Since July 2008, Mama Roja has had many helping hands and hearts in the project. People from all over the world have come to Misiones to add ideas, help and love. Thanks to their efforts, we have established a center for sharing Earthen building, organic gardening, yoga, and other important sustainable practices.
We welcome commentary, stories, and experiences from past interns, apprentices, volunteers, and visitors. Send us an email and we will add it to the post, or respond in the commentary box below. Thanks and much love!!
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"My experience at Mama Roja was one of the most enjoyable, beneficial, and hard-working experiences I´ve had. Living with such a diverse group of people taught me a lot about other peoples cultures, including my own. I learned so many important things and skills that I´m still using here in the states, and that I plan on using in the future. I had so much fun with our group, we all felt, and I´m sure still feel a strong connection to Mama Roja."
"What originally drew me to Mama Roja was discovering the Misiones region of Argentina, spending some time with like-minded people, practicing and sharing some yoga, and learning and developing new skills. What I discovered at Mama Roja was way beyond that.It was a treat to the palate; preparing meals over the fire, picking "mandarinas", making dulce de leche", eating delicious "Kim cake" and Marcelo's spaghetti sauce and an endless variety of vegetarian food. The joy of walking to the garden and getting the ingredients to prepare your food, so simple yet so beautiful.It was a treat to the body; feeling the rich earth between my fingers while preparing mud for bricks, swimming and bathing in that river that purifies the soul, chopping wood, working with the shovels, the plants, the animals, and watching what you planted grow...amazing!It was for me, most of all, a treat for the soul. A place where I was able to be my SELF. Space to wonder and to explore. A place where I was encouraged to be curious and ask questions, where my skills and individuality grew and were recognized . A place where I made beautiful friends, laughed from my belly and filled my lungs with the sweet smell of the jungle.And now, back in Vancouver, I still use the skills I learned at Mama Roja. And it's fun to find ways to incorporate the little things I learned into my "city life"...as simple as using less water, planting herbs and tomato plants on my window ledges and starting worm composting!I honestly can't wait to go back and I am so very, deeply grateful for Mama Roja being part of this world."
"Mama Roja taught me so much about living and about a higher quality of life. Kim and Marcelo are amazing teachers and are so dear to my heart. I went as an apprentice and stayed through the fall internship (2010). I walked away with journals filled with experiences,realizations, and resources for my life after Mama Roja. Earthen Building is such a beautiful and practical skill. I have never felt so proud of a project ever before. Both my body and soul were nourished by Mama Roja. Yoga was key part of this nourishment and was something I was able to take home with me. It is an open market place of ideas, creativity and laughter. I look to my journals often for articles about nutrition, sustainability, building or just a good recipe. Most the time I look through to smile about four months that have changed me forever."
"I have just left here after the sustainable living / earthen building internship and cant describe in word how much i learnt and what an amazing and enjoyable experience I had. Mama Roja is situated in beautiful forest full of flora and fauna. there are rivers for bathing and relaxing, with a short walk upstream to the waterfall, and a short walk downstream to the 'big river.' An average day started with a fruit filled breakfast, followed by either earthen building projects (such as an adobe brick dry-composting 'tower toilet') or helping in the garden to plant, feed or pick the flowers, herbs and vegetables. Evenings involved reading, relaxing, craft making, a camp fire, discussions, documentaries, etc. and much more eating. Kim and Marcelo are a very warm and loving couple who encourage learning, and with plenty of knowledge behind them, love to pass it on. Thank you Mama Roja!!"
"... estos ultimos dos meses fueron más para conocer en profundidad solo una partecita de la Pachamama, y para aprender más
directamente la buena manera para relacionarme con ella. Como cuidarla, alimentarla y restaurarla, como satisfacer nuestras
necesidades sin endeudar a las futuras generaciones. Muy agradecido
con Marcelo y Kimberly por el lugarcito que estan cuidando, Mama Roja
en la provincia de Misiones, y por su entrega en compartir sus
experiencias y conocimientos...
solo por mencionar algunas de las cosas que aprendimos: construccion
natural (barro y adobe), huerta orgánica, medicinas naturales
(tinturas de hierbas, balsamos, aceites), microorganismos aliados,
composta de residuos (incluidos los desechos humanos!!!), cuidados del
agua (reciclaje, filtros), elaboracion de quesos, y muchos etceteras,
ademas de practicar yoga y disfrutar de bañarnos en el rio, una
cascada dentro de la chacra (chacra como una granja), caminatas por
las selva, millones de mariposas, pajaritos, y algun que otro lagarto,
y hasta un par de nutrias de rio!"
"I spent two wonderful weeks with Kim and Marcelo at Mama Roja. I appreciated the atmosphere that the two of them foster. I felt welcomed into their community and encouraged to make an impact with what interested me. They were patient teachers as we built garden beds and planted. The location is absolutely stunning and I felt at peace there."
"Mama Roja is a place full of beauty – the land, the streams, the animals, and most of all the people! The project aims to be a center of teaching and learning how be more self-sufficient; in my experience as an intern (2009) one of the biggest benefits that I received was an opening and expansion in my creativity. The work that we did as interns was as hand-on as we could get – creating, doing, and seeing results of our projects every day. At Mama Roja, even making a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich was an deep experience; we made the peanut butter, made the jelly, and baked the bread – for sure, it was the best pb&j I have ever eaten! In addition to enhancing my cooking skills, I learned how to build a house from the earth, how to use an axe, how to collect and store seeds; I learned from group readings, discussions, and videos; I learned about other incredible projects that are happening around the world; I met wonderful people; and among many other things, I learned irrefutably that “life is good”. Thank you so much, Marcelo and Kim, for sparking the world-changing adventure that we call Mama Roja!"
-- Audrey (Intern 2009)
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