Cacao & Permaculture Design Course

12 days program to receive your PDC by an accredited teacher. Learn about permaculture by doing and immersing yourself in nature and its wisdom. You will deepen your connection and knowledge about cacao and its role in ecology. 

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Next training:

January 9th, 2023

Learning curriculum

We will cover all of the essential aspects of the permaculture curriculum, and we will teach you them through first-hand experience, including the free way to get trees and plants and nursery management, compost making, vegetable gardening, mushroom cultivation, forest ecosystems, agroforestry, Integrated animal systems, aquaculture and of course permaculture design.

Practical experiences

At Proyecto Paraiso you can experience regenerative farming and permaculture being applied to where it is very much needed. We did not start our farm in a beautiful fertile place, we started it in a wasteland. We are in an industrial agricultural zone, tending towards desertification.

Activities

We will trek up a dormant volcano to check out the cloud forest ecosystem and bath in the bubbling mud lakes, and as we are close to the sea we can take some afternoons playing in the warm Pacific Ocean. We also have a natural swimming pool and lagoon to swim in, and a beautiful meditation and yoga space

Community

We will form a community together; the course is structured so that a tribal dynamic will naturally emerge among its participants, allowing us to experiment with living in this way together close to the land.  Each person will become an important part of the farm, finding their role and assisting in the co-creation for the experience. 

Accommodation

Sleeping is in simple shared rooms, in single beds or in bunk beds, your also welcome to camp if you bring a tent. There is access to showers, compost toilets and normal toilets. There is internet connection and power most of the time.

Food

Delicious and healthy, with a lot of it coming from our farm, such as honey, lots of coconuts and fresh tilapia fish from our ponds, fresh farm eggs, vegetables, mushrooms, local milk and cheese, and tropical fruits from the local market (As our trees are still quite young) All prepared by our amazing chef, who cooks internationally inspired dishes from around the world.

Location

Proyecto Paraiso

Proyecto Paraíso is a tropical permaculture farm and educational center in the, Southwest of Guatemala,that produces healthy foods and natural medicines whilst regenerating the earth and creating homes for wildlife.

Guided by

Catherine Griggs

Catherine Griggs is a permaculture designer and farm director of Projecto Paraiso, her passion is restoring degraded lands to abundant paradises, working with water, aquaculture systems and agroforestry systems. She is knowledgeable about all things wild and living, and how to create and restore ecosystems. Once a zoologist and wildlife conservationist, Catherine’s vision is to co-create a world where humans and animals can live symbiotically together, her desire to discover this symbiotic relationship led her to learn about many different facets of food and medicine production, from the holistic grazing of large herd animals, to food forests, organic vegetable gardens and mushroom growing. She is also a teacher of permaculture, and has taught people of various nationalities from around the world, and looks forward to sharing her knowledge with more people at her developing permaculture farm.

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Highlights

PDC certification

Receive upon completion of the course your PDC certification which can go a long way in your path of permaculturist.

Cacao Ecology

The course will be guied though a cacao journey, night fires and a strong initiation to the world of cacao. Understanding the relation between cacao in ecology and cacao in your life. 

Immersion

Learn through experience. Get your hands dirty by immersing yourself in a project that has completed, ongoing & new initiatives for integrating the permaculture lifestyle. Your learning environment will allow you to experience the course through a regenerative mindset

Curriculum

Permaculture Design

Go through the permaculture design curriculum and explore all its facets.

Agroforestry

Understand the symbiosis between the nature and how to optimally grow a diverse food forest.

Botanical Medicine

Explore plants and their properties which can enrich your health and lifestyle.

Integrated Animal Systems

Learn to work with animals when aiming to reach sustainable goals.

Ready to take the leap?

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You ask, we answer

Frequent ask questions by our community. 

Travelling in Guatemala is relatively simple. You can book a flight at Guatemala City airport and from there head to Antigua with a Uber/taxi/shuttle. Antigua is a colonial town renown for its beautiful street filled with cafes and restaurants while being a hub for a variety of tourist adventure excursions. 

You can travel through Guatemala by chicken bus (mindfulness around your safety and belongings), shared shuttle (safe & affordable) or private transport. 

We highly suggest to always have local currency on you and most small towns/ local merchants do not accept $USD or credit cards. 

When participating at an Ecoducacion program, we offer support for transportation to the destination of your program. 

Safety in Guatemala depends on regions. We always advice to be mindful on night walks and nature adventures. Always ask advice to your hospitality host when arriving to a new town. 

Guatemala’s current Covid-19 requirement is a negative test 72 hours before entering the country. In cities and big towns, masks are required or highly used. 

We recommand to stay home and not travel if you have any symptoms as we don’t want to put at risk indigenous communities which do not have access to the same health care we do. 

This being said, we offer 100% refund (excluding bank fees) on all covid-19 related reasons: change of laws on entry or covid-19 positive test. 

Yes, you will receive your PDC certification by an accredited teacher.