. By teaching English, you can train your patience with kids and adults, and interpersonal communication skills. You can also experience a rural way of life, make friends and enjoy the local festivities and traditions.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Our project needs a wide variety of skills:
We would like all volunteers to be able to teach English to kids and adults, (learning French would also be very appreciated). Apart from that, we would like to receive help with digital communication, social media marketing, in sustainable/community tourism to develop our intercultural project here in our space. If you have artistic skills and want to organise workshops of painting, dancing, singing, drawing or any other thing, you are more than welcome to do so! Knowledge in permaculture, eco construction or cooking (we love to discover new receipes) are also interesting skills for us!
In any case, don´t hesitate to contact us with your proposition :)
What is important for us is that you are empathic, patient and good interacting with energetic children, as well as willing to participate in domestic chores (as in any communal living)
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Dutch: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
Bonafont has tourism potential but one of the main barriers is the fact that the rural population only speaks Spanish. We would like to facilitate the interaction between locals and volunteers to promote multilingualism and cultural interchange.
Accommodation
We have an agreement with a small local hotel. We will provide you with a simple but clean and safe room and share our meals with you. The hotel is about 400 meters from us.
What else ...
Our place is located in Bonafont, a small village close to Riosucio, in the department of Caldas. Bonafont is a sleepy agricultural village where the time seems to have stopped some decades ago. Bonafont and the RIEP have an ancient history. In our territory you can find rocks with petroglyphs dating back thousands of years.
Riosucio is the nearest town and is famous for its cultural heritage and its biannual carnival of the devil (next one on January 2027). Riosucio can be reached by bus from Pereira, Manizales and Medellin. From Riosucio to Bonafont it is only a 15 minute busride.
Bonafont / Riosucio are of the beaten tracks for tourism. You will not find fancy tourist atractions, but you will find small farms, impressive nature and friendly people!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have an multifuncional space with a great view and a decent internet connection. Several locals use our place a Coworking space.
Space for parking camper vans
We are 20 meters away from the square where campervans can be parked. There are no facilities to hookup to utility services.
Can possibly accept pets
We have one dog that is used to other dogs. He is not very fond of cats.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (20)
Photos
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
They stayed 8 weeks and interacted with my workers and my friends. They teached and learned, they worked and enjoyed themselves, they stayed at the farm and they saw the surroundings. I think they… read more
They stayed 4 weeks at my place and an other project I help managing in El… read more
.We had several profound discussions which i… read more
He is a fun and… read more
Also she interacted a lot with my workers learning about mushroom growing and… read more
After some researching, analyzing, brainstorming and a tour of the major grocery stores with Leonor and Francisco, we drafted a… read more
We shared some hard work, good meals, long discussions, nice trips and lots of fun.
He wanted to go up "El Nevado del Ruiz" so we made a day trip sharing the driving. I can fully recommend him as am honest, fun and hardworking Volunteer.
I really enjoyed working for him. I really felt useful and I had to use some Of my skills to achieve to project we had (building the windows and the doors for his cabinet).
If you you want more information about his project, I would suggest you to check his… read more
We planting, cooking, cleaning, and teaching.
Thanks for share your house, and every things.
He ve got a lot of project, so you can find what you prefer.
For more about her visit in my Blog… read more
I can fully recommend her to other hosts.
When I showed them some of the problems on my farm they really wanted to get involved and worked on research for alternative solutions and documented the different options. But beside the intellectual labor they did also did some bamboo… read more
It was a very satisfying week for both of us, I can definitely recommend him.
Both are designers and I took them two days on a trip through the region to get a feel for the architecture and customs. Then we sat down and discussed the ideas I had of transforming an old shipping container… read more
They stayed only a few days by the end of their 16 month around the world trip. But it where very gratifying days, we had lot of discussions about their trip and my projects.
Time did not… read more
