Participate in our international volunteer programs to learn about
|
About our volunteering Programs:
A Typical Day with us 9:30am to 10:30am - Breakfast. 10:30am to 1pm - 2.5 hours volunteer work 11am - Tea / Coffee served with biscuits/cookies 1pm to 2pm Lunch break 2pm to 4:30pm - 2.5 hours volunteer work 3:30pm Tea / Coffee served with biscuits/cookies Then you are free to relax, explore the town or area. Dinner is between 8 to 9 pm. Sundays are off. Work times can be made more flexible with earlier or later starts if you want to take the morning or afternoon off. We also give a certificate of work experience. Our Fees and Accommodation: Rs.1000 per night a minimum of one month. Under some circumstances we allow a shorter stay for which it could be mostly organic farming volunteeringand learning by doing. This will pay for your accommodation and 3 meals a day plus coffee/tea with biscuits/cookies served twice a day. This also covers the costs of the electricity for the geyser for hot water, and the cost for the firewood for making a fire in the wood stove fireplace for your accommodation to keep you warm. Please keep in mind that unlike other places to volunteer, we have all the help we need, have experienced staff, technical, and skilled workers to do our work. Our volunteer program is designed to give our volunteers a chance to learn new skills, share their skills and add value, cultural exchange and more. Hear back from our Volunteers
'I spent 7 days here and did not only enjoy the wonderful compound with a beautiful organic vegetable garden and flowers, but also the very delicious, self-cooked food from the garden and Navin's nice company. I stayed in my own apartment and it rather felt like a week of vacation than a "work and travel" stay. ' Judith - Volunteer from Munich, Germany
'I spent a week staying with Navin and his family in Kodai and was so appreciative of the whole experience. Navin was extremely helpful right from the beginning with my travel arrangements and really went out of his way to accomodate me in whatever way he could. The house and grounds are absolutely beautiful and I felt right at home, and treated like a hotel guest! Navin and I had a chat at the beginning about what I wanted to get out of my stay and he then gave me a list of tasks I could help out with that I'd be good at. I helped out by building websites and doing research and promotion for his businesses, and also making organic strawberry jam one day :) Every day was filled with fun tasks, and I got introduced to many people around town, and also shown around beautiful Kodaikanal. All in all this was an amazing first workaway experience and one I would definitely recommend if you are looking to see the beautiful hill station and relax in the surroundings.' Audrey - Volunteer from Perth, Australia
|
I spent only 5 days here but i could have stayed longer - Navin is a perfect host and if you get to stay at the farm - you will be treated like royalty by Durai and his family. This farm is a special place :)
Lee Rowlands,- Volunteer from Liverpool, England 
I stayed for a month, had a great time working in the organic vegetable garden, weeding, planting, and eating the delicious food. Interacting with the local Indian workers was very enriching for me.
Diana - Volunteer from Lisbon, Portugal Ayac, Volunteer from Mexico City, Mexico
The estate is absolutely gorgeous and I enjoyed the gardening/computer work here very much. Navin enquired about my interests as he is keen to give workawayers a varied experience, which I appreciated. The home-cooked vegetarian food is also delicious. Some hosts may not charge for accommodation and food, but it's well the worth the money here. All in all I had a valuable experience and a relaxing time. Thanks! Leah - Volunteer from Groningen, Holland
Really really enjoyed this place! The little organic garden was lovely and the accommodation was amazing. Navin is lovely and we told him what we enjoyed doing and we basically did that the whole time we spent here. The volunteering was not difficult and minimal such as weeding the vegetable garden and we got our own time to see the sights and go around town. We even learnt Indian cooking. Lovely host and lovely place. Grace and Josh, - Volunteers from Nottingham, England
|
Someone told me that Kodaikanal is known as the 'Switzerland of India' - I'd certainly vouch for the accuracy of that comparison. As soon as we reached the outer limits of the town, I felt the cool clean air flushing all the dirt, dust and pollution of India 'down there'- which for us meant 2 days in Mumbai, a 30 hour train journey and then an evening in Dindigul -out of my lungs. What a relief!
I can't praise the quality of the air here enough- it is not only clean, clean, clean, but also odourless, crisp, and sort of vital: full of life. It makes you want to breathe deeply, fully, wholeheartedly. After spending just one night in the town, we went to begin our volunteering experience at ecostay farms. Situated a thrilling 2 hour drive from Kodai, the farm where we worked is in one of the most peaceful places I've ever visited. You have to drive through a huge pine forest to get there (reminiscent of Switzerland again) and past various small villages. I was mesmerized by the immaculate terraces of the rural areas we drove through- row upon row of neat lines of vegetables on red earth, sculpted by the lie of the land and testament to, what seems to me, an incredible amount of back-breaking work. The parcels of land were often separated by brightly coloured sarongs (who needs boring brown fences?) which added to the vitality and beauty of the place. Staying on the farm certainly provided an insight into life in rural India. I'd hate to oversimplify but the healthy smiles and genuine warmth of the villagers we met both at the farm and when out walking certainly makes me question the wisdom of the trappings of modern life- all that we were glad to leave behind. The best thing was waking up every morning to a beautiful birdsong melody and trying to identify the different calls and responses. Two or three times, in the middle of the night, I woke to a loud call that seemed to come from far away above the forest- it sounded like a person yelping for joy. I was tempted to put on my flip flops and go out in the moonlight to return the jubilant cry. On reflection, I think it was probably a very loud owl.The cooking and hospitality of the farm manager, Dorai, was also fantastic and heartwarming. Indeed, we were sad to say goodbye to the workers at the farm and the wonderful, refreshing simplicity of our stay there. Damien, Roma, Zyra, Nyma, - Volunteers from Cornwall, England We had an absolutely lovely time here, and felt so useful and appreciated. The warmth of the family was wonderful and we were happy to help and understand local culture as well as learn new skills. Kodaikanal is a wonderful place to live and learn and volunteer and with Organic Brooklyn we found so many different activities to do. Never a dull moment here. Thanks and we will be back.
Cathy and Jed, Volunteers from Syracuse, New York, USA |
