Volunteer Stories

Pauline, 26, Lille (France)

I was following an Italian teaching formation before I decided to volunteer with Unis-Cite in France. I raised awareness on sustainable living and energy saving. 

I found out about the European Voluntary Service (EVS) program which offers funded placements in organisations across Europe. I was looking for an environmental project in Spain, and I came across Sunseed on the online database; and I’ve now signed up to be here for 6 months!

Before coming here I felt the need to explore manual work; Sunseed has enabled me to discover what I can make with my own two hands. I like that I can experiment with different departments (particularly in organic gardens, appropriate technology, eco-construction and sustainable living) and that I have coordinators to guide me. Aside from this practical aspect, Sunseed offers a variety of seminars and workshops; I’ve particularly enjoyed yoga, meditation, dancing, notebook and origami making, and drawing. I feel like my time here has given me a chance to focus on developing my social, creative and spiritual sides.

My self-motivated project is to expand my knowledge of permaculture. Luna, the Organic Gardens Coordinator has given me a plot of land, my garden, where I can transform theory into reality! Facilitating and witnessing seedlings grow into plants and subsequently provide us with food has been a huge eye-opening experience. I’m always looking for what I can do next, how I will answer the question «what are you going to do later?», and Sunseed is shedding light on what this could be… I’m growing increasingly curious about naturopathy, and as I learn to enjoy living in the present, I will naturally follow the steps to my next adventure.

I have two favourite aspects to Sunseed – the heavenly landscape (particularly the pozas, the natural swimming-pools) and the staff and volunteers team. We know how to balance the work and have fun (parties in caves, pizza parties, festivals)!

Volunteer Stories

Skye Lei, 28, Macau (China) and California (USA).

I’m an engineer specialised in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industry.

I’m at Sunseed for approximately 4 weeks. 

I came across this project through online research of ecological and educational communities in Europe.

My decision to volunteer with Sunseed was rooted in several objectives:

• To creatively explore a sustainable lifestyle with lower impact that at the same time offers inspiration and stronger spiritual fulfilment.
• To learn about technologies and methodologies for minimising external resources and maximising local energy and food production
• To heal from personal struggles and reconnect with nature.
• To live in a community setting with like-minded individuals from different countries and cultures, consequently creating unforgettable and life-changing memories

I joined a project in the Appropriate Technology Department to build a Solar Energy Demonstration System, which consists of solar photovoltaic, battery storage and inverter components. With guidance from our department mentor, I collaborated with two other volunteers to design and build the system using reclaimed materials. We’ll use it for educational purposes, but it also has the capacity to be a small device charging station!

I also plan to assist with the improvement of the bicycle washing machine that is about 90% complete (there is room for improvement to further secure its mechanical stability and usability). When the machine is reliably usable, we’ll be able to enjoy a healthy exercise while dealing with laundry!

There’s way too much I love about Sunseed, but to name a handful of my favourites, they would definitely be the vegetarian diet, the permaculture way of life, the fruits and veggies from the gardens, the dedication of the volunteers, the pizza parties, the homemade/cultural dishes, the Friday reflection moments, the haybox and solar cookers, and of course, the compost toilets! It’s my absolute fortune to have met so many bright minds and beautiful souls at Sunseed. 

Volunteer Stories

     Sunseed is primarily an educational project and investigation in how to promote a more sustainable way of life and more respectful connection to nature. But it is also a full human experience. So the question of the day is : How has Sunseed changed your relationship with people, and what did you learn about human relations ?

Andreia’s experience, volunteer EVS for

> So, tell a bit about yourself ?

” My name is Andreia, I’m 22 years old and I was born in Portugal. Before coming to Sunseed I was in an open studio named Armazem 17° Arte, a place conceived to share skills and develop artistic projects; frequented by a lovely variety of young and mature sculptors, painters, writers and musicians. We were around 10 people at that moment. I was there experimenting and improving my painting and sculpting skills, mostly inspired by human waste.” 

> Why did you decide to come to Sunseed ?

