Volunteer for room & board

We run an alternative day-care project for parents who wish to work in our offices and bring their children along. The parents exchange babysitting in our rooms, but it’s not enough – we need your help :-)

Located in an alternative house project in Leipzig, we offer room and board to volunteers who are interested in helping us babysit and sometimes renovate. It is a great opportunity for people who are keen to learn German and to learn about the practical alternative solutions for living/working that Leipzig is famous for.

Type of Work:

• childcare between 10-12 AM and 14-16 PM
• renovation work like plastering, painting, carpentry
• help in the house: preparing the day care center for its customers, moving/rearranging furniture
• repairing broken toys, furniture etc.

As a volunteer, you don’t need to do all of these things, but child care is not optional, it’s the most important thing. It’s important that you have experience with children aged 1-6 and that you are not afraid of communicating with them in your own language (plus signs and actions ;-)) just have fun with them.

Type of accommodation

You can sleep in the rooms of our day care office, which is functional, renovated but at the time has no warm water and no possibility to take a shower (you will take your showers upstairs) or you can sleep in the top floor of the house with other volunteers that are connected to the house rather than with the Rockzipfel project. The volunteers’ apartment in the top floor is unrenovated, but functional and clean and has warm water.

About the house

We live in a beautiful house constructed in 1885, 15 minutes from the center of the city. We found it two years ago, abandoned, trashed, and selling cheap. Electricity and water services have been partially restored. All the rooms are now usable, but only some have been fully renovated. 70% of the floor that Rockzipfel occupies is renovated and operating (meaning that customers are already using the space). The house project includes two stores and several apartments, and provides work/art/living space to its residents without rent.

Leipzig is graciously endowed with many parks, beautiful architecture, and is surrounded by many lakes. It has an excellent tram system, and for better or for worse, you have excellent access to it from our house. Our neighborhood Lindenau, and the neighboring quarter of Plagwitz, are home to the newest arm of Leipzig’s alternative scene.

Current projects in the house:

• (1st floor, left) Cafe: Functional, but needs further renovation
• (2nd floor) Rockzipfel: Offices for parents with an integrated cooperative day-care program (on our website you’ll find a description with more details in English too.)
• (4th floor, left) INSEL, a student-operated education center
• (4th floor, right) The HelpX-project volunteers of the house who are renovating and helping out during house events is considered an autonomous project of the house.

You may also choose to volunteer for the house within the HelpX-project with renovation work instead of being attached to the Rockzipfel project. View the helpX listing here

Languages spoken in the house

German, English, Spanish, French

At Rockzipfel many parents speak English, and some speak French. We consider it a great opportunity for the kids to be exposed to English or other foreign languages, so while we do encourage you to learn German, it is not crucial for your work with the kids that you speak German already.

Volunteers with children are welcome!

Visit www.helpx.net to see other listings all over the world!