GAIA is opening a call for volunteers interested to join the permaculture program in Bozevce, Eastern part of Kosovo. The Bozevce program aims at establishing a place for education, volunteering and various different sustainable practices, and it currently focuses on natural building and permaculture.

We are looking for volunteers interested to join one of the existing and approved projects and persons interested to join as individuals, with or without the European projects. Knowledge of woodworking are gladly accepted, but it is not a condition, the most important is your motivation. The volunteers will learn how to use different tools and building techniques along the way.  

During summer 2021, the main work at the program will be focused on natural building, with the aim to work on several objects at the property in the permaculture estate.

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The focus will be building a new straw-bale facility that will be used for food production and as a community kitchen. In addition to the “kitchen”, our plan is to renovate the old house which is used as the volunteers’ house.

Besides building, other tasks that the volunteers will be involved with are: gardening and food preservation, meeting and helping neighbors with seasonal work, care of animals that live with us, and similar.

We are also looking for volunteers to help with food production and animal care.

What is expected from you to give to the program:

• your motivation, ideas and energy,
• dedication to the program,
• contributing to the community of volunteers living in Bozevce (e.g. cooking and cleaning are shared tasks), sharing work responsibilities, etc.

What you will gain and learn during the experience:

• gain practical skills, learn to use tools and work with natural materials (with wood, straw, clay),
• learn about the history and different techniques of natural building,
• learn about sustainable living, permaculture, medicinal and edible plants and nature-related topics, simple lifestyle,
• learn about gardening and animals,
• and so much more…

Practicalities:

There are few ways to join the Bozevce program.

1. EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS

Currently, several ESC positions are opened:

-> for one or two volunteers from Bulgaria for 4,5 or 9 months,

-> for one volunteer from France for 9 months,

-> for one volunteer from Switzerland for 12 months and

-> one project which is open for other EU countries with flexible duration.

With the ESC programme, the volunteer will be provided with accommodation, food, CIGNA insurance, travel costs will be covered and he/she will receive a pocket money. The volunteers will have to sign a Volunteering agreement with their supporting organizations and the duration of the activity is already set. ESC volunteers should be between 18 and 30 years old.   

2. INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTEERING

The other option is to join the Bozevce team individually, without the support of a program.

The long-term individual volunteering is open for persons of all age and countries, and the duration of your volunteering would depend on our agreement. Being an individual volunteer, GAIA would provide accommodation and food, as well as SCI insurance.

All volunteers interested in joining the Bozevce program that are not vaccinated should obtain a negative PCR test upon their arrival to Kosovo.

Work

The work will mainly focus on natural building, which includes preparing the work-site, wood work, placing strawbales, plastering… It will also include renovation of the old house, it’s roof and entrance, removing the plaster and making a new, earthen one. There is a lot of craft, hand work which can be physically demanding.

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Food production includes gardening (planting, weeding, watering, caring), harvesting, collecting wild plants and mushrooms and preserving (drying, pickling, in salt etc).

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Accommodation and food

The accommodation in Bozevce is organized in shared rooms and in a dormitory. The dormitory has mattresses on the floor, while the rooms are also shared (3 beds per room). The food is vegetarian, and we try to use seasonal and local produce as much as possible. Some of the foods come from our garden, from the neighbors or the nearby villages or towns. 

Lifestyle

Life in Bozevce is simple, with little technology and virtual life. The cooking and heating is with wooden stoves, the cooking and cleaning is a shared responsibility, there are compost toilets and we take care of the produce we use (and how we use them), to have a smaller ecological footprint.

Volunteers should be OK with the following conditions:

• Simple and sustainable living principles (compost toilet, saving water, electricity and other resources)
• Vegetarian and healthy food
• Sharing space with other volunteers 
• Team work and physical work
• Presence of animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, bees etc

If you are interested in the opportunity to volunteer at Bozevce, please send your motivation letter and CV to: [email protected]