How many of you live here? How long have you been operating?
You will find the answer to this and many other basic questions in the texts “About us“, “Vision and values“, “Our Projects“.
How many children do you have in your community?
One baby, one young and another two teenage occasionally
Are you renting here? How are the property relationships resolved?
Yes, we pay rent. We rent part of the land and real estate of one owner. The vision is to negotiate a gradual buyout into a joint cooperative.
Besides the rent, what else do you pay – any contributions to the common fund?
Each contributes less than a thousand per month to the common fund. We use the fund for necessary things, such as investments for the garden (seedlings, hoses, water tanks), sometimes for joint education and seminars or perhaps consultations with experts. In addition, we have other common systems, each enclave has, for example, smaller funds for common consumer goods.
Where do you work? What are the options of job opportunities in the community?
Professional involvement is diverse. Some work outside – a few people in a corporate online, some works part-time online or in person (architect, salesman, psychotherapist) and some have their own business (for example, the construction of tiny houses Obydlo) or e-shop (Ahimsa.land). We also have cooks here – they earn the most during the summer at various events. The truth is, there isn’t anyone out here who has a full-time job that isn’t flexible in any way. Even guys who run a business or work full time have a certain possibility of variability.
How much time does the community require?
We have agreed that everyone should work for the community 10 hours a month. Apart from that (apart from the summer) we have circles that take up three days at a time once a month. Also we have work groups that meet more or less often to coordinate the garden, push changes in space, internal structure, etc.
In any case, the community requires time from each of us, and combining, for example, full-time work, family and some personal time can often seem unrealistic.
How do you keep track of who did how much? How do you make sure that someone doesn’t feel unfair that someone is doing more and someone less?
At the core of the community, we already know each other enough to believe that everyone is doing enough. In fact, most of us do more than ten hours a month, and in short, you can see that the members want to be here and want to live for the community. In the past, we recorded the time invested in the Hour Bank, this helped us to set everything up smoothly in the beginning. In addition, we know that not everyone always feels well and there might be need for solitude and peace.
Time records are especially important for newcomers or volunteers. We then discuss involvement with them at coordination meetings, and the provisional member has a patron. When we sense inconsistencies, we always communicate it.
What do you all do together? Do you have shared meals?
This is different – it also varies within individual enclaves. On the farm, they have common meals every day and they take turns more often, in the house enclave everyone cooks more often by themselves or the same person always cooks for others. So it’s variable – some have their own household and hardly ever join meals, while others are happy to be able to go to the farm, have food and meet people.
As far as activities are concerned, we tend to mingle in the space and small groups of people meet for a specific purpose. We all only gather together for circles and neighborhood meetings.
What is the level of sharing of personal space and belongings?
Each of us has a comfortable level of sharing with others. A large part wants a separate space with common facilities (ie sharing a kitchen and bathroom) and that’s how it is. A few people, however, want to have their own facilities, including their own shower, washing machine, etc., or to share it with only a few of their closest relatives. There is only one private residence here. On the contrary, the facilities at the farm are now also used by volunteers or visitors, which is suitable only for those who do not need so much peace and stability and manage to meet strangers with a toothbrush in their mouth.
How much do you share views, values and religion? Do you have any common elements that you follow?
You can read more about our values on the page “Vision and values“. There we say that we have respect for diversity. At the same time, there is a range of common culture between us as well. It is actually based on those values. Some of us are vegan, for example, and some of us eat meat (but that’s really a minority and they don’t eat it to the same extent as in the majority Western society). From the spiritual life, we have a mixture of elements – on the circles we have our altar with a candle, sometimes we light an incense stick or we normally talk about the energy in the space. But rather, everyone lives their spiritual and self-development direction alone or in a smaller group, as people adjust to each other. We are not a meditation center, we do not have regular morning meditations or a row of Buddhas around the space, and we are not a religious sect. Rather, we believe in nature, respect and humanity.