Slovenská verzia

Recent history
Local activities
Correcting popular misunderstandings about Zajezka


From recent history

Zajezova lies approximately 15 km southwest of Zvolen in the middle of hills called Javorie (600-850 metres above sea level). For centuries the inhabitants of this small mountain valley  have lived off the local fertile soil. In the second half of the 20^th century young people began leaving the area with a vision of a better life in towns. At the beginning of the nineties mostly the elderly remained. From the original 600 inhabitants the number decreased to 190 in the year 2000.



Zajezova was “discovered” after 1989 by enthusiasts of traditional culture who established ”The School of Folk Culture” here. Its aim was mainly to reintroduce the traditional crafts of our predecessors to the youth. "Zaježka" became popular very quickly and hundreds of people visited its many workshops and summer camps. These activities also brought us here for the first time – young people, at that time, who decided to found an organisation called "Pospolitosť pre harmonický život" („Society for Harmonious Living“).



We are inspired by the simple, modest and self-sufficient life-style of our predecessors, but we are not trying to enforce a return to the way of life of 100 or more years ago. On the contrary – by experimenting with our own fates we are searching for a way of life in full value, but not at the expense of nature, other people, or our own personal development. These are the problems and questions in which every modern-thinking person is interested.



We decided to buy a local farmhouse in Zajezova called Sekier, and make it available to those who want to try the frugal and natural life in the mountains.  



 
 When the functioning of the initial School of Folk Culture stopped, we took over some of its activities – mainly the weekend and summer courses focused on traditional crafts, but not only these. We founded and maintain a collection of separated waste from the surrounding villages, and we reconstructed a number of traditional houses.  We still support alternative methods of education and nature conservation. Apart from Sekier we also organise the weekend activities and camps at another former farmhouse called Educational centre Zaježová or Polomy. We have joined with another NGO - Centre for environmental and ethical education - Živica, in effort to renovate this houseand offer there wide spectrum of educational activities. In 2004 our local community became a member of a worldwide network of similar projects -  Global Ecovillage Network.



 



Local activities





Society for Harmonious Living (PHZ)
 Since 1994 the PHZ supports the efforts of individuals and groups, who not only by discussions but also with their own way of living search for the meaning of the concept “sustainable life”. We try to awaken, mainly in young people, an interest in deeper perception of life, nature and society. We are creating a space which enables people to break their established routines and live „differently“ for a few days, or a few years.

We try to create suitable social and economic conditions for newcomers, who form a part of our members. We support initiatives which lead to the creation of job opportunities, an attractive social atmosphere and a creative cultural environment – that is, they put aside the reasons of those who have left the region. At the same time, our activities are in a way an experiment, with the aim of creating a self-sufficient community founded on a sustainable basis – respecting nature, social solidarity, support of individual self-realisation and cooperation among people.

PHŽ became a member of the European part of the international organisation Global Ecovillage Network in 2004. Thus we gained the opportunity to share our experience with dozens of projects in all of Europe, with goals similar to ours. We have come into contact with many of them and are preparing a cooperation in the field of youth education and in promoting alternative building technologies.






Educational activities - courses
Local people with support and assistence of local NGOs organize every year around 20 weekend and 2 weekly residential activities. The participants have the opportunity to learn a traditional craft (pottery, weaving, etc.), experiment with traditional or alternative building and agricultural technologies (for example building houses from clay, thatching  roofs, scything, etc.), learn about and discuss  environmental and social issues, and also help nature and society (for example with clearing unwanted waste sites or saving cultural heritage). Most of the events take place in our educational centre Polomy, some also at Sekier or in other parts of Zajezova. The participants are mostly young people (aged 15-30), but we also try to attract other groups, for example parents with children.

Programme of activities
More information about Polomy






Eco-community Sekier
PHZ created, on the historical farm in the part of Zajezova called Sekier, conditions for people who would like to try life closer to nature, work in agriculture or do long term work in one of the crafts. In this farmhouse, which is adapted for the purpose, around more than 100 young people from whole Europe have spent 3 and more months learning about living in countryside.  The residents of Sekier actively take part in our programmes and the renewal of the village. Some of them have since started living in Zajezova and its surroundings, using the skills they gained at Sekier. The house is also open to frequent visitors – they are provided with lodging and board in exchange for help in the running of the house and a small fee. We have hundreds of visitors every year.

More information about Sekier and the possibility to live there or visit






Community development
During the past 20 years a new group of settlers, who have moved to their own or to rented houses, has formed itself in Zajezova and its surroundings. At the end of the year 2010 there were more than 90 of them, including 35 children mixed within 150 original inhabitants. These people meet according to their will and need at informal meetings, where they either entertain themselves or discuss the possibilities of cooperation. 

There are several community projects, prepared by independent groups of local residents. The biggest of them is so called „Foodbank“ - people are buying durable food together. The food is purchased in wholesale packaging, prefering ecological and local products.

Primary school in Zaježova was renewed in September 2007. There is one class for children aged 6-10. Presently there are have 6 pupils. 

