Volunteer Abroad Program - Sunseed Desert Technology

Spain

All Other Areas:

Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months, 7-12 months, 1-2 years and over 2 years
Typical Duration of Program: 2-4 weeks

Description: Hundreds of volunteers from around the world come to work at Sunseed Desert Technology each year. We rely on these volunteers for their valuable work and ideas. Volunteers can work in all of our departments and participate in all aspects of life at Sunseed, both in research as well as in community activities such as gardening, housework and building. Most visitors thoroughly enjoy their stay and take home with them a better understanding of what a sustainable way of living is truly about.

Part-Time Volunteers usually come to Sunseed for between two and five weeks though we are happy to accommodate shorter and longer stays. PTVs work for a minimum 24hours a week, usually 4 hours a day in the mornings Monday to Saturday and have the afternoons and Sundays free to enjoy the area or of course to continue volunteering if you wish! It takes about a week to orientate yourself at Sunseed Desert Technology so we suggest a minimum stay of two weeks if possible. Part-Time Volunteers may work in any of our departments and within the constraints of what is available get the chance to choose what they wish to do each day.

Full Time Volunteers usually stay for a minimum of 5 weeks and work for 7 hours a day Monday Friday, plus occasional weekends. They tend to specialise in one of our departments and frequently carry out their own projects which are suitable for student projects or placements.

Student Placements
Sunseed Desert Technology welcomes students at any level who wish to carry out a placement or project at Sunseed as part of their course, usually Students come to Sunseed as Full Time Volunteers.

What is a typical working day for a Part Time Volunteer (PTV)? For a Full Time Volunteer (FTV)? All volunteers will be given a full introductory tour of the project. Everyone is woken up and starts work at the same time (woken at 7:15 / 7:45 am for an 8 / 8:30 am start in the winter, and at 6:45 for a 7.30am start in the summer.) Everyone does 2 hours of work, has a half hour break, then does 2 more hours of work. Lunch is at 1pm, and after that, PTVs often have the rest of the day free. FTVs spend 3 hours working in the afternoons, mainly on their own projects. Dinner is at 8pm in summer and 7pm in winter. Household rota duties are shared by everyone at the project - usually two each week and include cooking, cleaning and washing-up. These are sometimes in the mornings, but can also be in the afternoon, evening, or at weekends.

We have a rota for cooking and cleaning duties; normally everybody does 2 rota duties a week and this can include in the afternoons, evenings and weekends. In addition to this, examples of typical jobs across the departments are: Preserving products from the Sunseed gardens, and wild products, in a variety of ways, including in the solar dryer and on the parabolic dish solar cooker.

Experimenting with solar cookers eg. solar cooking a cake when it's your turn to cook, creativity and beautifications such as making mobiles or lampshades, irrigation line clearing, maintenance of water supply, sowing and transplanting seedlings, turning compost heaps, sign painting, assistance on specific projects e.g. roof repairs, work in tree nursery and tree maintenance, work on dryland terrace renovation eg. for example helping with dry stone walling, lab work as part of the mycorrhizal research project, maintenance of our 4 houses which could include repairing cracks to walls or decorating rooms or experimenting with ecological products like straw bale houses, soil care and maintenance including the use of compost and animal and green manure, hoeing and weeding, writing an article or translating material into other languages.

What are the eating arrangements? We have a vegetarian diet, with limited dairy products - cheese or eggs usually only a couple of times a week. Please also note that we sometimes aren't able to buy eggs and we don't provide milk for drinks etc. We ask that fish and meat are not brought on to the project. Some of our food is organic (the food from our gardens and some of the bought food), but not all.

All staff and volunteers eat together. There is a rota for cooking preparing a meal for 15 or 25 people is a new experience for many visitors, but often one which most people enjoy. It's part of our food policy to "encourage people to experiment, explore and enjoy preparing food'! Help is always on hand when needed, and when there are lots of people, we cook in pairs.

Highlights: The chance to try your hand at sustainable living techniques under the watchful eye of experienced co-ordinators. This is fantastic for CV building, or getting an idea of work you might like to become involved in in the future. You will also experience living in a friendly and tolerant community, there are always people to talk to and frequent fiestas, but plenty of space for solitude too. We have a beautiful environment and inspiring landscape for walking, bird watching, sunbathing, etc; the Rio de Aguas river and pools to swim in (together with the terrapins); and excellent caving and climbing nearby. We also have a big selection of technical and non-technical books and games such as playing cards, chess, etc. There are lots of good bars in our nearest town, Sorbas (7km away) for beers and tapas, as well as the excellent visitors' centre. There is no bus into town, but it's a lovely walk (about 1 ½ hours) or cycle. There are sometimes people driving to and from town who will be happy to give you a lift for a petrol contribution. Taxis cost c.15 euros.

Qualifications: No qualifications necessary, except willingness and enthusiasm to learn and share ideas.

Typical Volunteer: All sorts! And all ages from babies to our so-far oldest visitor at the grand age of 87. Children are welcome, with a supervising adult (volunteers between the ages of 16 to 18 should provide consent from a parent or guardian if volunteering without them). Everyone is linked by a common interest in the environment and sustainable living, but beyond that, there's a huge range of interests and characters. One of the best parts of Sunseed for many people is the opportunity to get to know people you may otherwise not have met.

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Sunseed Desert Technology's Mission Statement: Sunseed Desert Technology aims to develop, demonstrate and communicate accessible, low-tech methods of living sustainably in a semi arid environment. In order to achieve this we concentrate our work in the following areas: education, research and lifestyle. Hundreds of volunteers from around the world come to work at Sunseed Desert Technology each year. We rely on these volunteers for their valuable work, ideas and funding. Volunteers can work in the following departments: Gardens, Drylands, Mycorrhizal, Sustainable Living, Education and Publicity, Alternative Technology and Eco-construction and Maintenence. They also participate in all aspects of life at Sunseed, both in research as well as in community activities such as gardening, housework and building. Most visitors thoroughly enjoy their stay and take home with them a better understanding of what a sustainable way of living is truly about. We have part-time volunteers who stay for two to five weeks or more and work 4 hours a day Monday to Saturday, and full time volunteers who usually stay for a minimum of 5 weeks and work for 7 hours a day Monday to Friday, plus occasional weekends. They tend to specialise in one of our departments and frequently carry out their own projects which are suitable for student projects or placements. Sunseed welcomes students at any level who wish to carry out a placement or project at Sunseed as part of their course, usually Students come to Sunseed as Full Time Volunteers.