Volunteering at Kahua Institute

Volunteering is a conscious choice to give and receive through community work and sharing. Celebrating visions that take form in an earthly matter with the highest intention that serves all humanity.

— Kutira & Raphael

Thank you for your interest in joining our place in Maui, Hawaii. Here’s a little bit about our place, what we have to offer, and what we would like to receive in return:

Our artistic and educational community is living ecologically and responsibly on 15 acres of sustainable land on the pristine North Shore of Maui. We are surrounded by 18 acres of cliffs and oceanfront. Our land has been declared a “resting place of mature souls” by the ancient Hawaiians. Our hiking trails lead to freshwater pools and 150-foot waterfalls, yet we are only 20 minutes from Paia and Ho’okipa, the windsurfing capital of the world. We are only 35 minutes from the airport and yet we are “off the beaten path”. Powered by the sun, our generator pumps the sweetest water from our very own well. The rain fills our ponds. The earth is nurtured by our brood of 21 chickens and through conscious composting, mulching, and restorative soil building. Bees pollinate the flowers and plants in our organic food garden. Until just recently, we specialized in structural bamboo, now we are focusing on soil restoration and food security. We have established an Agroforestry garden in our jungle and are involved in Food Security Hawaii. To get to know us better, we encourage you to watch our film The Dance of Earth & Spirit, a blueprint for the next generation to embody sustainability.

The Kahua Hawaiian Institute, est. 1985, is the umbrella for many endeavors: the movement of Embodied Spirituality; the creation of music, meditations, videos, and spiritual retreats; the practices of organic farming and education in the field of ecotourism. KAHUA ~ in Hawaiian means “to empower the wisdom from within”.

If our place is what you have been envisioning, please go ahead and submit your information. The application supports us to get to know you and making sure that we are able to meet your needs. Living in a community is an art, and has to be a calling from the heart. We strive to select a group of like-minded folks that will enjoy each other and add to the magic of our wonderful land. We are truly blessed to have such a beautiful place with a private waterfall and can share regenerative living in the community.

What We Offer

We’ve been hosting volunteers from around the world for the past 35 years. More than 1000 people spanning the ages of 21 years old to 65 years young have participated in this unique community where we live off-grid and from the land as much as possible. Having become a safe haven for many to live in tandem with Mother Nature, we not only teach ecology and responsibility for the land but also how to run a sustainable center.

We have a 3 months minimum stay with the option to extend. For those who do choose to stay longer, we offer a certificate that will confirm your knowledge of running an off-grid, sustainable, and eco-friendly retreat center. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those willing to learn.

The internship is comprised of yoga classes and others as they become available. You will benefit from any additional classes taught by visiting guest teachers as part of the program. By joining our ohana (family), you will be experiencing Hawaiian culture from a local perspective. Coaching and mentorship are shared on a personal basis, bridging ancient teachings with our modern world, and whether in groups or individually, we have many opportunities for meditation in nature. Several beautiful meditation temples allow space to deepen your awareness through yoga, Shamanic, and Embodied Spirituality classes.

We provide a comfortable room, hot showers, fiber optic wifi, laundry, and a communal kitchen in a bamboo house with access to an expansive spiritual library. We provide some staples but don’t provide or cook meals, though community dinners do happen spontaneously and we encourage buying and sharing food with others. In addition, we share the harvest from our fruit gardens and you can pick from the vegetable garden. Our departing guests often leave lots of great food that are consistently added to the ‘community’ shelf.

What You Can Contribute

Daily work involves some landscaping, gardening, and chicken care: weeding, trimming; gardening: fertilizing, mulching, composting, soil restoration, planting fruit, herb and veggie garden, maintaining nursery, weed whacking, chainsaw, construction, small repairs, trail maintenance, recycling program, and basic carpentry.

If you are interested to learn what it takes to create a successful, sustainable wellness retreat center from the ground up by gaining a closer look into the field of eco-tourism and wellness travel through the house- and groundskeeping, maintenance, and other projects, then we would be the right place for you.

We also appreciate experience in computer skills and office assistance. Certified yoga teachers and practitioners of the healing arts are all welcome to share their gifts with our volunteers and guests. If you have any special skills that you might think we could benefit from, please share.