     I wanted the experience of living in a community, to adopt a sustainable way of life and specially learn about Eco-construction. I received an email from Casa da Horta – an EVS sending organization – sharing Sunseed’s advertisement for people to develop an educational and environmental project. I inspired myself to write my unconventional CV, I applied , and 6 months after I came to Sunseed.

    My personal project; was initially designed for me to learn specific techniques of bio/ecoconstruction, but unfortunately, at the moment we don’t have a coordinator for this department… This fact created a new challenge in my learning process, by making me adapt to the non existence of a guide.

      Also because of that, my project had several changes, I had to redesign the physical structure many times in my mind, before bringing it to reality, and thanks to this beautiful creative flow I find in people, its possible for me to observe through them what I need to know to develop it, in a balance between the original idea and the resources/tools I actually have.

     In fact, I’ve found the perfect challenge by not having an E.C.Coordinator, because as a free student, I believe in the end of institution school as it is, and this experience represents the learning model I do believe, support and aim to develop all my life.

     I am surrounded by creative, curious and practical people, making my experience so interesting and exciting. Sunseed’s energy is about making projects becoming reality and once you are evolved you are part of this nourishing contribution of increasing sustainable happiness, satisfaction and freedom.

     I am pleased to use Sunseed’s diversity of skills to improve all the different dimensions of my project; this fusion between Art and Nature, a cultural place, for seminars, workshops, exhibitions, and experiments. Just when I arrived, thinking about Sunseed needs, I realized that I already had the draft of Anima, what means that my project is actually an expansion of a previous one, and also my contribution to Sunseed’s mechanism of sharing and improving, a facilitator for the human experience and all the learning related to it.

> What do you think about this way of life, I mean to live in a community and about Sunseed’s philosophy ?

     Sunseed is living the future. It’s really beautiful to live for sharing and learning how to live in respect with the nature, as part of it, in opposition to what happens in the modern societies, where people live separated and disconnected from nature. Sunseed offers the experience of communal living in the Ecovillage of Los Molinos, so, in my opinion it works like a fusion between the concepts Home and School, another thing that in the cities are lost and disconnected.

     In the first moment you arrive at Sunseed, you feel at home because everyone is welcoming, open to know your real-self, and its interesting how fast they get focused in the development of your projects, and always aware of your well being.

     Living in a “city” you feel like everybody is an island, but in Sunseed, in our relations we build bridges between each person, because we want to absorb each other. Sunseed is a fertile soil, receptive to let new things grow. In the city, most of the time, we don’t have this bridges.

     In my opinion, the most interesting and constructive thing we are learn in “Sunseed de Los Molinos” it’s that a revolution is made of daily actions, small choices, boycott. Boycott is maybe the most important job of my generation, its a direct, practical and functional expression of love and respect for coexistence.

     I also want to add that it might seem hard to make change happen, but here, and in places like this we can improve the change. Thats why I have faith in the ecovillages to fix the humanity’s mess, by joining technology with sustainability, empowering people through an endless learning journey.

     This is a small village, we are so close to each other, with different projects going on, focused on environmental issues, which doors are open to share the amazing world of sustainability with the people living in the predominant social system.

> Of your time in Sunseed, what are the experiences that you will share with your friends back home ?

    Compost toilet! Im building one with my father in our garden when I come back home, because it makes no sense to throw drinking water in the toilet, and then tell our children to save and care about the water.

     Be open to work with different types of economic systems, improving the exchange of skills, resources,food etc.I think that if we use many, we it will be ok if one or more for some reason collapse, like what happens with money.

     Boycott the polluting corporations which are morally and ethically corrupt by exploiting nature, making and teaching how to make our own chemical free toiletries and washing products, fertilizers etc

     Use technology to be disconnected of electricity and water, just because we can. It does not make sense anymore to pay for that. If you are using a money economics, imagine what you can grow, feed, learn or travel with your water and electricity bills.”

