PhanganProject

Participate in Positivity by Acting Locally to Create Change Collectively.

The Project

Our Mission is to connect us to ourselves, our global community and our natural environment by collaborating internationally to create a unique combination of inspiring programs. This is a place to Live, Grow, Learn, Connect, Create, Act, Share, and Celebrate Life Together.

Our homebase is the beautiful Thai island of Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand. Our current focus is BUILDING a permaculture demonstration site with the help of local and international volunteers, COLLABORATING with local Thai farmers to educate ourselves about natural tropical farming practices, CONNECTING the community with a series of inspiring educational programs and movies that share our passion for culture, community, and environment, CREATING healthy fusion cuisine in our community café using as much local organic food as possible, SHARING the natural beauty of the island with a series of active, educational, inspiring eco tours, and ASSEMBLING an intentional community of local and international enthusiastic travelers, teachers, activist and educators, living and working together to create positive change!

We are offering a shared dorm-style hotel room in exchange for 25 hours a week of Project Participation, with at least a 4-week commitment. We also ask for 100 baht/week contribution to cover the cost of drinking water and electricity (about $3.50 US).

Project Needs

Our project currently has the most need for volunteers with Permaculture Design and Garden Management experience as well as Educators interested in creating curriculum and assisting with classes offered by the project. Details about these positions and other areas we can use help in are listed below.

• PERMACULTURE PRACTITIONER: to manage the garden and garden volunteers, keeping permaculture principals a priority and staying within the ethics and principals of the project. This position is vital to the organization as they would lead garden volunteers, organize improvement projects, manage, create, and research local planting guilds, experiment with making soil, source materials, make island connections with farmers, and run the nursery. It would provide invaluable hands on experience and a chance to influence the progress of sustainable development in Thailand, in a rewarding community environment.

• EXPERIENCED EDUCATOR: to design, develop, and implement a series of educational outreach programs involving intellectual design processes and actual hands on teaching experiments. We'd like this person to assist in development of a series of workshops that engage the community around the principles of permaculture, natural building, and garden basics. Mostly we'd like this person to further our adult and children’s English language curriculum, teaching the classes and using the experience as a building tool for writing curriculum. Design and create relevant learning experiences, media, and teaching materials that combine the best of teaching and technology.

We are also open to considering applicants with training or experience in the fields of: Permaculture, Community Organizing, Natural Building, Landscaping, Design, Architecture, Land Management and Planning, General Construction & Maintenance, Organic Gardening, Agriculture or Forestry, Plant Nursery Management, Outdoor Education, Water Management, Appropriate Technology, Wild Craft, Tropical Plant Identification, Adult Education, English Language for Thai and Burmese Speakers, Thai Language, Web Skills, Marketing, and Group Organization & Facilitation!

Location

Koh Phangan, Surat Thani Thailand

Work

Phangan Project is an activist organization engaged in an island wide movement for positive change. Our Mission is to connect us to ourselves, our global community and our natural environment. We are collaborating internationally to create a unique combination of inspiring programs in the areas of community, culture, sustainability, and simplicity.

We partner with several organic farmers in the local Thai community to help support and expand the Organic Island Movement here on Koh Phangan, which was designated an “Organic Island” in 1999 by the King of Thailand. We work with the local Thai community to teach English, Music, Art, and raise awareness of global and local environmental concerns and practices of sustainability.

We try to connect each individual’s unique passions and experiences with the current needs of the project. This connects people with garden work, helping out on an organic farm, researching, sourcing supplies, talking with locals, cleaning, designing, setting up event venues, building, and teaching. Lots of groundbreaking activities are happening right now and as a volunteer with us you would have a direct impact on the programs and direction the project is going.

Our working hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 am - 12:30 pm. We ask for at least a 4 week commitment, but those who stay longer (some for months!) benefit from a deep and rich volunteer experience.

Accommodation

We operate out of the Phangan Chai hotel, which has clean, modern rooms with fans, soft beds, and hot showers in private bathrooms, plus use of the shared community kitchen. There is a pool in the back where the Permaculture Garden is located, and a rooftop with stunning views of the mountains and the sea. The hotel is located "downtown" in Koh Phangan’s main town of Thong Sala, across the street from the Main Pier, with quick access to food and shopping . Some beaches are nearby, one of which stretches nearly 3 km to the west, with many nice bars and restaurants along the way. Please keep in mind that our hotel is about 30 years old. Not all of our facilities run 100% perfectly in the ways you may expect from back home. The hotel’s general improvement and the development of the hotel into a true "Green Business" is part of the overall plan for the coming years. As we currently have use of only 5 rooms in the hotel, we ask you to share a room with your fellow volunteers. We usually try to match you up in single-sex rooms of 2-3 people and try to place travel partners or couples in rooms together. There is no housekeeping of our rooms by the hotel; we ask that all volunteers please take care of the cleaning and cleanliness for our volunteer rooms themselves.