The document is a report from an intern at GaiaYoga Gardens sustainability internship in Hawaii. It summarizes the intern's experience at their previous internship at Green Architectural Design, which did not meet their expectations. They then found GaiaYoga Gardens, where they are learning sustainable living skills like permaculture, solar energy systems, and off-grid infrastructure while helping with projects around the property. The intern is gaining technical, creative, and professional skills and plans to continue working on various sustainability projects during the remainder of their internship.

1. Kelly Kokaisel
Sustainability Internship
Green Architectural Design/GaiaYoga Gardens
District of Puna, Hawaii
Describe the internship experience so far.
My first week in Hawaii of my internship at Green Architectural Design did not work out. The
internship sponsor at Green Architectural Design misled, endangered, and deceived the interns. There
were 3 of us, all female. Rachel is from Wisconsin and was doing the internship to further her career.
Sabrina is an architecture student from Nebraska and was doing the internship for her resume. They
both decided to leave the internship Thursday of the first week. I decided to leave as well because of the
frustration and disappointment I was feeling from seeing the systems, tasks, and projects being presented
that did not meet my needs for learning, honesty, communication, mastery, or safety.
I took the weekend to find another internship. That is how I came across GaiaYoga Gardens.
They have every one of the systems that I came to learn about: sustainable orchard design and
management (especially planting and maintaining fruit trees and bamboo), nursery work (potting, up-
potting, weeding, watering, and fertilizing), foraging for food (including coconut climbing and harvesting),
tarpentry (learning the art of putting up high-quality tarps, including working with ropes and knots), eco-
dwelling design and construction (building our own low-impact dwellings), off-grid resource systems (solar
electric and hot water, water catchment, composting toilets, and food composting), and
homestead/community design and maintenance (everything else). I came for a visit and decided to
continue my internship here.
Here I have been perfectly happy and it is actually changing so much of my life for the better.
Here most people eat raw (including meat), and whole or organic at the very least. Some people eat
almost completely from the land (for example, breakfast might be coconut water and coconut meat x3,
lunch might be 6 mangoes and a couple bananas, and dinner might be some eggs, spinach, potatoes and
guavas). Some people eat all fruit. You are encouraged to ‘eat instinctively’. There are many, many fruit
trees here scattered all over the 18 acre plot, including avocados, mangoes, bananas, pineapple, lemons,
limes, papayas, and even some fruits I’ve never heard of like longons, lychees, and soursap, and then of
course the macadamia nut trees. I’ve been told I need to go to Hilo and get a Durian…which is
apparently this incredible, indescribable fruit that is in such demand that it costs roughly $20 per fruit
(although they are very large). I’ll be picking that up this weekend.
There is a large nursery with all kinds of things growing ranging from Black Bamboo to lilikoi
(passion fruit), to perennial peanut for sale at the market and for the lawn here (instead of grass—never
needs mowing and is very soft to lay in). Each eco-dwelling structure on the property (about 10 total) is
wired with solar electric power and the tarped roofs have gutters that collect rain into the large on-site
catchment tank, which feeds the passive solar hot water heating system, which supplies the outdoor
bathhouse and washing machine and the two sink areas on the property, and is powered by recycled
submarine batteries. The stove is propane gas. The toilet buckets are mixed with mulch, tree and
garden waste, and coconut shells from the property and used a fertilizer in the orchard. The food scraps
feed the chickens, who are fertilizing the ground, which will soon be very fertile, and at which time we
move the chicken coop to another spot and the fertilized land becomes a new garden, which feeds us,
and the waste goes back to the chickens.
This place really has a lot of things dialed in and working very well…it is so amazing to see
such wonderful sustainable systems working so well in real life. We survive on very little from the outside
and have very little actual waste here, and in fact all the actual waste from one of the structures, if it were
to be rendered useless, could fit in the back of a pickup truck. But it’ the little things that really make me
smile…in front of every structure there is either rounded lava rocks (very porous) or bamboo strips as a

