Basic Info
Become a member of the Core Group: We invite up to 10 people, with pleasure to include children, to increase our core group to develop decisions and a set of rules for the DurgasTigerLand community and the foundation. In general, we would like as minimal of rules as possible. We trust in self-responsibility and in heart to heart communication. The vision says DurgasTigerLand will grow to be 60 – 100 people including children, among a village infrastructure. 

DurgasTigerLand Foundation: Around 42 hectares are included in the foundation, a gift from Iris Disse. In this, the land is not owned by one person. The members of the foundation will be founded in future by community members who live on the land. 

Where: Ecuador, province Esmeraldas, Canton Rio Verde, Chonta Duro: on fertile land at  the riverside- 25 km away from the sea. 

Public Transport: From Rio Verde is a bus connection every hour which passes Durgas Tiger Land. 

School: There is a school and college in Chonta Duro. The parents of the community kids will create a school with different values.

Timing: We need people who can commit for at least 12 month to stay on the land. It is possible to leave for a short time if need be. The project started February 2022 – so you can subscribe NOW. You should give at least a one-month commitment when you want to have a time to try out. Families are welcome.

Community buildings: We experiment with ecological buildings material and techniques inspired by earthships, bamboo, earth or wood buildings. 

Water: We are off grid. We collect rainwater in the rainy season, and river water and water from our well in the summer.

Electricity: We are currently on grid, but the vision is that the village will be off grid.

Build your own house or flat: You are invited to build your own house and have your own garden on community ground. There will be clear rules for the maximum price or size and how you can sell your house when you want to leave. At the time of sale, the price will be decided by investment, not by inflation due to the housing market. If you invest more than the proposed price, you will not get the difference back when you leave. The house should be in harmony with the aesthetic and ideals of the community. You can collaborate with others to create a bigger building with different flats – in which every body pays for their own flat.

Rent spaces in future: After the community creates a bigger building, we plan to have different independent flats of various sizes, available for rent. You can live in a shared flat with other community members or have a little flat for yourself. All these ideas we still have to develop together. 

Community Course: We will create our first community course for 30 people in November. People interested in becoming part of the community could otherwise complete the Durga´s Tiger School Training in Ecuador or Germany. As we are in the building stage, we are open to all people who feel the call to join.

Money: We decided that the core group pay $1,000 (international citizens) and $300 (Latin American citizens) per month for 17 months: 500 for the running costs like food, lodging, gasoline and car repair, and expenses for the house and kitchen. This includes costs for our workers from the neighborhood or volunteers. The other $500 are reserved for investments like a bridge over the river, paths or a community building and a community car.  After 17 months, the core group will decide how to go on. We all agree to put our energy into fundraising. In case you do have special skills and not enough money, just make a proposal. 

Create your own projects in the community: You are invited to have personal projects to realize in the community, such as permaculture projects, kindergarten, building, giving workshops, rituals, creating eco-tourism projects with the neighbors, horse riding tours or horsemanship therapies, hostel, restaurant, coffee shop and so on… These projects will work in communication with the sociocratic community group responsible for your project. Part of any income will be always be shared with the community. 

… or just stay with us and collaborate.

Volunteering: If you want to be a volunteer, please plan to stay at least 2 weeks. The contribution for staying on the land is with $200 if you bring your tent and $250 a week if you need a place in a bunk bed or a hammock. This will include food, infrastructure, daily meditation, once a week mantra singing, pranayama, chakra meditation dance and 2 yoga classes. 

Other forms of collaboration: Yes, you can participate in the vision and collaborate from wherever you are: become  a member of our “Tiger- friend-group” paying yearly $240 ($20 a month) to the foundation. You could support through social media, fundraising, general organization or contacts or…. whatever you imagine. All support is welcome. We would like say “thank you” with a $150 discount for either (1) our Durga´s Tiger School Teacher Training or (2) the Community Course in Ecuador/Germany or (3) the entrance fee of our festival. 

Here are cornerstones we agree on for the living together: We are an international community that wants to explore "Sumak Kawsay",  the “good living”; a simple life, full of abundance  and in communication with nature and humans – understanding we are in connection with everything.
Therefore, we are looking for people joining our community that want to step with us into this adventure and are happy to live with us with the following agreements. Everybody participates in:

• The common chores in our community (Karma Yoga). This includes participation and support for free the yearly community course or public festivals/events we host, to share our experiences and visions and to find the funding to keep on creating. These will be 2-3 times a year from 2023 on.

• Community meetings on organizational issues

• Intensive times on personal issues

• Some common spiritual practices like meditation, yoga, mindfulness, dance singing, music, theatre, painting and others.

• We expect an openness to spirituality and a commitment to use these techniques to increase personal energy.

• Our decision-making is inspired by sociocracy on the basis of consent – we decide by experiencing: When the idea is good enough to try and does not bring the community into danger, we try the experiment, and meet later to change or adjust.

• We appreciate cultural diversity, a diversity of world-views, religion, sexual orientations, age, professional and educational backgrounds.

• We want to increase our consciousness about the consequences of our actions, our consumption and our professional activities and transform them in a way that enables Sumak Kawsay for everybody.

• We commit to stay in communication and to strive for a heart-to-heart communication.

• We want to deal consciously with power-issues in a humble, respectful and non-manipulating way, excluding "power over" and power-play, while appreciating the power in everyone of us.

• Our community kitchen is vegetarian and sometimes fish. There are no rules for private kitchen.

• We develop our agriculture with the aid of animals (Chicken, Pigs, Cows, maybe later, others). We care for them to have a good life and when they are killed, we will do it consciously and avoid suffering for them.

• We want to be conscious in everyday life, so we only accept the conscious use of substances in special moments.

• Everybody contributes to support the material basis of the community.

• Addendum important for one core group member: Cows will never be killed on the land.