Sun & Moon – The Living School

orchardorchard

Greetings fellow human!

Please give us 5 minutes of your time and attention to present ourselves and the project we need funding for. Thank you!

This is our family - Alin, Alma (almost 2 years old) & Alexandra (taken on 15 October 2019)

We are a nature loving, joyful - volunteers family!
Alin & Alexandra, together with another brother, started over 6 years ago an NGO in Rădăuți, the north of Romania, called BAFi Association - BAFi is a word we invented from the romanian expresion "Bucuria de a fi" - that translates into - "The joy of being". You can check our website www.bafi.ro and our Facebook page http://fb.me/asociatia.bafi to see many of our activities and projects. In 3 simple words: LiFE, LOVE & NATURE!

By the way, play this beautiful song to warm your soul while you read our story. Thank you!

Last year, when our daughter, Alma, miraculously "landed" into our lives, we got married and we moved from Rădăuți to Solca, 23 kilometers away. We still have activities with kids and volunteering in the area of Rădăuți and surroundings - we are growing. We had a short honeymoon in Solca and felt in love with the place. Solca is at the footsteps of the mountains, in the middle of Bucovina, and it has an unofficial record of the cleanest air (highest in ozone) in Romania, second in Europe. Only 2000 people live here, it`s pretty quiet and ..oh well, considered poor and deserted. Most young people have left for school or work abroad. We see great opportunities and a place that has a lot to teach and offer. You can read more about Solca here https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solca

Solca is a true gem, with clean air, beautiful views, great forests, a water dam, wildlife, trails for hiking and biking, old people to tell beautiful stories, sheep herders and mystical places. Solca has some stones called Pietrele Muierii (The Woman's Stones). On the road to reach them, are all kinds of signs telling the stories of the forest, waters, birds, animals and mans relationship with nature. It's a place filled with treasures.Just look at the pictures how fantastic it looks :) with <3 Thank you for the time to read our story!

We rented a house here, just to see the feeling of the place and how we get along with the people - we knew just a handful of people in the beginning. And it turns out, after one year, that we are here to stay.We started doing projects with and for the community.In our honeymoon we created a garden for the local seniors home, with the kids from the local school and high-school. Many tears have watered the garden, from the seniors and from the children also. You can see the album bellow.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/asociatia.bafi/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1199886426819981

We are doing our best to inspire people and bring the community together. Love <3 Solca!

The house we live in is made out of wood and clay, its build in 1977 - in very good shape. It has many rooms and it's perfect for our dream project for the community and people all around - from kids to seniors.

We want to create a Living School under the name "Sun and Moon". The concept refers to a school were we teach children LiVE in the gardens: the various plants, permaculture, food forests, animals and working WiTH nature, not against it. To create a space were they can learn the beauty and the brotherhood - sisterhood we have with nature. We have space for camping, an old barn filled with hay to sleep in, in the summer. We can go hiking and opening the book of the forest with teachers and passionate people about trees, plants, animals, mushrooms, legends, culture, music, sport - and celebrate the whole creation.

We made some renovations, improvised a water tank, painted the walls and got ready for the winter.. until we ran out of the money left from our wedding and all the savings. Meanwhile we still had some engagements with volunteering projects. Alma was 6 months old when we moved here, and lucky for us I work from home freelance projects so we have time to be around for her. We are very grateful for this and want to spread the word about alternative lifestyle so that people enjoy life more.

This is the property, satellite-view about 2000 square meters - and a orchard behind the house with sour cherry, apples, plums and pears, also walnuts. This year we planted some strawberries, mulberry, rasberry.

It`s accesible by a dirt road, at about 200 meters away from the main tarmac road. Good and beautiful neighborhood.

We need your support and donations to buy the house and the land. We will find local resources for renovations, creating a bathroom, water system, etc. Basic accommodation.

Alexandra and I have certificates of "specialized educator" - we took an official course that is recognized by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour. We make a great team together with volunteers and psychologists. The activities will be mainly for children but not 100%. Also 30% of the activities will involve volunteering and making the space available for children with poor conditions from the local community and surroundings.

I run, and ride the bike, i hike, i was raised in a similar smaller village in Botoșani. I love learning from nature and giving the know-how forward. Alexandra is great at workshops, handmade creations, telling stories, facepainting kids and creating all kinds of healthy balms and natural incense.

To make it sustainable we will offer the services for kids from the city, that need pause from all the social media and technology, maybe in partnership with sponsors that will fund the events and educational activites for these kids.

In almost a thousand words and twenty pictures we presented the beginning of a long and beautiful story

Sun and Moon, Solca - The Living School

We are very grateful for your goodwill to water our seed!

T h a n k y o u !