2. doormat to knock all the earth off your feet, and the pallet wood and screen doors (a lot of pallets come in
to Hawaii but not a lot are shipped out, hence free pallets) have a lovely little self closing system where a
string runs from the corner of the door, through a pulley, and down to the perfectly weighted lava rock that
closes the door and just the right force…lovely. No need for a hinges, a wooden top and bottom mortis
and tennon does the job.
I am, however, getting a bit tired of having to use leaves to go to the bathroom, and that you
can expect that no matter what you make to eat you are guaranteed to have a least 1 fruit fly land in it at
some point. More protein I guess. But I am getting used to everything, and am finding that I am quite
happy and healthy here, and I really appreciate the community that we have. I love being able to work,
eat, and live on the same land together…it brings a sense of closeness that I have not found in the city or
on the mainland.
Besides all that, we have morning meetings every day where we do spiritual work and ‘check
in’ with each other on things like what is alive in us today, things we may or may not be ‘in integrity with’,
and celebrations we are feeling. There are also weekly classes on ‘Non-Violent, or Compassionate
Communication’ where we do mental work and learn how to better communicate our observations,
feelings, and needs in our close community. I think what I am learning in that class is just as important as
the landance I do. Landance is the physical work we do here on the land, 16 hours a week total, usually
in 4 day, 4 hour increments (M-TH). Landance is our work trade for living here at GaiaYoga.
It’s really pretty amazing…we can live, with everyone’s needs met, on the land, working only 16
hours per week. This frees up time for us to go adventure and explore around the island in the evenings,
where we talk and learn and make invaluable connections, adventures, and experiences. Saturdays we
go cocoing (coconut harvesting), and Sundays we run a booth at the local farmers market. There are
also potlucks on Sunday, and one on Wednesdays at the nearby farm, Polestar, where they also do
chanting and meditative work.
Surprisingly, there is not a regular ‘Yoga’ class here, as one would think of when you hear the
name GaiaYoga. I have come to find that the type of yoga practiced here is the practice of working the
land, although a few of us have taken to practicing yoga in the mornings before meeting. Another intern
here is also teaching me meditation, which I have found to be very beneficial and pleasurable.
I could go on and on, but needless to say, I have found everything I have been looking for and
more here at GaiaYoga.
Have you missed any scheduled days?
No.
How many hours have you completed?
As of June 4, 2010, I have completed 86.25 hours. I am working 30 hours a week and will be done on
schedule.
What elements of your learning objectives have you met?
Work with solar panel systems—Learning how the passive solar hot water and electrical
system works, how to test the voltage in the batteries, and record its measurements every morning.
Work with permaculture—Learning how to plant, graft, manage, and harvest fruit orchards,
vegetable gardens, and plant nurseries, and how to raise chickens and bees.

3. Work with rain catchment systems—Learning how the rain catchment system works,
including how to string up tarpentry roofs, place gutters, and properly run piping to the tank. I am also
helping to build the subflooring and flooring of a new structure called La’a Pueo (the sacred owl)…it will
be a private living quarters.
Make contacts in the sustainability industry—I have met a number of good people here,
including a kava farmer, a number of intentional community stewards, a couple raw meat eaters (have
you ever seen anyone eat bone marrow?!), a midwife, an electrician/hvac/welder/builder, a monk/violinist,
a lawyer/DJ, a hydrocolon therapist, and a very handsome singer/musician/nutritionist.
What activities are helping you accomplish your learning objectives?
Solar—Oriented on off-grid resource system: solar hot water and electric. Every morning I
take the solar output readings and learned to test the battery voltage.
Permaculture—Oriented on sustainable nursery and orchard design and management: work in
gardens, orchard, and nursery: weeding, watering, clearing, fertilizing, planting, and harvesting. Oriented
on foraging for food and go cocoing (coconut harvesting). Nursery project: perennial peanut weed and
seed. Foraging for food project: fruit harvesting. Oriented to permaculture system: chickens.
Rain catchment—I measure the rainfall every morning. Oriented to tarpentry: help put up
tarps and gutters. Walkthrough on the entire system.
Contacts—I have been socializing during the potlucks and at the farmers market, and with the
workers that come here to the farm to carry out various tasks. I am striving to learn everything I can
about our property here from the stewards of GaiaYoga. I am also striving to learn all that I can from the
other interns here: nutrition, meditation, music, community, spirituality, and sustainability.
How is this experience affecting your skills?
Technical—I am learning hands-on orchard design and management, how to use various
garden, nursery, and orchard tools, and how to plant and maintain fruit trees and bamboo. I am learning
how to manage off-grid resource systems such as solar hot water and electric systems, water catchment,
composting toilets, and food composting. I am learning eco-dwelling design and construction practices
and materials and tarpentry (learning the art of putting up high-quality tarps, including working with ropes
and knots). I am learning nursery work (potting, up-potting, weeding, watering, and fertilizing). I am
learning permaculture techniques such as growing and foraging for food (including coconut climbing and
harvesting). I will be completing a Life Cycle Analysis on an island breeze house eco-dwelling.
Creative—I am learning how to communicate better with peers, co-workers, and those in my
community. I am learning how to consume locally, ranging in everything from food to materials. I am
learning a whole new thought process around needs; personal and community. Mostly I am learning how
to consume less, and create and run sustainable systems.
Professional—I am learning skill and habits here that I will take with me forever…everything
from my diet and food habits, to communication, to new creative and technical skills and habits. I am so
grateful for what I am learning here—things I could not have learned in any classroom.

