Sustainable Living Internship in New Mexico

Internship Program at Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center
www.ampersandproject.org

May 1 to July 10
Our internship program is designed to offer time to explore,
reflect, and connect with the natural environment. You will also receive
plenty of guided instruction in natural building and sustainable
living. We work on collective projects two or three days a week,
for 6 hours or
so a day. These days we eat communally. The other days, smaller
individual
tasks may be requested, totaling not more than 24 hours per week. We
have a great library and we are happy to direct folks towards
appropriate materials.

The work projects during the summer of 2011 could be anything from digging swales to helping
construct a solar food dryer, making a solar a wood heated hot tub, to working with earthen plasters. The
remaining days of the week, volunteers are more on their own, free to
explore the land, relax or travel.

We are a 30 minute drive to Santa Fe, and a 30 minute walk to the
little artsy village of Madrid. It has a coffee shop, tavern and many
galleries. For traveling to and from, public transportation will bring
you to the outskirts of Santa Fe and we can arrange transportation from
there. Interns may wish to camp in their own tent or stay in the
centrally located yurt. Sometimes, a strawbale cottage is available.

The outdoor kitchen will serve as the location for cooking and
sharing meals. Our rustic living conditions include solar electricity,
running rainwater (frugal use is expected with both), hot showers, an
indoor bathroom, and wireless internet access. Refrigeration is limited.
On the days we work together, we provide some basic staples for meals,
but we can't supply all the food for our volunteers. Please be prepared
to chip in for food or bring your own. Volunteers get a 20% discount on
classes offered during their stay. Our community is queer friendly. No children or pets please. We
speak English, a little Spanish, and good communication is very
important to us.

No kids eh? Not very sustainable then, is it?

Sorry to rain on your parade here, this sounds like a great gig but all these course, internships etc need to find a way to include the next generation, to show children a living example of how to do things differently, sustainably, or what the heck is it for exactly? Young people are the future after all.

Not to imply that your place is less than perfect  just offering my constructive feed back.

Our place certainly is less than perfect.  Its a place for LEARNING about how to live sustainably, not for trying to prove that we are.  Children are not excluded from our center.  We have groups of them out regularly.  However, our internship program is not the right context for them at this point.

You are right that it is important to include them in this work.  And part of living sustainably, I believe, is being aware of creating and maintaining relationships in a healthy way.  The honest answers will be different for all of us at different times.