We have for the whole summer, from May or June till October volunteers coming to help build our house. We find the helpers through three different organisations: Workaway, Poosh and HelpX. They all have the similar idea that the volunteer helper comes and stays with us, we provide accommodation and food and they work for six hours a day five days a week.
Until now we have been very happy with how it has worked for us. We mostly have had people for a few weeks but some will stay for longer. We would welcome people to stay for many months and this way they would learn and see much more than in a few weeks, but a few weeks is also good of course.
Poosh is an organisation for sustainable self-builders only so if one is building their home in an eco way they can seek for helpers through that organisation. Workway and HelpX is for any kind of work so not only for people building their home.
So we put an add up saying we need help and telling about our project and the helpers make their profile and tell who they are and what they are interested in and then the helpers look for interesting places they want to go to and contact the hosts (us) and ask if they can come. All contact happens through the organisation web page.
Then they come and stay with us and help us. They get a nice experience in a foreign country, they get to see countryside, how people live here, how we are doing our project and they lear how to do whatever we are doing just then when they are here. We get help, we get to learn from our helpers too, we get to meet interesting people and we get energy from people coming to see our project and being inspired.
A good exchange!
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