4. What do you plan to accomplish in the remainder of the internship?
• Continue sustainable orchard design and management project: grafting, planting, maintaining,
fertilizing and harvesting fruit trees.
• Analyze and record components eco-dwelling: chicken coop. Feed and collect eggs.
• Perfect the knots for the tarpentry: bowline.
• Analyze and record components of the off-grid resource system: rain catchment.
• Analyze and record component of a tropical breeze house eco-dwelling.
• Analyze and record components of the off-grid resource: solar system.
• Assist on eco-dwelling project: tarpentry.
• Document fruit and deciduous trees, vegetables, and plant types.
• Community design project: nutrition, eating raw, eating whole, and eating instinctively.
• Complete Life Cycle Analysis on eco-dwelling: The Bedouin.

5. Weekly Hours: Green Architectural Design
Weekly Goals 5/24-5/30:
• Get oriented to sustainable design practices and materials
• Get oriented to off-grid resource system: rain catchment
• Get oriented to permaculture system: chickens
• Get oriented to projects and clients
Friday May 14, 2010
9pm-12midnight: sweep out cabin, set up beds, and set up kitchen.
Saturday May 15, 2010
9am-4pm: cleaned out construction debris from cabin, installed storage and counter space,
overview of water catchment system, and introduction to chickens.
Monday May 17, 2010
8am-4pm: morning meeting with contractor, orientation to websites and products, and overview
of projects.
Tuesday May 18, 2010
9am-12noon: morning meeting, client communications. 2-5: Web advertising.
Wednesday May 19, 2010
9:00am-12noon: morning meeting, client communications. 3-4pm: Web advertising.
Thursday May 20, 2010
9-11am: morning meeting, client communications.
30 hrs
Weekly Hours: Gaia Yoga Gardens
Weekly Goals 5/24-5/30:
• Get oriented on sustainable nursery and orchard design and management
• Get oriented on eco-dwelling design and construction
• Get oriented on foraging for food and go cocoing (coconut harvesting)

6. • Get oriented to tarpentry
• Get oriented to the off-grid resource systems: solar hot water and electric
Tuesday May 25, 2010
Tasks:
30min loading pallets, 2.5 hours working on sub floor at new structure and getting oriented.
Took pics and vids.
Wednesday May 26, 2010
Tasks:
9-10am: morning meeting. 12noon-6pm: working on sub flooring. 7pm: 15 min gathering
spinach leaves for dinner. 8-10pm: NVC class.
Thursday May 27, 2010
Tasks:
9-10am: morning meeting. 12noon-3pm: weeded perennial peanut patch, weeded tomatoes,
helped put up tarp in carport.
Friday May 28, 2010
Tasks:
9-10am: morning meeting. 11-11:15am: learned how to measure the voltage in the solar
system batteries. 6:30-9:30pm: read GaiaYoga book.
Saturday May 29, 2010
Tasks:
9:30-4:30: coconut harvesting/pruning. 5:30-6: cleaning out truck/van.
Sunday May 30, 2010
Tasks:
12:30-1:30: Read GaiaYoga book. 6-7: prepared food for neighborhood potluck.
30 hrs
Weekly Goals 5/31-6/6:
• Continue nursery project: perennial peanut weed and seed
• Continue eco-dwelling construction project: subflooring at La’a Pueo
• Nursery work: potting, up-potting, weeding, watering
• Community design project: Implement Non-Violent Communication techniques
• Foraging for food project: fruit harvesting
• Begin work for LCA on The Bedouin

