Looking for dreamers and doers for a stay on a farm located in a Mediterranean oak forest, Portugal
Évora
Currently our dream is to create an eco-village with a diverse group of people from all over the world. We believe diversity creates resilience. Ours is an off-grid organic farm that operates under the principles of a self-sustained old farm but using modern technologies like solar panels for energy production and irrigation systems. We are looking for long term persons that want to form a community here - THE SENSEI GIVERS.
WHAT WE OFFER
What we offer is a break in space and time in your life that allows you to find yourself so you can pursue an inner search. Our personal search is always inner and I would like to remember what is written in the ancient Temple of Delphi, 2500 years ago in Greece:
“I warn you, whoever you are...
Oh, you who wish to probe the arcanes of nature, if you do not find within yourself that which you seek, neither shall you be able to find it outside.
If you ignore the excellencies of your own house, how do you intend to find other excellencies?
In you is hidden the treasure of treasures.
Oh, man, KNOW THYSELF and thou shall know the Universe and the Gods!”.
We also offer a real world experience of living in a self sustained off grid environment - as any experience there are upsides (if the World falls apart this is the place to stay) and down sides (in the cloudy days you might have candle light dinners). But if you´re interested you´ll gain knowledge of our systems that can be a source of inspiration in your life projects back home.
SPECIFICS WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR:
Persons with knowledge in gardening and organic farming
Persons with knowledge in animal care - horses, dogs, cats, sheep, chicken and bees!
Persons with knowledge in construction and logistics (internet, building, electricity, plumbing, carpentry)
Persons with knowledge in eco-tourism
LOGISTICS
We receive new persons only on Sundays at the railway station of Vendas Novas which is 12 km away from the farm. You should pick the 5 pm train at ORIENTE station in Lisbon and one our later you will arrive at Vendas Novas. We organize a welcome reception for newcomers on Sunday evenings and early Monday morning we have a very important meeting to plan the week. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE. If you get a flight in another day you can stay some days in Lisbon a visit the city - you won´t regret it since it is a beautiful city. If you come by car we can send you the GPS coordinates of our place and you can arrive anytime Sunday afternoon - please close the gates otherwise the sheep or the or horse might escape and choose a slot in our parking space.
We expect that you help in the farm projects 25 hours per week: 5 days per week - 4 at the morning and 1 afternoon for small tasks, in a flexible way – normally there are 2 days off per week but are not necessarily Saturdays or Sundays. Normally we concentrate the tasks in the mornings, especially in Summer, and the afternoons are free or for small tasks. The starting hour is also flexible – usually we start earlier in Summer due to the heat. We don´t expect that you are a specialist on any field just show genuine good will: your contribution is LOVE IN ACTION - do your best.
However activities such as cleaning the toilettes you use, the spaces you use either for sleep or to eat, doing laundry, preparing communitarian food or meals or getting wood for fire places you use, ARE NOT PART of this time. When they leave, they should clean the room used and clothes they borrow. Once we had an outbreak of bedbugs - they are not dangerous, just annoying and were caused by persons with poor hygiene standards. So everybody should engagge in cleaning activities during their stay.
TYPES OF VOLUNTEERS
Our desired stay is 4 weeks. If you want to stay an additional period at the end of the second week you should ask to see if it is possible to extend the stay period and we will give you an answer during the third week. The maximum stay is 2 months.
We consider 4 WEEKS a minimum period to understand our "ethos" and create bonds with community members. However If you just want to know our place and want to stay for a shorter period than 4 weeks and have more time for yourself and your personal projects it is also possible. It will be assigned an individual room so you can have more privacy for your work. In that case the minimum stay is 1 week starting in a Sunday. You won´t be required to participate in farm projects but you should participate in communal chores such as cooking/doing dishes, cleaning communal spaces, etc. In that case you should give a financial contribution for expenses, but much lower than the cost of paying for a room in an hostel and meals in a restaurant.
Although, volunteers should not treat this as a vacation and still have the community’s best intentions at heart. If you don´t fit in our ethos it can be required that you leave anytime. We will not tolerate persons that we call P&P - Predators & Parasites:
Predators have destructive behaviors such as stealing, sexual harassment, breaking or moving objects from original places and aggressive behavior towards or invading personal spaces of other community members. Parasites have more subtle behaviors but in the long run equally destructive of community cohesion such as not performing the tasks agreed in the weekly meeting, systematically start to work late or finish earlier, hiding away from work, abandon tools in the field, sloppy work and a general attitude of "I don't give a damn shit" towards other people, animals and nature revealing a deep level of lack of respect.
However, you can have a long term stay if you want to be part of a very special group of long-term volunteers that form the kernel of this small community - MULTI SUNT VOCATI, PAUCI VERO ELECTI as the old Romans said. We call them "SENSEI GIVERS": usually they lead groups in specific areas of activity in a way the Japanese call "SENSEI"- master and teacher and they are GIVERS. We would like to have more persons to join this group but they should be really great human beings. We are all givers and takers but that special group of people are loving souls that take pleasure in giving, creating an harmonious atmosphere.
