A group of 23 vegans, raw vegans, and fruitarians joined together to purchase 120 hectares (300 acres) of tropical farmland in southeast Ecuador. They are co-creating a sustainable village of permaculture enthusiasts who wish to live in a beautiful forest of fruits and eat raw vegan foods. Located in the foothills of the Andes on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, the tropical climate is ideal for marang, rollinia, durian, mamey sapote, jackfruit, papaya, and much more. The farm already produces bananas, rollinia, plantains, papayas, pineapples, abiu, sugarcane, oranges, peanut butter fruit, local/wild fruits, and many tropical perennial vegetables such as katuk and malabar spinach.

Work exchange or volunteer – program details

The farm  only accepts volunteers who are vegan, as this is a vegan community. They also only accept volunteers who have experience in / are interested in a raw food diet, and are able to mostly abstain from cooked foods, and consume primarily raw foods while they are there, as this is another important community value of theirs. Usually volunteers and residents there are eating all raw foods.

•  Volunteers receive accommodation in exchange for performing 20 hours of tasks per week that are
  listed on the Trello board, written on the whiteboard, or written on the “Task List” paper posted near the
  whiteboard.
• Volunteers will log their hours of work in the Clockify app. If the internet doesn’t work, they will
  temporarily use the “Volunteer Help Log” notebook in the common room.
• Volunteers will generally have autonomy in terms of which hours and days they work. However, for
  certain tasks (urgent tasks, or group tasks) a specific day/time may be requested.
• Volunteers may eat bananas and papayas and other fruits and vegetables that are grown on the farm,
  but for any additional food, they are expected to purchase it themselves. There is usually a community
  produce order once per week to make this easy.
• Utilities payment (internet access and electric) is $7 per month.
• Volunteers who are staying in tents will be charged $3 per hour that is missing from their work
  requirement each week. Volunteers who are staying in cabins or bedrooms will be charged $5 per hour
  that is missing from their work requirement each week. Missed hours may only be made up for up to 1
  week after they are missed.
• Volunteers will pay a $100 security deposit on arrival. Their utility bills will be deducted from this and
  the deposit will be returned when they leave, if their stay is one month or longer. For stays less than
  one month, $50 of the deposit will be kept as a donation to the community.

The length of  volunteering is 2 months maximum.

What to bring with you

Rubber calf-length “wellington”-style boots are necessary. Local hardware stores sell them for around $10/pair, unless your size is 43 (European size) or higher, in which case you’ll have to look in a bigger city to find that size.

Other things you should consider to bring:

• Flashlight or headlamp (something like this)
• Quality pocketknife (something like this)
• Long-sleeve pants and shirts (good in the evening when there are gnats)
• Work clothes and work gloves
• Sun hat, bandannas or handkerchiefs
• 1-2 sheets and 2 thin blankets (nights can get to 15C in wet season, usually are 17-19C.)
• It is a good idea to bring a tent if you have one. Usually the house and cabins are full and they have some people staying in tents.
• For the same reason it can be good to bring a sleeping pad. Often the farm runs out of mattresses. The inflatable camping pads don’t tend to last long. A foam pad may be better.
• Good thick socks (calf-length, otherwise the gnats will bite your ankles in the evenings.)

What is included

There are a limited number of foam mattresses, but you should probably bring your own blanket/sleeping bag + sleeping pad. Most of the time you will sleep 1 to a room but if the have a lot of folks there you may stay with an other volunteer in a room or some people will stay in tents. It is a good idea to bring a tent as they sometimes fill up all of the available bedrooms and cabins.

Accommodation

At Fruit Haven 1’s community area, The house is a simple, rustic, post-and-beam construction house right on the Rio Zamora. There are 5 bedrooms in the house and also a little cabin nearby. There is a workshop, a plant nursery, and a vegetable garden. There is a warm shower and bathroom. They use a composting toilet, to complete the nutrient cycle.

At FH2’s community area, there is a small cabin with a porch, nearby another small cabin. Each sleep 1-2. There is a cold shower and bathroom, a shed, and a plant nursery.

Video

Tiskita Jungle Lodge from Alanna Aspinall on Vimeo.

Map

Accomodation offer

You might need to book a cheap accommodation on your way to Ecuador. If you book your stay through our website, you support hopperjobs.com to list more great and free job opportunities worldwide. Click here for booking!

Flight offer

You’ll probaly need to book a cheap flight to Ecuador also. If you book your flight through our website, you support hopperjobs.com to list more great and free job opportunities worldwide. Click here for booking!