7. Monday May 31, 2010
Tasks:
9-11: morning meeting, work outline for the week. 11-3:30: unloaded truck and trailer of market
goods, weeded perennial peanut patch and paths.
Tuesday June 1, 2010
Tasks:
9-10:30am: morning meeting. 1-1:30: chores in bathhouse. 1:30-4: work on subflooring at La’a
Pueo. 4-5: weeding in garden/La Bedouin.
Wednesday June 2, 2010
Tasks:
12noon-4pm: quarried and hauled lava rocks to La’Apueo, cleaned The Landing, worked on
subfloor at La’a Pueo. 9-10pm: read ch. 1-3 NVC book for class tomorrow.
Thursday June 3, 2010
Tasks:
9-10:30am: morning meeting. 10:30-2:30: watered plants, weeded, cleared, and organized in
the nursery. 8:15-10pm: NVC class.
Friday June 4, 2010
Tasks:
9-10:30am: morning meeting. 11:15-1:45pm: mulched and planted perennial peanut patch.
26.25 hrs
Weekly Goals 6/7-6/13:
• Continue sustainable orchard design and management project: grafting, planting,
maintaining, fertilizing and harvesting fruit trees.
• Analyze and record components eco-dwelling: chicken coop. Feed and collect eggs.
• Perfect the knots for the tarpentry: bowline.
• Analyze and record components of the off-grid resource system: rain catchment.
• Analyze and record component of a tropical breeze house eco-dwelling.
• Analyze and record components of the off-grid resource: solar system.
• Assist on eco-dwelling project: tarpentry.
• Document fruit and deciduous trees, vegetables, and plant types.
• Community design project: nutrition, eating raw, eating whole, and eating instinctively.
• Complete Life Cycle Analysis on eco-dwelling: The Bedouin.

8. The Landing (the communal structure)
The Bedouin (my sleeping quarters in a tropical breeze house eco-dwelling)

9. La’a Pueo (The Sacred Owl, a new structure with a lava rock and pallet subfloor)
Tarpentry roof systems

10. A bowline knot
The chicken coop

11. Chickens and compost
The passive solar hot water panels (solar electric on the roof)

12. The laundry area (our off-grid resource system) underneath the solar panels
Old submarine batteries for the solar system and our rain gauge

13. Solar panel system control unit and inverter
Hot water heater and daily solar and water records

14. Au’au Heiau (Bathing Temple)
The coco-bar

15. The pineapple patch
A lemon tree and the banana gallows

16. Some banana trees and lava stones (they lock together well)
The beds I laid of perennial peanut

17. Mulch and perennial peanut

18. The lawn (perennial peanut)
A properly hacked drinking coconut

19. The vegetable garden
The nursery

20. Cocoing (coconut harvesting) at Dr. Sakimoto’s
Cleaning the crowns

21. Loading up the fronds and coconuts

22. SmartZone Communications Center Collaboration Suite KellyKokaisel@comcast.net
Re: Hours worked Tuesday, May 25, 2010 8:59:13 AM
From: ecopagehawaii@gmail.com
To: kellykokaisel@comcast.net
Hi Kelly,
this is too confirm that you worked 30h during your time with Architectural Design in Keaau Hi. in May 2010
Sincerely,
Joachim Hagemann
On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 7:18 PM, Kelly <kellykokaisel@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Joachim,
Can you please confirm that I worked 30 hours for you over the first weekend and week I was here please. Thank you.
Regards,
Kelly
Sent from my iPhone
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http://www.kaloli2.blogspot.com