Sunseed es principalmente un proyecto educacional y de investigación sobre cómo promover un modo de vida más sostenible y una conexión más respetuosa con la naturaleza. Pero también es una experiencia humana completa. Así que la pregunta del día es: ¿Cómo ha cambiado Sunseed tu relación con las personas y qué has aprendido sobre relaciones humanas? 

Experiencia de Andreia, voluntaria EVS

> Bueno, ¿puedes hablar un poco de ti?

Me llamo Andreia, tengo 22 años y nací en Portugal. Antes de venir a Sunseed estuve en un estudio abierto llamado Armazem 17° Arte, un lugar concebido para compartir habilidades y desarrollar proyectos artísticos; frecuentado por una variedad muy bonita de artistas jóvenes y mayores, como escultores, pintores, escritores y músicos. Éramos alrededor de 10 personas en aquel momento: Yo estuve allí experimentando y mejorando mis habilidades en la pintura y la escultura, inspirada sobre todo por los residuos humanos.

> ¿Por qué decidiste venir a Sunseed?

Quería la experiencia de vivir en una comunidad, adoptar un modo de vida sostenible y especialmente aprender sobre ecoconstrucción. Recibí un email de Casa da Horta –una organización que envía voluntarios EVS– compartiendo un anuncio de Sunseed destinado a personas interesadas en desarrollar proyectos educacionales y medioambientales. Me sentí inspirada para escribir mi CV no convencional, solicité una plaza, y 6 meses después vine a Sunseed.

Mi proyecto personal era inicialmente aprender técticas de bio/ecoconstrucción, pero por desgracia ahora mismo no tenemos un coordinador en ese departamento… Este hecho creó un nuevo reto en mi proceso de aprendizaje, haciendo que me adaptase a no tener una guía.

También por eso, hubo muchos cambios en mi proyecto. Tuve que rediseñar la estructura física muchas veces en mi mente, antes de llevarla a la realidad, y gracias al maravilloso flujo creativo que encuentro en la gente, me es posible absorber a través de ellos lo que necesito para desarrollar el proyecto, buscando un equilibrio entre el proyecto original y los recursos/herramientas de los que dispongo.

De hecho, he encontrado el reto perfecto al no tener un coordinador de E.C., porque como estudiante libre, creo en el final de la institución escolar tal y como es ahora, y esta experiencia representa el modelo de aprendizaje en el que creo, al que apoyo y el que espero desarrollar toda mi vida.

Estoy rodeada de gente creativa, curiosa y práctica, lo cual hace mi experiencia muy interesante y excitante.

La energía de Sunseed es sobre hacer que los proyectos se hagan realidad, y según van evolucionando, se convierten en parte de esta contribución a aumentar la felicidad, satisfacción y libertad.

Estoy encantada de usar la variedad de habilidades que hay en Sunseed para mejorar todas las dimensiones diferentes de mi proyecto; esta fusión de Arte y Naturaleza, un lugar cultural, con seminarios, talleres, exhibiciones, y experimentos. Nada más llegar, pensando en las necesidades de Sunseed, me di cuenta de que ya tenía el boceto de Anima, lo que significa que mi proyecto es realmente una expansión de otro anterior, y también mi contribución al mecanismo de compartir y mejorar en Sunseed, un facilitador para las experiencias humanas y todo el aprendizaje intimamente ligado a ellas.

> ¿Qué piensas de este modo de vida? Me refiero a la vida en comunidad y la filosofía de Sunseed.

Sunseed es vivir el futuro. Es verdaderamente bonito vivir para compartir y aprender cómo vivir respetando la naturaleza, como parte de ella, al contrario de lo que pasa en las sociedades modernas, donde la gente vive separada y desconectada de la naturaleza. Sunseed ofrece la experiencia de la vida en comunidad en la ecoaldea de Los Molinos, así que, en mi opinión, funciona como una fusión entre los conceptos Hogar y Escuela, que en las ciudades también están desconectados.

Desde que llegas a Sunseed, te sientes en casa porque todo el mundo está abierto a conocer tu verdadero yo, y es interesante lo rápido que se centran en el desarrollo de tus proyectos, siempre atentos a tu bienestar.

