Fed up with the routine? Volunteers for an Italian sabbatical year at Grottole – News



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The Airbnb platform and Wonder Grottole, a local NGO that promotes urban recovery, are looking for 4 volunteers to spend an Italian sabbatical in the beautiful city of Grottole. An opportunity for those who want to escape the routine and start a new phase in their lives.

Located on the top of a hill in the picturesque town of Matera, in southern Italy, lies the small village of Grottole, which with only 300 inhabitants in its historic center and more than 600 empty houses, runs the risk of disappearing and in need of support .

To help revitalize the village, the Airbnb platform is helping Wonder Grottole find four people as volunteers as guests of Experiences and Homes for three months. They will be transformed into temporary citizens of the village, where they will learn the Italian language, will help in the cultivation of the common garden and will learn how to cook Italian dishes, made with the products they will cultivate themselves.

"Italy is an extraordinary country with a strong and vibrant rural community, countless hilltop villages and a passionate and welcoming culture.We want to help preserve these communities to continue for future generations, to encourage and support others to participate and contribute effectively to the life of the village, we hope to highlight the beauty of rural Italy, "said Joe Gebbia, co-founder and chief product officer of the Airbnb platform.

The four volunteers will be immersed in the life of the community, starting their journey with a month of training before becoming the guest of the Case and Experiences Airbnb platform with Wonder Grottole.

As guests, you will receive guests in a beautiful room in the center of the local community or in a traditional house in the center of the village. At the same time, they will also act as guests of Social Impact Experiences, showing visitors traditional techniques such as horticulture, honey harvesting, mass production and olive oil. All the products of these experiments will be reinvested in the village.

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credits: Airbnb


"Our dream is to repopulate the historic center: in ten years we would like to see the village full of people of different cultures perfectly integrated into the local community," he explained.
Silvio Donadio, founder of Wonder Grottole.

Volunteers will learn from other experienced guests, including Rocco, the resident beekeeper who has lived in the village for more than 30 years. "When we arrive in Grottole from a big city, people will find an old village, full of woods and pastures, we encourage them to leave everything behind and to relate to our lifestyle", explains Rocco.

This opportunity is also available for residents in Portugal who meet the following requirements: over 18 years of age, available to move to Grottole for three months from June to August 2019 to volunteer at the NGO Wonder Grottole and present a good level of oral English.

If interested, learn more about the site www.italiansabbatical.com

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