We’re all about learning more, empowering ourselves and others, and making a better tomorrow. We are committed to bettering opportunities, skills and access to information for those in the local community. Permaculture focuses on People Care - it’s not all about plants!

Education

In 2020 we helped to construct and organise the learning space for students of a new community project, The Learning Tree, Ometepe. In 2022 we have opened these classes on the farm property, catering to 23 young learners as of March 22.

It is a small and personalized bi-lingual education center in the local town of Balgue. We run classes 4 days per week. We sponsor local children to attend and help cover the costs of maintenance and materials in the center. Donated materials are always welcome! Check out our Wish List below.

As our project grows we are looking for people with teaching experience and passion to help us be able to offer more classes to local kids. This position needs a time-commitment of at least 3 months to be able to run a full course with the students and get to know them and their needs.

Get in touch to see how you can help with this academic project.

We appreciate any donations, as we run voluntarily. If you’ll be coming along in person to Nicaragua check out our Amazon Wish list using the QR code below, or follow us on Pack for a Purpose to see some suggested items to bring along with you. We prefer physical donations to cash for transparency. You can also leave a pre-payment with the local stationary store for the prints and supplies we get regularly from there if you’d like tho help that way.

We are part of a larger farm (Project Bona Fide) that promotes food security and sustainable living systems on Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua through permaculture design, agroforestry, research & education, and community collaboration. They educate and expose people locally and worldwide to the possibilities of multi-strata food production through demonstrative agriculture on our 26-acre model farm. They aim to provide people with the necessary knowledge and skills to empower them to produce their own food in a more sustainable manner and live more intentionally in their own environments.

Every year the permaculture course ran by Chris Shanks and Mitch Haddad offers sponsored placements to Central Americans for a globally-recognised, certified course. This year’s course with Chris Shanks and Megan Walters will run in Nov 2023. To apply for one of the scholarships email reservations.selvista@gmail.com with a cover letter before June 2023.

We run English-language classes for free during the low season to local service providers: drivers, tour guides, masseuses or those that work within the tourism sector. We are certified and experienced in ESL training. Contact us for details or to sign up- all welcome!

We have experience in teaching all ages and think it’s super important that young and enthusiastic people have the best start possible.

We havent forgotten our enthusiastic visitors either:

We offer introductory Permaculture Farm tours to all our guests.

See more on Permaculture in the link below.