Don Juan, April 14, 2018

Letter of reference for Martha Pauline Neubauer

born on July 29, 1997

Martha Neubauer did a voluntary service between August 25, 2017 and November 19, 2017 with Proyecto
Árbol in Don Juan, Ecuador.
Proyecto Árbol is a social permaculture and disaster relief project. It was established the day after the heavy
earthquake on April 16, 2016, which destroyed many buildings on the coast of Ecuador.
The first 16 months the focus of the project was on first aid and reconstruction. In August 2017 the project
decided to move to Don Juan, a new location a few kilometers north from the previous campsite, to support
new villages. The transition was on August 25, 2017, the day Martha arrived. With the new location, the focus
and issues of the project changed. First of all the infrastructure of the new voluntary campsite had to be
established. Then we started with permaculture and gardening activities regarding our own subsistence and
sustainability. The goal is to live autonomously and longstanding and also transfer these ideas to the neighbors
living near the campsite.
In the voluntary camp permaculture is put into practice in all aspects. Therefore, we follow the permacultural
ethics “Earth Care”, “People Care” and “Fair Share”.
The purpose of Proyecto Árbol is to build resilient communities, which live autonomously, sustainably and
firm even in a possible disaster situation.

Martha helped substantially setting up the campsite and its infrastructure in the first few weeks. She took part
in building a kitchen tent and communal area, a composting toilet, a vegetable garden and a storage tent.
Martha was highly persistent, physically tough and always very motivated.
After two weeks, the volunteers could start with gardening, composting and also socializing with locals.
Martha arrived without any experience in Permaculture but she showed a strong and constantly increasing
interest. She quickly acquired a particular know-how and skillfully put into practice what she had learned in
our volunteer’s workshops.
Establishing contacts with local inhabitants of the surrounding villages, to train and monitor them and to win
them for cooperation, is an elementary component of Proyecto Árbol. Their acceptance highly depends on the
first acting. We could fully trust in Martha to fulfill this important task. With her open mind, her respectful
nature, her communication skills and command of the Spanish language she was able to gain trust and interest.

Due to Martha’s strong commitment, she was a real support for the project to advance. She assumed
responsibility for many important duties such as the instruction and mentoring of new volunteers, including
guiding small working groups.

Summarizing, Martha can be characterized as enthusiastic and open minded. She demonstrated a highly
developed cultural sensitivity while handling social contacts with locals from the surrounding villages as well
as volunteers from different countries. With her dedication and her straightforward, honest and friendly
attitude, she became an appreciated staff member whom we had to let go unwillingly.

We would like to thank Martha Neubauer for all her hard work and wish her every success for her future.

Don Juan, April 14, 2018

Jorge Cabrera, Manager of Proyecto Árbol
@arbol.permaculture