Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Last replied
4 May 2024
Reply rate
92.9 %
Usually responds within 2 days
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Details
Description
We are inviting you to come and stay and help with the building, development and running of this refuge project, consisting of a 3 acre smallholding, a 1.5 acre orchard, and 212 acres of pristine rainforest in a remote area of Belize which we have been building since 2021. You can find below the bullet points for the overall project. For now, we need people to help with the smallholding and the orchard, and the daily running of the place, including gardening, some farming, some building, care of the animals (many chickens, ducks, guys, turkeys, some sheep, some goats, two milking cows). Over the next few months, we are planning to do some more building (a wooden cabin on stilts, a clay oven from local clay, and the further development of our 40-ft container and porch, where our solar system, electrics and fibre-optic Internet connection are located). If you have any kind of skills with sustainable, simple building, that is a preferred bonus. You need to be comfortable living primitively.
As it is the tropics, daylight hours are precious and the day starts early, around 6.00. We have a local couple visiting most days who take care of food preparation, but you would obviously be welcome to join in with that (harvesting and preparation, including sourdough bread, yoghurt, kombucha, etc). You would be doing tasks together with some local helpers.
The main aims, objectives and principles for this holistic, sustainable project are:
• Protecting rainforest flora and fauna, land and water (under threat of logging for cattle ranching)
• Protecting endangered species (nurseries for rare tropical trees, breeding butterflies, protecting birds, etc)
• Sustainability & Organic Agroforestry, carbon credits (planting 10 trees for every tree felled)
• Organic farming, Permaculture, Regenerative agriculture (SoilFoodWeb) including fish ponds, apiaries
• Setting up a community lab of citizen scientists, using regenerative agriculture microscopy to take soil and compost samples for studying microbiology to inform our farming and gardening
• Sustainable architecture with natural, local materials (adobe clay, slate, lime stone, local wood & bamboo)
• Maintaining, reclaiming and re-discovering indigenous Mayan traditions and rainforest remedies & healing
• Eco-Retreat Centre and Refuge, with workshops and training courses, on sustainable living, farming and psychotherapy (including couple therapy, group facilitation and therapy training)
• EMF white zone: one of the largest zones on the planet without man-made electromagnetic radiation
• Land and water management in line with anthroposophical understanding of living water (water & flowforms)
• Local community projects (oriented towards future independent governance) generating security and wealth for empoverished by working sustainably with rainforest (cacao, coffee, xate, medicinal plants, spices, and many more products)
We are serious about turning this part of the planet (the whole upper reaches of a secluded, remote valley), into a fertile, self-sustaining, non-toxic, abundant little paradise, that can serve as an inspiration for others, and for our future, using the principles of organic, regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. I have been an organic gardener for 35 years, but I have been studying the soil food web for a couple of years, and am inspired by partnering with nature and the soil biology. I am setting up a citizens' lab with a microscope (for sampling and investigating soil microbiology), and have had Permaculture consultants help me make a plan for the next few years, which I am inviting your participation and help to manifest. We are aiming to make this an inspiring beacon project for the rest of the country (which is pretty lost in chemical farming, with some notable, inspiring and helpful exceptions).
You will have the possibility to learn the whole spectrum of organic regenerative agriculture (Elaine Ingham soil food web, Matt Powers, Chris Trump (Korean natural farming)), agroforestry, as applied to both animals and plants. We are aiming to make this a holistic fairly self-sufficient ecosystem, which will produce abundant food to eventually set up and run an eco-retreat and therapy centre. There are many activities and small projects which you can dedicate yourself to, according to your own preferences depending on what you want to learn, e.g. looking after the animals and helping them multiply, market gardening, composting, fruit trees, soil sampling and microscopy, and a variety of projects ranging from tilapia farming to vanilla production.
We have a cabin with a double bed and a hammock. We are in the process of building more accommodation and further buildings, including a compost toilet (you are welcome to help and learn about that, too). We have high standards for our diet, way above the rest of the population around us, with imported organic staples from the US and our own fresh organic produce, high quality grass-fed dairy and meat.
As our property is off-grid, supply of electricity is limited and so is use of technology. However, we do have Internet via fibre-optic cable - probably the best connection in the region. We live quite simply and primitively, and you need to be comfortable with proximity to animals. The place is hot and humid, but you do have the creek to cool off, just 25 steps down a slope.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will have the possibility to learn the whole spectrum of organic regenerative agriculture (Elaine Ingham soil food web, Matt Powers, Chris Trump (Korean Natural Farming)), agroforestry, as applied to both animals and plants. We are aiming to make this a holistic fairly self-sufficient ecosystem, which will produce abundant food to eventually set up and run an eco-retreat and therapy centre.
Help
There are many activities and small projects which you can dedicate yourself to, according to your own preferences depending on what you want to learn, e.g. looking after the animals and helping them multiply , market gardening, composting, fruit trees, soil sampling and microscopy, and a variety of projects ranging from tilapia farming to vanilla production.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
We have a cabin with a double bed and a hammock. We are in the process of building more accommodation and further buildings, including a compost toilet (you are welcome to help and learned about that, too). We have high standards for our diet, way above the rest of the population around us, with imported organic staples from the US and our own fresh organic produce, high quality grass-fed dairy and meat. There will be three meals a day.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
