The lovely girl scouts of Rota came to Danyadara to learn all things nature, wildlife, permaculture, ecobuilding, compost, and lots more. During their visit, the girl scouts actively participated in various hands-on activities and gained valuable knowledge about sustainable living practices. They also had the opportunity to explore the beautiful natural surroundings of Danyadara and learn about the importance of preserving our planet’s biodiversity.
We hope the experience at Danyadara will surely leave a lasting impression on the girl scouts and inspire them to make positive changes in their communities. It’s heartwarming to see young people taking an interest in sustainable living and environmental conservation.
Here we see the scouts taking a moment in our Garden of Stillness to reflect on their day, their learnings, and take a few photos with their friends.
Here we see Enrico, leading the scouts through San Pedro, our eco build community. The image above is Casa Azul, a 4 bedroom house which was converted from a swimming pool into accomodation for the volunteers of our permaculture projects.
Enrico is a dedicated member of our team who is passionate about sustainable living and environmental conservation. Casa Azul is just one example of the innovative ways we repurpose existing structures to create eco-friendly living spaces.
Below, the girls are learning all about different composting systems. In the repurposed baths, we have a system called vermicompost.
Vermicompost is the product of earthworm digestion and aerobic decomposition using the activities of micro- and macroorganisms at room temperature. Vermicomposting, or worm composting, produces a rich organic soil amendment containing a diversity of plant nutrients and beneficial microorganisms.
The girls learned lots of new names for trees and plants and how different plants and trees are planted together to help each other grow. For example, here we see Enrico explaining that the gardening team planted peas in the ground first to help the soil become a more fertile and nutritious environment before planting the trees that will eventually call this area of land home. We do this to inject the soil with lots of nitrogen, which the peas release when they grow. This gives the trees a much better chance of surviving the hot climates and droughts that are common in this part of Andalusia. This is a regenerative practice of reversing desertification, and Danyadara’s mission is to combat desertification.
Regenerative means able to or tending to regenerate—to regrow, be renewed, or be restored, especially after being damaged or lost. The act or process of regenerating is called regeneration.
Desertification is the process by which vegetation in drylands, i.e., arid and semi-arid lands, such as grasslands or shrublands, decreases and eventually disappears.
The girls were shown how our eco showers are used by our retreat guests at Suryalila and how all the water from the showers drains directly into watering the neighboring plants. We showed where the water came out, the microenvironments, and all the wildlife and insects that benefit from this process.
After that, we had some time to show the girls our three lovely donkeys and two cheeky alpacas. lots of feeding and cuddles before heading to the garden of stillness for a quick meditation (proactively added to the tour by the girls themselves!) before heading to the secret squirrel cafe for lunch, laughter, and some rest before the girls heading home.
We thoroughly enjoyed taking the girls around the project and hope to do lots more of these tours not only with other age groups of this organization but with other schools, universities, and anyone else who would like to know more about this regenerative way of life.
If you’d like to visit it or organize a custom tour, please feel free to get in touch with us at [email protected].
We look forward to welcoming you to our magical part of Spain soon.