Khula Dhamma, an ecoVillage of natural homes in South Africa.

  
   
       

 
 

This cob and straw bale thatched home is near Haga Haga village in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It sits in an enormous 300 hectares of woodland and lush green hills bordering the Quko River in a sub-tropical climate that allows for all year-round cultivation. Alongside other workshops like Permaculture and Yoga, Khula Dhamma offers craft, ecoVillage design and natural building workshops.

   
       
   
   
 

With the help of volunteers and with very little finance Khula Dhamma managed to secure a water supply with a solar pump, a small garden, set up two bee hives, built an outdoor compost toilet and eventually built six beautiful natural homes, 3 yurts, a large kitchen and three houses for guests. The community also retrofitted the old farmhouse, now a community house, and the barn, now a workshop and gathering space, as well as two old traditional thatched roundhouses. There is also a forest garden, personal gardens by every house and plans to become self sufficient in grains as well.

Most of the natural buildings at Khula Dhamma are cob with wattle and daub partition walls. Cob is made from clay, sand and straw, all materials that are freely available on the land and just need work to process them. Many of the homes use glass bottles and old car windscreen to great effect.