Viviendo en una ciudad sientes que cada persona es una isla, pero en Sunseed, en nuestras relaciones construimos puentes entre cada persona, porque queremos absorbernos unos a otros. Sunseed es un suelo fértil, receptivo a dejar cosas nuevas crecer. En la ciudad, la mayor parte del tiempo, no tenemos estos puentes.

En mi opinión, lo más interesante y constructivo que estamos aprendiendo en “Sunseed de Los Molinos” es que una revolución se compone de acciones diarias, pequeñas elecciones y boicot. El boicot es quizá el trabajo más importante de mi generación, es una expresión de amor y respeto por la coexistencia directa, práctica y funcional.

También quiero añadir que puede parecer difícil hacer que sucedan cambios, pero aquí, y en sitios como este, podemos mejorar el cambio. Por eso tengo fe en las ecoaldeas para arreglar el desorden de la humanidad, uniendo tecnología con sostenibilidad, fortaleciendo a la gente a través de un viaje de aprendizaje sin fin.

Esta es una aldea pequeña, estamos muy cerca unos de otros, con diferentes proyectos llevándose a cabo, centrados en asuntos ambientales, nuestras puertas están abiertas para compartir el asombroso mundo de la sostenibilidad con la gente que vive en el sistema social predominante.

> De tu tiempo en Sunseed, ¿Cuáles son las experiencias que compartirás con tus amigos al volver a casa?

¡La letrina de compost! Voy a construir una con mi padre en nuestro jardín cuando vuelva a casa, porque no tiene sentido tirar agua potable por el retrete, y luego decir a los niños que ahorren agua y se preocupen por ella.

Estar abierta a trabajar con distintos tipos de sistemas económicos, mejorando el intercambio de habilidades, recursos, comida, etc. Creo que si usamos varios, todo irá bien si uno o varios colapsa, como lo que sucede con el dinero.

Boicotear a las compañías contaminantes que son moralmente y éticamente corruptas explotando la naturaleza. Haciendo y enseñando cómo hacer nuestros probios productos de aseo y limpieza, fertilizantes, etc.

Usar la tecnología para estar desconectados de la red eléctrica y de agua, porque podemos. Ya no tiene sentido pagar por eso. Si usas una economía con dinero, imagina lo que puedes cultivar, comer, aprender o viajar con tus facturas de agua y electricidad.

Volunteer Stories

Sunseed is primarily an educational project and investigation in how to promote a more sustainable way of life and more respectful connection to nature. But it is also a full human experience. So the question of the day is : How has Sunseed changed your relationship with people, and what did you learn about human relations ?

JeeYun’s experience, volunteer for one month in Sunseed June 2014.

> So, tell a bit about yourself ?

“I am 38 years old, I was living in New York but I left everything to start a new page in my life and I was looking for an alternative life. For around 20 years I have been an artist and designer. I usually work with reclaimed materials especially wood and objects I’ve found .

> Why did you decide to come to Sunseed ?

I have been interested in alternative living since I was young. In the past I had some experiences but then I started a kind of business, I was making feather earrings, I was working all day long, and I was shocked about the contrast between me and my customers. I was just loosing myself with that business. I needed something new, something more simple and more relaxed.

> What do you think about this way of life, I mean to live in a community and about Sunseed’s philosophy ?

We should be living in a community ! When I was working in New York, with my feather earrings, I was alone and I realized how disconnected I was before coming here. I don’t feel anger anymore.I don’t feel any aggression against some people. I am feeling kinder and more understanding. Less judge mental.

I realized how important it is for me to work outside. I got again my artistic inspiration and my creative energy came out ! And, as well, I’m feeling healthier.

> Of your time in Sunseed, what are the experiences that you will share with your friends back home ?

It was my first community experience about the way life in a community should be ! Every aspect of my experience here has met my expectations of what an ideal community would be like

It is open to everybody. It is kind of like a new family, there is no weird religious aspects for example.

This way of life is a kind of revolution !”