The Panya Project
Focus: Education, Community and Permaculture.
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Project Description
The Panya Project is a volunteer run Permaculture Farm and Sustainable living Education Center , hosting courses on Permaculture Design, Natural Building, Ecovillage living, yoga, community living and others.
The project experiment with and model an integrally sustainable way of living in the wet/dry tropics. Panya Project aims for sustainability not only in the physical environment, but also in the social environment, our physical bodies and the spiritual, emotional and intellectual realms.
The 10-acre (four hectare) site is situated in the low hills of Northern Thailand, between the conventional rice/soy/corn farms of the local village and a beautiful expanse of second growth national forest. It features demonstrations of humanure composting toilet systems, earthen buildings and a medium scale water harvesting system, including a large dam at the top of the land and about 500 metres of swales. The project is also host to production gardens and a diverse food forest, with over 40 varieties of fruit trees, established in 2007-2012.
Volunteer Information
Costs & Benefits
Requirements
Contact information
Project Summary
Volunteers are very important to Panya and are the heart and soul of this place. They make up the core and extended community, and without them, Panya would cease to exist as it does now. Volunteers are involved with all aspects of Panya life.
We have 3 types of volunteers: Short term volunteers (STVs), Midterm volunteers (MTVs), and Long term volunteers (LTVs),
Short-term volunteers stay for a minimum of 1 week. They pay 2000 Baht for the first week and 250 Baht per day thereafter. After 1 month the fee is 125 Baht per day. This covers vegetarian food, accommodation, internet, and most other things. It does not cover personal food items such as milk, chocolate and coffee, or personal laundry (you can hand wash your own if you want).
All volunteers are expected to join in on our daily work schedule, which involves working for 3 hours each morning as a group.
After this your time is your own, although we encourage people to get involved with new or
existing solo/group projects around the site (of which there are an infinite amount).
All cooking and cleaning chores are shared and rotated on a daily basis.
Mid-term volunteers stay for a minimum of 3 months. They pay for the first month as STVs. These positions are limited and are for people who may not have any experience, but are really passionate about learning more about permaculture and sustainable community living. They take on some responsibilities as well in the daily running of Panya.
Long-term volunteers stay for a minimum of 6 months and form the core Panya community. LTVs gain valuable experience in running an intentional community and permaculture education centre. This includes managing volunteers, teaching and supporting courses, management of areas such as organic farming, natural building, forest gardening, community living, energy and water systems, and site maintenance. As well as this, LTVs manage the Panya daily life and all that goes with that.
These positions are for people who have experience in one or more of the areas of Panya, are very passionate about permaculture, have completed a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) and enjoy community living.
Panya is run on a consensus model, whereby all long term community members have an equal part in the decision making process.
We ask Short-term volunteers for a contribution of 2,000 baht (around $55) for the first week and then 250 baht per day thereafter, which covers food, accommodation and other expenses. If you are able to stay with us for a longer time period, the contribution goes down to 125 baht a day after one month.
Midterm volunteers pay for the first month as STVs, the following months they can stay without paying.
Long-term volunteers also pay for the first month as STVs, thereafter an LTV stays for free at Panya and becomes part of the profit share model whereby the LTVs share a certain percentage of the profit of the courses run on site.
As we are located in a traditional Thai village (Ban Mae Jo), we ask you to dress in an acceptable way for Thai culture when you arrive at Panya and during any outings to the village during your stay with us. Ladies, this means shoulders covered and no miniskirts please!
We currently have no positive way to deal with plastic waste at Panya, so please try and limit the amount of packaged bits and pieces that you bring into the community - it is much appreciated!
Panya Project
PO Box 28
Mae Taeng
Chiang Mai, 50150
Thailand
Tel: +66 (0)871818821
Email: Panyaproject@gmail.com
Website: www.panyaproject.org
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Average cost per day: $8
Focus: Education, Community and Permaculture
Skills needed: Volunteers must be at least 18 years old