Other community projects:
- regular activities for pre-school children
- magazine NAOZAJ about Zajezka (printed twice a year)
- local nature protection iniciative  - www.ochu.sk
- exchange of skills - workshops for community by people from community (crafts, dances, music, presentations and discussions)
- summer festival on Sekier meadows (700 participants in 2010)
- collection of local traditions and preservation of local culture - www.zajezova.info
- development of local infratructure (repaired bus-stops, introduction of separated waste collection, informational board in centre, etc)

. Everyone tries to find their place here and it is up to them how they will contribute to the communal life. Some people are very active, others take part in common activities rarely. Some of the activities are facilitated and financed by local NGOs - Pospolitosť pre harmonický život and CEEV Živica.

Natural building techniques
During its existence the PHZ has reconstructed a number of traditional folk buildings - mows, two wooden houses, and an agrarian stone house  (the so-called „Slamienka“). The original building technologies were used in the renovations for making the thatched roofs – made of either hay or shingle, clay wall coverings, and wooden beams. The work was accomplished in most part by volunteers.

Apart from the traditional methods we also collect and test alternative building technologies based on locally available traditional natural materials (thatched  and reed roofs, clay walls, straw bail walls, etc.) The findings and experience are consequently used in the reconstruction of buildings belonging to the organization and also in building new houses for people who moved to Zajezova. We are cooperating with organisations abroad, which deal with similar issues, and we are preparing common projects focused on natural building technologies.




Correcting popular misunderstandings about Zajezka

People who know us only through internet or from hearing about us, or who participated in only one or two of our weekend activities, often assume a distorted picture about Zaježka. It happens that they see „the lost paradise“ in us and project their wishes into us. And then they are disappointed, or even angry, when they get to know the reality. Our web pages only point out the facts, but it seems that it is not enough. Everyone picks them up and processes them in his/her own way. The following text is an attempt to explain the most common misunderstandings about Zaježka.


Uniformity vs Diversity
Most distortions are due to a lack of understanding of the differences among us , the new settlers of Zaježka and its surroundings. Each of us is different and free in the sense that our views are not identical. We form a group which is homogenous only to a certain extent. We share the place where we are living and an attempt to live a full-value life. Although each of us understands the concept full-value life in a different way, almost all of us agree that its secret lies in harmony with the nature we live in, with the people we meet every day and with the naturalness inside of us. It is not easy to find this balance and everyone starts their search from a different end. That’s why we are different.


Sekier is not Zaježka - Sekier is part of Zaježka
Most people create their picture of Zaježka after visiting just Sekier and its closest surroundings. This is distorting, because the residents of Sekier are living there temporarily and in conditions which are intentionally kept modest. It is because we want to have a place where they can try out such a way of life. Some of the new settlers of Zaježka may also live rather modestly, although in a different way than the people living at Sekier, but most of them – mainly families – have completely different problems than the Sekier people and thus also a different life. Please be aware of this before you talk about Zaježka after visiting just Sekier. But this is not true only for visitors to Sekier. People who talked to someone from Zaježka tend to generalise. They create their picture after talking to just one person and this picture is usually far from reality. 


No ideology, no guru
We share a lot of opinions, but no dogmas.  There are certain rules, but only if we are working on something together or in groups. This includes for example reparations of common buildings, organising seminars etc.
There are strong personalities here, but no one is a guru who leads the others. Even if someone tried to be one, this would not be the right place for his/ her self-realisation. Most of us were attracted here by our longing for freedom and independence.
Religion and faith are everyone’s personal matters.  We have a fully tolerant environment here in this respect. From time to time we host some activities, which have spiritual context (e.g. meditations, yoga, shamanism,...) but this doesn’t not mean that they represent us as a group...


Community?
The term community is used for various meanings. We also cannot agree on the exact meaning of this concept, whether we are a community or not. Some people use this term for Zaježka, others tend to talk about a village (in a more general sense).  Still others talk about an association of neighbours. Some people prefer not to talk about it at all. The fact is that we cooperate in a lot of things, but never all of us at once. There are larger or smaller groups which arise around each common project. These groups overlap. It is similar in our neighbourhoods. Some people see each other every day, or even live together in one house, others meet just once a year or even less frequently. The relationships also differ: a lot of life-long couples or friendships arose here, but you can find people who have not much to say to each other as well. No one who wishes to be a part of the life in Zaježova is pushed to the margin, unless s/he tries very hard to have a bad relationship to everyone. We form a certain unit together, into which everybody is entangled in a particular way.


Voluntary modesty?
People who moved here from the cities live more modestly here than before. But modesty is a relative concept. The family of an owner of a small company has got a different life standard than a single young man. There are great differences among us, which could surprise some people. One family can live off of 100 € a month, another lives off 1000 €. However, in a city both of them would spend much more.
There are people living without electricity, others have got a car, a washing maschine or computers. In mutual relations the material possessions are not important at all. Of course we discuss what we need and what is superfluous. Some people try to be as free from modern machines as possible and look for a way of living without them, others try to find a way in sharing. And there are also people who don’t worry about this and still live relatively modestly, by living in a mountain village and not in a city. 


Nothing is perfect here
Most of our lives are experiments. We slipped out of the mainstream and we have to solve basic problems of every day life – housing, nutrition, creating relationships with neighbours, raising children... We often use non-traditional solutions, and we try out some that work and some that do not. Some more, some less. We make mistakes, we suffer, sometimes more than we can bear. The life on Zaježka is not only a romantic walk in a forrest, although that belongs to our lives too. Most of us have lived here for years despite many problems and only a few of the new settlers have left. Perhaps it is worthwhile for us here.