OPEN VOLUNTEER PERIOD
Sustainable living: Learn it by doing it!
Aug 5 – Sep 19, 2024
Flexible timing: come whenever you can!
A hands-on service-learning opportunity where you can explore foundational practices for sustainable living, including natural building, organic gardening, and permaculture principles, while supporting the creation of a new eco-campus for the study of compassionate living.
AT A GLANCE
Location: Earthville Institute, Colorado
Dates: August 5 through September 19, 2024 (see below for important schedule details)
Focus: Service-learning work on sustainability solutions
Facilitators: Mark Moore, Daphne Charles, Anya Chang-DePuy, James Simmons
Language: English (with translation available in several languages if needed)
INTRODUCTION
Interested in sustainable and compassionate living? We are, too!
Earthville Institute invites you to join us during our open volunteer period in August and September of 2024. This real-world service-learning program will support you to gain skills, experience, and insight into various aspects of sustainable living, and you’ll be helping us build our new flagship eco-campus — a big win-win.
The hands-on work will include various projects around the campus, including interior and exterior work on several natural buildings that are in various stages of completion, as well as organic gardening and other permaculture projects. We provide basic training in some of the fundamental techniques required to do the work well, and then you’ll practice them by working alongside our team.
We welcome local and global participants. For those who wish to camp with us, you’re most welcome. Read on below for details.
WORK ACTIVITIES: WHAT WE’LL BE DOING
Each day’s work activities will depend on the needs on site at the time, and also the weather and other circumstances. Volunteers show up each day ready to do whatever is needed on that particular day.
Some examples of the kinds of activities that might be undertaken during this volunteer work period (circumstances permitting):
Natural building projects:
Making traditional adobe bricks (sun-dried blocks made of earth and a bit of straw)
Applying clay plaster to exterior straw-bale and mud-brick walls
Applying lime plaster to exterior straw-bale and mud-brick walls
Creating optimal mud mixes for all of these applications (plasters, bricks and mortar), including DIY soil testing, harvesting, sieving, pugging (mixing with the feet), preparing, and testing the mixes
Constructing adobe outhouse for composting toilets
Interior finishing work on other structures, which might include plastering, sanding, varnishing, flooring, etc.
Organic gardening and permaculture landscaping:
Planting and tending vegetable and flower gardens
Composting: creating and tending to specialized fungus-intensive compost
Building the resilience of the landscape through permaculture techniques such as swales and other earthworks, plantings, etc.
Water management, e.g. rainwater harvesting
Possibly tree planting or tree care
Other possibilities:
Beautification projects
Helping with meal prep and clean-up, etc.
Other activities depending on the weather and the needs on site at the time
TWO OPTIONS: CAMP WITH US OR STAY NEARBY
Welcoming local and global community
Earthville welcomes everyone who shares our wish to build a more compassionate world. The good folks who attend our programs come from all backgrounds and from across the globe. At this start-up stage in the development of our campus, we have no beds to offer, but we have a beautiful rustic campground for those who enjoy being in the heart of nature.
Additionally, we support local participation by providing the flexibility for local participants to have the option either to stay home and commute daily or to camp with us on the property.
About the camping option: Healthy community living
Most of our long-term volunteers tell us that the experience of being a part of the Earthville community, living and working together, is one of the best parts of our experience for them. We cultivate a culture of kindness, sensitivity, and cooperation, and it’s great to live and work with kindred spirits in this kind of environment.
The lifestyle here is focused on holistic well-being: organic plant-based food, nature walks, contemplative practices (meditation, yoga, etc.), and a healthy body and mind (free of intoxicants of all kinds).
There will be time for contemplative practice every morning (e.g. yoga, chi kung, or meditation, which might be guided or unguided depending on the circumstances). For those who wish to keep up their existing yoga and/or meditation practices, our yoga space will be available in the mornings before breakfast and in the evenings.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Two of the keys to happiness are: (1) to have realistic expectations to begin with; and (2) not to be too attached to those expectations, but rather to stay flexible as life unfolds. With that in mind, here are some of the things participants can expect (while remembering to keep a flexible attitude).
For all volunteers
Healthy food: Natural and organic, purely vegetarian meals (100% plant-based, vegan), lovingly prepared by all of us (together or in shifts).
Plenty of physical work: Most of the work to be done is physical, and some of it requires physical endurance (for example, there’s often a fair bit of shoveling), so it’s best to be prepared both physically and psychologically for doing a healthy amount of hard work. (Of course each of us humans has physical limits, and we support everyone to stay within those and take care of our bodies.)
Digital detox: In support of the immersive experience, we encourage everyone to put your phones in airplane mode most of the time you’re here so you can give yourself (and others) the ginormous gift of being present with nature and with one another. Also, be aware that cell service is very spotty here, but our WiFi is available during free time and for emergencies.
For volunteers who camp with us
Natural simplicity: Rustic living, camping in a beautiful forest setting, with undeveloped campsites and very basic facilities. At this stage, we have outdoor showers with (limited) hot water, basic toilets and porta-potties, and plenty of space to pitch your tent or park your trailer or RV (but no RV hookups).
Supportive routine: A daily rhythm balancing hands-on work and outdoor activities with contemplative practice, discussions, and quiet time for reflection and meditation.
Yogic lifestyle: Clean and simple ashram-style lifestyle in which everyone contributes to the running of the place, including cleaning, washing dishes, etc. and we cultivate well-being presence through contemplative practice (yoga/meditation/etc) and refraining from the use of intoxicants.
