Internships at Wa Samaki Ecosystems
Our Internship program is either a 4 week or 12 week full-immersion experiential opportunity for individuals interested in a hands-on introduction to regenerative practices in the tropics. The 4 week internship fits within the dates of the larger 12 week internship. Starting and ending dates of the 4 week internship are lower down on the page. 4 Week internships will not be offered if all our 12 week spots are filled. Interns are expected to arrive the day before the internship starts . The internship includes a 2 week Permaculture Design Course, co taught by the director of Wa Samaki, that starts 2 weeks into the program. The internship will be run by a core group of residential instructors specializing in natural building and fibres, woodworking and permaculture. There are visiting instructors that change each internship. we will post details of them and their workshops on our fb event page Attendance at these workshops is included with the internship. Our Jan 2020 internship will include a tree house building workshop with a builder from Texas and our April 2020 internship will include a Syntropy workshop with instructors from Brazil and Australia. We may also run a Syntropy workshop dedicated to cacao production in August 2020.
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Wa Samaki Ecosystems is a multi-generational family farm and interns will live and work with all 3 generations of our Wa Samaki family as well as other amazing core members. Interns will make lifelong friends, participating in a style of living that often times, changes them forever. Wa Samaki offers an experience second to none in Trinidad and exposes interns to the successes and challenges of running a regenerative site in a challenging Caribbean climate during a time of climate change. We will expose you to all our climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the hope that they will inspire you to take the information worldwide. Solving problems and creating solutions will leave you with a valuable skill set relevant to all the challenges life will throw you.
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Our goals for this program are to:
• empower individuals who are genuinely interested in creating a more sustainable and regenerative world.
• be a “hands on site” for experiential education and the daily practice of skills you can use for the rest of your life.
• inspire and enable individuals to continue to develop creative solutions and generate positive social change and sustainable practices in their own lives and communities after they leave.
To apply, please fill out our Internship Application. We will assess all applicants and interview the top choices meeting our internship criteria. We will then contact the successful interns to obtain deposits and final payments.
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EXPECTATIONS
Participants in this program will be housed in shared accommodations and are expected to participate in all the activites scheduled for each day on the farm. We are a working farm that is not supported in any way by external funding and all our ongoing projects aim at helping the farm sustain itself and help it finance future projects. Typical days will include individual chores, daily morning and trice a week afternoon "work parties" and twice a week afternoon "personal practice times" when we encourage interns to learn new skills, do research in our extensive library and help our core team with ongoing projects. Once morning chores are done, weekends are free to explore Trinidad, take a break on the farm or experiment with or research an onsite project you may be passionate about. Weekends tend to be when other workshops and tours happen on the site and interns are welcome to help out in any way possible and interact with the participants taking the workshops.
The cost of the program covers all food, instruction and lodging. We seek applicants who are serious about our work and are motivated to be part of our industrious team, working towards solutions for current environmental and social challenges.
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DAILY SCHEDULE
In permaculture, we say ‘’Everything is pulsed!’ We try to build our daily schedule around the dry (January-May) and wet (June-December) seasons. The dry season allows us to focus on construction and earthbuilding while the rainy season is dedicated to planting and maintenance. Planting experience still happens as we prep plants in our nursery during the dry season to go out in the wet and construction experience will still be had as we move to finish our indoors building projects.
Each week will be different as we progress through our different projects but our daily schedule will remain fairly constant.
6-6.30 - Wake up/Stretch/Read
6.30-7.30 - Life skills/Donkeys/Tropical Fish/ Aquaponics/Nursery/Foraging
7.30-8 - Breakfast
8-8.15 - Daily meeting
8.15-12 - Work Party/Farm Work/Projects
12-2 - Lunch
2-5 - Work party/Personal Practice time
5-7 - Free time/Research/Play
7-8 - Dinner
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DATES (12 week internships)
the following are the start and finish dates of the 12 week internships at Wa Samaki.
2019 Start Date: August 5 (arrival date August 4)
2019 End Date: October 27(departure date October 28)
closing date for applications is July 15 th 2019
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2020 Start Date: Jan 6 (arrival date Jan 5)
2020 End Date: March 27 (departure date March 28)
Closing date for applications is December 15th 2019
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2020 Start Date: May 18 (arrival date May 17)
2020 End Date: August 7(departure date August 8)
Closing date for applications is March 15th 2020
COST
The cost for this program is US$2,250 for the 12 week program and includes all meals, lodging and access to some weekend workshops.
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DATES - 4 week internships (subject to change if there are changes in the 12 week internship dates)
the following are the start and finish dates of the 4 week internships at Wa Samaki.
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2020 Start Date: May 18 (arrival date may 17) - June 12 (depart June 13)
Start Date: June 15 (arr June 14) - July 10 (depart July 11)
Start Date: July 13 (ar July-12)-August 7 (dep August 8) includes a PDC - cost for this 4 week slot is US$1200
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COST
The cost for this program is US$800 (except for the PDC month) for the 4 week program and includes all meals, lodging and access to some weekend workshops. The 4 week period with a Permaculture Design Course costs $1200
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NUMBER OF POSITIONS
Persons taking the 12 week internship will be given priority and the remaining spots will be open to the shorter 4 week interns.
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LODGING
Participants stay in a 3 bedroom house onsite. The houses are outfitted with comfortable beds, running water, electricity, nearby composting toilets, and indoor and outdoor showers.
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FOOD
Meals at Wa Samaki are cooked by Maleah, co owner of Wa Samaki Ecosystems and a graduate of the Farm to Table program from The International Culinary Center in New York and the youngest of our generational family at the farm. Meals on the farm are cooked from scratch, with clean and delicious ingredients coming from a variety of local farmers as well as from the farm! Our kitchen is NOT 100% vegetarian. Please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements prior to arriving.
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APPLY
Please fill out our Internship Application if you are interested in this opportunity.
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