Natural Building Work Camps Projects
SPRING 2, 3 or 4 Weeks Between 7 May and 4 June
AUTUMN 24 Sept - 8 October
£60/€75/week Kissos & Anilio Campuses
The four-week May 2010 workcamp will offer several distinct projects. The big project for the Kissos campus May workcamp this spring will be the restoration of the 7 m diameter reciprocal framed round house that Nigel Hilton built in 2002 and which has been our prime group space for small to medium groups. The photos on this page show it going up in May 2009, and how it looked after it collapsed in a severe thunderstorm in September.Virtually all the members of the structure suffered extensive damage when it collapsed, for although it is an extremely strong structure, all the members rest on each other so that should its tensile strength be exceeded, as it was when water collected on its plastic roof sections, every member will break. So this year we have to rework the damaged posts, recraft the horizontals and re-erect the structure. This repair work will offer an excellent opportunity for anyone wishing to learn how to construct the versatile recipriocal framed round structure, and of course provide an opportunity for anyone wishing to learn basic building and wooodworking skills.
The master builders coordinating the reconstruction of the roundhouse and leading the natural building course centred around it are likely to be former Cornwall smaller holder Mark Taplin, finish carpenter, Ivor Fletcher from Derbyshire, and possibly Nigel Hilton from Scotland, the original designer and builder of the structure. The roundhouse reconstruction will be offered as a special natural building course (course fee = €300) overlappiing the first two weeks of the May workcamp. Enrollment will be limited to 6 participants. To sign up please book from here or Contact Us directly.
The second project for this May's camp will be the continuation of the construction of a small geodesic dome intended as our sanctuary. Last May we managed to collect, cut and assemble 16 of the necessary 64 pieces. Working on the dome we will learn how to build a small living structure out of natural materials (chestnut, bamboo) available from the Pelion forest. The geodesic dome project may be an intensive mini course within the workcamp, possibly offered by Dutch ecobuilder Itamar Atia who was the architect and builder for many of the eco projects at ecovillage Kibbutz Lotan or by a trainee from the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). Click the photo right --> to see a uTube video of dome construction to get an idea what this entails.
In addition to the main building projects, there will be a number of minor building and maintenance jobs. We will be setting up a 5m yurt on the south terrace under the mulberry tree, which provides an excellent chance for anyone wishing to learn the basics of yurt construction and maintenance. We hope to acquire a second used yurt which will require some fabric stitching and reworking of broken spars, again excellent training for anyone interested in yurt construction. We'll continue to upgrade the kitchen, installing more shelving and cabinets and improving lighting. The 200L solar tank that heats the hot water for the showers is totally inadequate and needs supplementing with a second 400L solar thermal system on the roof of the main building. We will be looking for a solar engineer to focalise this job. We’ll also be extending our drip irrigation system to the hydrangeas and roses, and the expanding vegetable garden on the upper terrace. One staff member still has his fantasy of building a “lifeguard tower” to serve as a lookout with a staff accommodation platform (see photo).
In the autumn we convene a second workcamp (24 Sept - 8 Oct) to carry on whatever work remains unfinished from the May camp and to pack up the Centre. This two-week October camp is the time when we put our two Campuses (Kissos and Anilio) to bed. There is work to do in getting the gardens ready for the winter, we knock down the temporary workshop spaces and pack them up, we do a bit of minor maintenance of the buildings, for example, painting and wood preserving. Often there is some pruning and planting and tree work as well. Aside for this, we always need a support team to help with cooking and autumn cleaning.
In both spring and autumn camps, at both Anilio and Kissos campuses, we have a community sharing every morning after breakfast and work a few hours in the morning, go to the beach and then come back and work a few more hours before dinner in the evening. Participants are working about 30 hours/week and get one full day off, completely free time.
Generally the autumn camp is a very mellow time as the shadows lengthen, and a strong sense of community emerges in the group. The beaches are warm from about 11:30 am to 3:30 and we go every day for a few hours, often taking a picnic lunch with us.
As usual, working and sharing together as a team engenders a strong community feeling and the feedback on the workcamps over the years has been consistently positive. As opposed to the excitement and strong energy of the May workcamp when we ready ourselves for the season, the autumn camp is mellow and quieter, in keeping for the onset of winter and the time to go inward and reflect on our accomplishments over the summer season and to give ourselves feedback and to envisage next year's season.
As it gets cool to cold as October progresses, warm pullovers are useful and we sleep under blankets. The month is usually a dry one, with the days being crisp yet still warm till about 4 pm.
Both workcamps provide an opportunity to join the work rhythms of the Centre, to learn natural building methods, organic gardening and to participate in authentic community building. People often elect to stay on after the May workcamp and join our summer staff and there are often opportunities for extending your stay in this way. In the camps we are building and maintaining physical structures, and we are building and enhancing interpersonal ones as well. All of our workcamp projects give excellent opportunities for gender role reversal as you can see from the photos on this page depicting workers from our previous camps.
In addition to the main building and renovation projects there is spring housecleaning, our ground floor rooms need beautifying with fabrics and paintings, crazy paving will continue as will shoring up drywalls, the organic vegie patch gets turned and planted, and of course there is the support team to help with cooking, cleaning, gardening etc.
Working daily and planning together in a team engenders a powerful community experience, of which the morning after-breakfast council circle is an integral part. We don't go to work till we know where we all are and what we want to do and who is going to do what. Sometimes this is a 15-min check-in, and sometimes it is an hour-long deep sharing. In the camps we expect team members to put in about 30 hours of physical work a week with one full day a week off to relax and enjoy this remarkable region of Greece, still unspoilt by foreign tourism. Everyone shares in the cooking and meals cleanup. There is plenty of free afternoon time to enjoy the beaches and, in May, the late spring flowers along the forest paths.
In October, there is an autumnal tranquility, and although evenings can be cool, the sea is at its warmest of the year, and most days are sunny and warm, with occasional showers. By the middle of September we have the spectacular beaches of the East Pelion virtually to ourselves.
Aside from those involved directly in the building work, we accept support people on partial work exchange to help with cooking, clean up, gardening and preparing the centre for the summer workshop programme that starts in June, and closing it down in October.
If you are interested in participating in two, three or all four of the work weeks in May, or the two weeks in October, please us with details of your experience, building, maintenance, home furnishing, cooking, gardening skills etc.