We aim to create a happy and light environment, so please abandon extreme self-damaging habits (drugs, alcohol ...) - as a volunteer said in a party here "Being a bit tipsy is ok, being drunk no".
A community is a home we all share - this home needs LOVE and CARE.
Is this an Utopia? Remember what is written in Bhagavad Gita the sacred text of Hinduism:
"In battle, in forest, at the precipice of the mountains,
On the dark great sea, in the midst of javelins and arrows,
In sleep, in confusion, in the depths of shame,
The good deeds a man has done before defend him".
First, let me explain the vision for our place - A NATURAL SELF-SUSTAINED HEALING PLACE WHERE YOU CAN HARMONIOUSLY SEEK INNER WISDOM, FREEDOM AND PEACE.
“NATURAL” is strongly related to organic farming but aims to do more than that - consider the whole place in a harmonious way, such as including forest, animals, water, energy, … and PEOPLE. That's why I like the DEMETER approach very much - Rudolph Steiner´s ideas about agriculture and environment seem very obvious to me and similar to some homeopathic concepts that I cherish, believe and follow.
“SELF-SUSTAINED” does not mean totally independent - it is impossible to be completely independent from the outside world because we always need resources we cannot produce on the spot - we are all interdependent. But we can try to optimize the situation and, above all, achieve equilibrium between inputs and outputs. This will allow achieving resilience in the years ahead, where a world crisis is predictable. Anyway, I would like to produce on the spot all the indispensable resources (energy, heat, water, food ...) to minimize dependency and generate goods that allow us to barter things we still need from the outside world.
“HEALING” is perhaps the most difficult concept to understand, but to really appreciate it, you would have to come and feel the atmosphere of the place during a period of time. Many people reported they had more dreams and felt better here. And some friends that have psychic gifts told me very interesting things about this place. Healing goes beyond the body – it is a holistic concept that includes mind and soul.
The cycle of building structures is almost completed. In our 20-hectare place:
- Our rooms: 9 in the main house, can accommodate up to 16 persons; for stays shorter than 4 weeks
- An irrigation system has been installed
- Tools for agriculture and equipment maintenance are available, including two tractors.
- Thanks to our photo-voltaic system we produce the electricity we need - we are totally off the grid
- The heating system is based on furnace that uses wood collected on the spot
- We collect potable water from underground and irrigation water from the rain, two old wells and a river
- A place to receive camper vans that includes a reception
- A 630 square meter green house
- Two outdoor gardens
- Two forest gardens near the house
- Seven special places for meditation: Circle of Fire (32 persons), Circle of trees (40 persons), Circle of Earth (16 persons), Circle of Cosmos ( 20 persons), Circle of Water and the 8 ponds (64 persons) all outdoor and a meditation room (25 persons) in the house ... and the "merditation" tower (to undertand this word you have to speak Portuguese or one of the latin idioms)
- 3 libraries
- A room for workshops that can accommodate 32 persons
- An annex with a large fire place, wood oven and kitchen to prepare meals
- A wood deck surrounded by forest trees for dancing, meditation, martial arts, …
- A place to store wood and bikes
- The horse hotel and the sheep house
- And a beautiful forest of Mediterranean oak trees (sobreiros e azinheiras), olive trees, and river trees (willows, … ).
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Horse or donkey farming
Sheep or goat farming
Viticulture
Forestry
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Bakery
Renewable energy production
Methods or systems
Animal drafting
Community-supported agriculture (CSA)
Holistic management
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Rotational grazing
Host type
Nonprofit / Community
20
Hectares
|
49.4
Acres
Fernando
Member since 2015
Languages spoken:
English, French, Galician, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 96%
Response time: typically within 3 days
Évora
Location - Vendas Novas , Alto-Alentejo region. The nearby city is Vendas Novas about 11 km by road. One hour to Lisbon airport by car, by train or by bus. One hour to the beach by car. Please see the area using GPS coordinates 38.7009,-8.3821
Reviews
Marco
Italy
•
September 2025
I joined AlMansur for a month in july. As soon as I was there, I was accepted by an amazing community of people and began creating a whole lot of unforgettable memories, some include:
herding sheep
talking with people and learning their stories
cheating in uno with my partner in crime
watching my beautiful nepalese friend fall asleep
falling asleep during every movie we watched
butchering a wild boar on the weekend, hungover after a night of almost losing the horses and partying (KEEP THE GATES CLOSED!!!)
melon soup
Trying vendas novas sushi
carving a message in a tree somewhere (sorry tree)
cooking with some nice music and good company
skinny dipping with in the moonlight and when the dog wanted to go to the lake
fighting the chickens
NEPALESE FOOD
arguing about semantics relating to the defininition of what a soup is
slowly growing a whole new layer of skin to heal all the cuts I got doing stupid things
sleeping in hammock looking at the sky
the almost 50 cats (If u read this find Alien and pet him for me)
please change the name of the work shop to living room
Teaching a Alien how to sit
Picking up sheep
learning about all the misters
turf day
CLIMBING TREES
Making cheescake
much more
again, getting to know all of the people was so fucking cool, I cant get over how amazing of an experience that is. Everybody should do something like this AT LEAST ONCE.
