Make the oasis green again and stop desertification

The experience

Help us maintaining our garden and greening the desert. We live at the edge of the Sahara, in an oasis that is drying out. We are working hard on finding & creating stable water sources, and our goal is to help plants, birds, water and insects return to this area. We want to be a hopeful example for our local community so that they can stay and continue living in this harsh environment.

What you offer

3 hours of help per day

Animal Care: Help look after and take care of animals.

Building & Repairing: Help with a wide range of repairs or building.

Farming: Plant crops, sow seeds and help in outside tasks.

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

Additional fee required

Amount: € 10 Per day

Fee pays for: Benefits for travelers

Description: This fee is to help in covering the volunteers' daily living costs, such as 3 meals & Moroccan tea each day, electricity, gasoline for collecting groceries from town, etc.

What you get

2 days off per week

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Beginner English or Fluent Arabic

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

We are currently working hard on keeping the palm trees alive and growing various kinds of other plants with little water. We often have to recreate the irrigation systems and dams throughout the gardens, plow the lands or sow new seeds. Hopefully we can start planting trees soon. Every day we harvest alfalfa or other food for our sheep and donkey.

The palms need pruning, we harvest dates (Oct - Jan) and make systems to store water.

Activities & Shift

We start our day slowly waking up, first harvesting food (for those who want to work a bit before breakfast) and feeding the animals, after that we start preparing breakfast. If there is cleaning in the kitchen needed this will be done first. After breakfast we start the work.

The work varies on the time of year. Usually there is always harvesting work to do, and sometime periods of the year we work on natural construction projects. Help is needed as well in keeping the house and area clean. Volunteers can see which work fits them, and no skills are required, but we expect that everyone helps where they can. We will be happy to teach you everything :)

During the hottest hours of the day there will be a lot of time to rest and relax. After lunch of the day there is some time for work again, and we will choose a nice moment in the day to go for walks with the dogs. During the hotter seasons we work more in the mornings and evenings, less in the midday.

All tasks are depending on the season/weeks and can vary each period.

The garden work is depending on the amount of water and on the season. Besides working in the garden there is always help needed with other work, such as cooking, construction work, making bricks and taking care of the animals.

Rules

We expect that everyone respects the environment they enter. We treat each other with respect and we treat nature with high respect as well. Please understand that where we live is very different from any western country or even from the bigger cities in Morocco. We expect that you respect the culture and religion of this place. We gladly explain to you everything and are happy to answer all your questions :)