SCHEDULES & DATES
Dates available for volunteering
Our open volunteer period begins August 5 and continues through September 19, 2024.
Our workdays are generally Mondays through Thursdays (though there may be exceptions due to circumstances, so it’s good to check in with us each week about the schedule for the week).
For volunteers joining us for the first time, we request that you plan to make your first volunteering day a Monday, because Mondays are when we provide orientation and some basic training. For 2024, the Mondays available for new volunteers to join are 8/5, 8/12, 8/19, 8/26, 9/2, 9/9, and 9/16.
Once you have received the orientation and training, you’re welcome to come on any workday within the volunteer period (8/5 – 9/19) that suits your schedule. (The same is true for anyone who has attended one of our workshops and would like to drop in to volunteer.)
Daily schedule for volunteers staying at home or nearby:
Our workdays begin at 8:00am, when we all circle up to discuss the day’s work. It’s important for everyone to show up on time for the circle because important information about the day’s work will be presented then, so please plan to arrive at Earthville Institute by 7:45am to give yourself time to find us, park, and walk to the circle.
Lunch is served at 12:30. Note that we usually take a long lunch break, allowing time for a siesta after lunch. Of course those who prefer to get back to work earlier are welcome to do so.
Full daily schedules for those camping with us
Typical workday schedule
Although the day-to-day schedule will vary a bit, the schedule for a typical workday would more or less as follows:
6:00 Morning group practice (might be guided or unguided)
6:30 Breakfast prep*
7:00 Breakfast
7:40 Breakfast cleanup
8:00 Morning circle
8:30 Morning work session
11:30 Lunch prep
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Lunch cleanup (followed by personal/rest time)
2-3:00 Afternoon circle (timing varies, TBA each day*)
2-3:30 Afternoon work session
5:30 Dinner prep*
6:30 Dinner
7:30 Dinner cleanup*
*Note that due to summer heat we usually take a long lunch break, allowing time for a siesta after lunch. The timing for our return to work after lunch may vary from day to day depending on heat and whether the work to be done is indoors or outdoors. Of course for those who prefer to go back to work earlier are welcome to do so.
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS & FACILITATORS
The Open Volunteer Period is hosted and facilitated by members of Earthville Institute’s core community. The main trainer for the natural building aspects of the work is Mark Moore, cofounder of Earthville Institute and of Dharmalaya Institute (our sister school in the Himalayas). All other aspects of the experience are hosted and cofacilitated by the whole team.
PROGRAM FEES
As a nonprofit educational organization, Earthville Institute is dedicated to making this service-learning opportunity accessible to all. Because we are in the earliest start-up stage, we are not yet in a position to be able to provide free meals for our volunteers, so we are offering this experience in a community barn-raising spirit, and we need to request participants to chip in to help us cover the costs of the tasty organic food we serve.
We support both local and global participation by providing the flexibility for participants to have the option either to stay home (or nearby) and commute daily or to camp with us on campus.
For volunteers staying off-site: Donations welcome to cover lunch costs
For volunteers staying nearby (not camping with us), we will provide a healthy, hearty lunch. If you’re able to chip in $5-10 per meal to help us cover those costs, it would be a huge support. Payments can be made online or in cash, whichever you prefer.
For those wishing to camp on-site: Sliding scale
Recognizing that our participants come from diverse backgrounds, we provide a sliding scale with three tiers, to make it possible for each participant to give according to their means. The total cost (inclusive of three meals daily, healthy drinks, use of our eco-campground) at each of the three tiers are as follows:
Standard rate
(For most volunteers)
$21/day
For transparency: This standard rate is essentially a break-even rate, just enough to cover the Institute’s total estimated costs.
Subsidized rate
(For low-income volunteers who can’t afford the standard rate)
$14/day
For transparency: This subsidized rate is approximately 33% below our break-even rate, which means it is not enough to cover the Institute’s costs, though hopefully that shortfall might be covered by other participants who choose to pay the “supporter rate” to the right.
Supporter rate
(For those with means to help subsidize lower-income volunteers)
$28/day
For transparency: This supporter rate is approximately 33% above the break-even rate, and that surplus will be used to support lower-income volunteers to participate at the subsidized rate. We thank you sincerely for your generosity in choosing this rate if you can.
Scholarships and fundraising support available
We do not want cost to be a barrier to anyone’s participation, and we’re happy to support potential participants to crowdfund their own participation via tax-deductible donations to Earthville. If interested in this option, you can contact us to let us know your situation and your needs and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.
Members of the Ute and Diné (Navajo) nations qualify for full scholarships (subject to limited availability).
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Before you pack for your trip to Earthville Institute, please read the important information on our Campus Life page. If you have a question that is not answered there, feel free to contact us here and we’ll be happy to answer.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Space in this service-learning program is limited. Participation is by application and is subject to acceptance.
STEP 1 — APPLY: Submit the application form using the button below and wait for our reply.
STEP 2 — INTERVIEW: The next step will be for us to schedule a video call for an interview. During this conversation, you’ll have the chance to ask any questions you may have, and we’ll have a chance to get to know you a bit better and make sure the program is a match for what you’re seeking.
STEP 3 — ACCEPTANCE & DEPOSIT: After the interview, we’ll send you more detailed information about the program and how to prepare for your time at Earthville Institute. You will then have one week from the date of acceptance to make your nonrefundable deposit to hold your place in the program. The minimum deposit is 50%, and it is also possible to prepay in full if you prefer.
If you have any questions after reading all the material here on our website, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
We look forward to connecting with you!