Thank you Fernando and everyone else for this.
The world is round so that friendship may encircle it and come back to us.
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Alina
Germany
•
May 2025
Beautiful farm, but more of a work camp than a "healing place"
I originally planned to stay for seven weeks at Al Mansur but ended up shortening my stay after quickly feeling like I was moving from one job to the next. In my everyday life, I work as a nurse, and I chose this experience hoping to get to know farm life during my holiday. However, the working hours were far more demanding than what had been communicated beforehand.
I also wish I had been informed that bed bugs are a recurring issue there — I experienced them myself. I also contracted worms, likely because the approximately 50 cats on the property had not been dewormed and the hygienic standards aren't that high.
While there is plenty of space for all the animals, the way they are kept raised some concerns for me. For example, three large dogs are permanently chained. When they are occasionally released, they sometimes attack and kill lambs from the sheep flock. Hearing the farm manager women dismiss it with, “That’s just normal farm life, you know,” made the experience even harder to process.
I’m still grateful for the experience. I had wonderful moments with the animals, in the beautiful natural surroundings, and with some of the other volunteers. I also learned some stuff about gardening — thank you.
If you’re considering going, I highly recommend gathering as much information as possible beforehand — and take care of yourself.
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Stephanie
United Kingdom
•
March 2025
I spent 5 weeks at Al-Mansur from early Feb to mid-March 2025. The place is a beautiful oasis, and the work was varied and enjoyable. As a keen gardener with no experience in planting crops, I loved learning about Al-Mansur’s methods. Planting and weeding in the gardens and greenhouses was meditative, and tasks like fixing fences and collecting soil from a neighbouring farm were fun and challenging. I also enjoyed learning recipes from Masha and volunteers worldwide, making simple ingredients into some of the best meals I've ever had. Masha made sure volunteers worked on tasks they were interested in, and the place allowed me time and space for personal growth, which feels really special.
I agree with Roderick’s review about getting as much information as possible before arrival. As a freelance designer, I thought I could work in my free time, but the 5 hours of farm work didn’t include cleaning tasks, and deep cleaning on Mondays and Thursdays made it tough to find time for laptop work. I feel this is a hyper-specific issue that only really affects remote workers, so take the above with a pinch of salt! And honestly, to properly enjoy the time there it’s better to not have half a mind on emails.
I also enjoyed workshops by Fernando and Masha and hearing about the future plans for the farm. Overall, my time at Al-Mansur was amazing, and I’ll cherish the memories and friends made. I’d love to return in the summer!
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Ellie
United Kingdom
•
March 2025
I spent two magical months at Al-Mansur. From the moment I arrived, I felt an overwhelming sense of belonging that I’d never experienced before. Sure, adjusting to life on the farm with 18 other wonderful souls took some time, but every moment spent there turned out to be incredibly rewarding. The other volunteers quickly became my family, and together we created memories that I’ll cherish forever - swimming in the lake, dancing under the stars, celebrating a ‘wedding’, cuddling the 40 kitties, and enjoying sunsets from the rooftop.
My mornings were filled with diverse tasks like gardening, painting, general upkeep of the farm, and helping to prepare the wide variety of *delicious* meals from various cultures.
Fernando, the heart and soul of the community, amazed me each day with his generosity and kindness, while long-term volunteer Masha ensured our days flowed smoothly with her remarkable organisation, fostering a sense of unity among us🧡
The farm, with its stunning landscape and hidden gems, offers spaces for personal reflection, balancing communal living with opportunities for solitude. The beauty here lies not only in its surroundings but also in the personal growth that comes from embracing the inevitable challenges.
If you’re seeking a place to reconnect with yourself, others, and nature, I wholeheartedly recommend spending time in this special eco-village.
Thank you, Fernando and Masha, for curating this safe haven✨
I can’t wait for my next chapter at Al-Mansur!
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Alaïs
Martinique
•
January 2025
I had an amazing time as volunteeer in this place, and so magical with the community 🙏🏽
I wish for this place long term volunteer to continue growing in this beautiful sense , with collaborative work and sharing vision.
Thank you Masha and Fernando to make beautiful project becoming reality 🙏🏽 so so so needed in this world.
Going over there will not only give you a woofing experience but a whole life style creation and discovery.
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Roderick
United States
•
January 2025
I had the pleasure of spending 7 weeks at Al-mansur. I truly appreciated the experience and the amazing land while acclimating myself to a farming community. If you are looking for a place where you will be stimulated most of the time with also time to get away for yourself, this is the place. Its a place that allows your daily to be different everyday.
Even though I was not expecting the hrs and the amount of tasks, I will say it all made sense. I would encourage you to get as much info as you need before committing as this place can truly be a gift but could also be a curse for some without knowing what you are getting into. I appreciated the learning curve for me living amongst a constant rotation of 6-12 volunteers which at times could be overwhelming but also confronting if you take the time to really embrace individuals and the community as a whole.
I felt lucky to have had an opportunity to meet some great people that all helped in my growth during Al-Mansur. I hope to one day visit again and see progress beyond my wildest dreams.
Thank you Almansur for those 7 weeks.
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