Become ESC volunteer
about the ecocenter Divočina
In 2017, we founded a community garden and ecological center called Divočina in Malešov, just 6 km from Kutná Hora. We created this space with an emphasis on ecology, community, and social connections. Our community garden is a place where people of all ages and social backgrounds come together to garden, participate in lectures, workshops, community baking, cultural events, or even evening campfires.
We regularly prepare interactive and practical workshops for kindergarten, elementary, and high schools. These workshops include gardening and biodiversity support, recycling, sustainable households, vegetarian and vegan cooking, and workshops on medicinal plants. We are very happy to cooperate with a nearby children’s home, whose residents often come to help us, and together we enjoy pizza or campfires. Once a week, we also open the Divočina café, where we offer seasonal and local refreshments.
Divočina Café project of the year 2025 – recycling workshop
The main project of this season is launching a recycling workshop. Volunteers will help us with the workshop’s promotion, create an interesting portfolio of creative workshops for schools, kindergartens, and other interest groups. They will also be involved in the practical teaching of these programs and contribute their ideas to enrich them.
Divočina Café
As part of our main project for 2024, we worked with international volunteers to set up an outdoor café. Every week, we host conversation sessions for anyone interested in chatting with the volunteers. We also have weekly community bread baking events. The café is open once a week, and we prepare local, seasonal dishes, with all proceeds going to support the Divočina Eco-Center.
events
In the summer, we organize ecological suburban camps, where we use fun and informal methods of teaching English.
We also organize several ecological courses, such as a permaculture edible forest course. In June, we arrange school trips for students from various schools. During the year schools come to us for ecoprograms. There is community bread baking every week going on in our Café.
Divočina Café what will volunteers do at Divočina
Volunteers will actively engage in all activities at the Divočina ecological center. They will learn practical skills, such as chopping wood, and gain knowledge of organic permaculture gardening. They will also try out various crafts. Participate on the Recycling Workshop project. Volunteers will take part in both online and offline promotion of the center and will also give presentations in schools, sharing their culture, volunteer experiences, and information about the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program.
Once a week, we have an open outdoor garden café in Divočina, where morning conversations with volunteers take place for interested participants as part of the „Language Café,“ and in the afternoon, there is community baking. Volunteers will help run the café and have the opportunity to prepare homemade cakes, lemonades, and other refreshments.
Once a month, we organize two-day trips with the volunteers to interesting places to gain inspiration for our ecocenter.
We strive to consider the individual preferences of each volunteer, but it is important to understand that some essential tasks, such as washing dishes, mowing grass, or watering plants, need to be done, even if they are not really exciting.
teaching English
Organizing Workshops and Camps for Children
Volunteers will assist the English teacher in teaching young people. Together with the children, they will carry out small projects, such as setting up compost. The goal is to overcome language barriers and agree on the steps needed for implementation. Volunteers will improve their communication skills and learn how to work with children and youth.
Additionally, they will assist instructors in ecological programs for schools and during summer camps at Divočina. Their main task will be to help prepare materials for educational activities and assist children with group projects, such as building birdhouses or making natural repellents. Volunteers will gain valuable experience in organizing activities for children and have the space to implement their own ideas.
teaching English
at schools
Volunteers will occasionally visit local schools, where they will help teachers with English lessons and present their country and culture. In September and October, they will also have the opportunity to present their volunteer experiences and share what they have learned during their stay at Divočina.
Accommodation and food
Volunteers will be accommodated in wooden house. Each volunteer will have their own room equipped with bed sheet, pillow, duvet, blanket, little carpet, table, chair, lamp and wardrobe. There is electricity and Wi-Fi in the house. There is bathroom and kitchen in community house 15 meters far from the wooden house.
We aim to eat as much food from our garden as possible, but for items we cannot grow, we purchase from local farmers or source from a zero-waste shop. Every Monday, we come together to plan the weekly menu, and each day we prepare lunch as a group, keeping the meals simple and wholesome. Monday is also our shopping day, where volunteers can add any specific items they need for the week.
For breakfast and dinner, volunteers are responsible for preparing their own meals using the ingredients available in the community house.
