What Awaits You...
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Join a small-group, immersive journey in one of the world’s most visionary ecovillages — then deepen your communication and service capacity with two Certified NVC Trainers.
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5-day Tour of Auroville (India)
+ 7 days of live in-person
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) intensive
— only 5 seats available.
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The Experience
Here’s exactly what you’ll do:
• Days 1-5 – Tour of Auroville Ecovillage (March 2-6)
You’ll arrive in Tamil Nadu, India and spend five days exploring and experiencing Auroville — one of the oldest and largest intentional communities on the planet. You’ll stay at accommodations in Auroville, visit community-led farms, witness sustainability in action, connect with people living differently, and reflect on what it means to live in harmony with nature, economy and culture.
• Days 6-12 – “Becoming the Change: A Nonviolent Communication Intensive” (March 9-15)

Then we transition into a deep, live seven-day interactive training, at the Tibetan Pavilion in Auroville, with CNVC Certified Trainers Tess Burke and Alan Rafael Seid (nom de plume, Rafa Kalapa).
You’ll learn how to apply NVC to real-life arenas: spiritual growth, interior work, ikigai, money, romantic relationships & sexuality, parenting and working with children, as well as positive social change.
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Note on logistics: USD $2,500 per person. This fee covers the 5-day tour + 7-day training. It does not include airfare, ground transportation, food or accommodations. Our team in Auroville will help you with set up accommodations. For food, we will have a choice of several local options.
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THIS OPPORTUNITY THROUGH KALAPA IS LIMITED TO FIVE PEOPLE!
The training itself will also include Aurovillians and attendees from India outside Auroville.
Why: What You Gain & Why It Matters
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Your world is shifting — you’re committed to health, sustainability, meaningful connection, transformational living.
This journey meets those deeper needs:
• See sustainability in motion — Auroville isn’t just a concept; it has evolved into a living, breathing community practicing ecological regeneration, shared economy, and conscious culture.
• Deep communication mastery — NVC gives you the capacity to transform your life, relationships, collaborations, and community. You’ll move beyond surface-skills and get on the path to mastery.
• Integrate inner & outer change — The first part of the experience invites you to witness and reflect; the second part invites you to practice, embody, and share. You leave with both inspiration and actionable skill.
• Belong to a purposeful cohort — Our small group along with the other participants will build relationships and a structure of support, compassionate accountability, and inspiration for a positive future.
• Support the vision of Kalapa Wisdom School for Changemakers — Your investment helps fuel a global movement of changemakers committed to best practices for harmonious living, culture, economy, and ecology.
About Tess Burke
Tess Burke, CNVC Certified Trainer, Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), Leadership Coach
Clients who work with Tess gain more than language skills — they discover how to express themselves with confidence, build meaningful relationships, and grow personally.
Her coaching helps people clarify their true goals, heal limiting patterns, and create joyful, purpose-driven lives. Along the way, they learn practical tools for communication, emotional resilience, and cross-cultural understanding that support lasting transformation in both personal and professional settings.
About Rafa Kalapa
Rafa Kalapa (born Alan Rafael Seid) is a CNVC Certified Trainer and has been studying Nonviolent Communication (NVC) since 1995. He trained primarily with the founder of the process, Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. while also attending many workshops with other trainers. Rafa has been a Certified Trainer since 2003.
He has a university degree in Sustainability — the long-term health and vitality of people and communities in economy, ecology, and culture. He also holds a certificate in Permaculture Design, which he practices where he lives in community in the foothills of Washington State’s North Cascade Mountains.
Rafa works as a coach and trusted advisor for leaders in the areas of communication, collaboration, teamwork, leadership, and culture. He also helps groups and families heal divides and come together with greater care.
His primary project is Kalapa, an integrated empowerment curriculum and developmental path for Changemakers.
How: Your Journey & Logistics
Dates:

Tour of Auroville: March 2-6, 2026

Workshop Series: March 9-15, 2026
Location:

Tour: Auroville — specific details forthcoming.
Training: Tibetan Pavilion, Auroville Ecovillage, Tamil Nadu, India
Fee: USD $2,500 per person (fund-raiser for Kalapa)

The fee includes all programming:
• 5-day Auroville tour of one of the world’s most famous ecovillages,
• 7-day NVC training including frameworks, skill-building exercises, interactive small group work, training materials,
• Lunch during the training days.
What the fee does not include:
• Airfare or Visa to India and return
• Ground transportation beyond what is described in the program
• Meals or accommodations. Your guest-house — which the team will help you reserve — will typically serve you breakfast. Everyone will be on their own for dinner — the team will share a list of places they recommend for dinner.Â
Seats: Only 5 participants — this is not first come, first served. The application is here, and we will select the people we think are the best match for this unique experience. Please apply soon — we strongly encourage early registration since space is limited!
How to register:

Please fill out this application which will help us ensure a good fit regarding readiness and intention.
Once accepted, we’ll send payment instructions and further details.
This experience is for you if you:
• Are aligned in your values with a lifestyle including health, ecology, sustainability, and conscious relationships.
• Are ready to deepen your communication and relational capacity — knowing that better tools and skills amplify your impact.
• Want to shift from being a solo self-improver into a grounded changemaker working with others, teams, or community.
• Are open to inner work (spiritual growth, reflection) and outer action (community, collaboration, sustainable living).
• Want an intimate cohort, high-quality training, and a powerful backdrop — not a mass-event or cookie-cutter retreat.
This experience is NOT for you if you:
• Prefer large-scale conferences in corporate hotels, big crowds, anonymous gatherings.
• Want a purely vacation-style trip (this is a purposeful, immersive experience, not just tourism).
• Are not willing to engage personally, reflectively, and relationally.
• Are looking for a low-cost or purely self-funded experience (this is in part a fund-raiser and we’re asking for not only for your financial investment, but also your time, presence, and good-will).
What If? — The Possibility
What if you came back from India deeply changed — not just inspired, but actually different in how you show up, how you communicate, how you collaborate?

Imagine returning home with:
• A felt clarity about your life, grounded by time in a community built around regenerative living.
• NVC skills that give you new freedom in money conversations, in romantic relationships, in parenting or working with children, in social change collaborations.
• A small, powerful network of like-minded changemakers who walked this exact journey with you in community.
• The confidence to live as a full expression of your gifts, using business, community, and life as vehicles for contribution rather than scarcity.

• In short: what if during this journey you realized concrete steps toward becoming the change you wish to see — in your life, your relationships, your world?
Rafa helped me to focus on my goals and find my inner strength and courage to become my greatest version.
Rafa is a tremendous resource, he helped me to focus on my goals and find my inner strength and courage to become my greatest version. He has a unique ability to convey complex theories and adapt them into everyday practical use; I highly recommend him.
~ Kofi Debrah, Consultant, Event Organizer, Co-Founder & Partner of Oko Forests – Accra, Ghana
With Tess I have learned and continue to practice skills that improve my life everyday
Tess has gently guided me down a path of inner work and outer communication practices in a highly supportive manner. I have learned and continue to practice skills that improve my life everyday. I look forward to her continued support.
~ Lynn Harbinson, Medical Director, VCA Vineyard Animal Hospital
Rafa represents the best of the next generation.
I have very high regard for Rafa. My opinion is that he knows his stuff backwards and forwards, is creative in synthesizing understandings, and lives with ENORMOUS integrity. I find him to be very inspiring – and am encouraged that he represents the best of the next generation.
~ Lucy Leu, CNVC Certified Trainer; Former President of the Board, Center for Nonviolent Communication; Author: Nonviolent Communication Companion Workbook: A Practical Guide for Individual, Group or Classroom Study – California
Tess has the perfect balance of leading with the heart and helping me be accountable
Tess is an amazing coach. She has the perfect balance of leading with the heart
and helping me be accountable to what I say is most important to me. I trust Tess
to keep my confidences and leave her own stuff at the door. My experience is of
being seen and heard. Plus, her huge capacity for joy makes it second nature in
helping me see my wins and celebrate them.
~ Dawn Harju, President, WCR Publications
Rafa focuses on catching customer’s conscious and unconscious needs to generate high impact.
Working with Rafa as coach and mentor has been an amazing experience with positive and practical impacts in how I understand and focus my professional and personal life.
Rafa knows how to walk the field that lies beyond the technical separations between coaching, mentoring, consulting, training and other related disciplines. He focuses on catching customer’s conscious and unconscious needs to generate high impact. I recommend Alan’s work if you want to generate changes and open new opportunities in any domain of your life.
~ Paola Valeri, Entrepreneur, Consultant, Coach – Madrid, Spain
Tess is truly present with compassionate attention
Tess lights up my life with her gentle, warm, empathetic presence. Spending time with her meets needs for care, acknowledgement, and being seen, because she is truly present with compassionate attention and responds to the heart of what matters most to me in my sharing
~ Amy Whicker, Student Engagement Director, Elar Institute
Fundraiser Note & Impact
By joining this journey you are supporting the mission of the Kalapa Wisdom School for Changemakers.
Your investment not only serves your personal and professional growth — it also helps seed a global ecosystem of changemakers, committed to best practices for harmonious living across ecology, economy and culture.
Thank you for your presence and commitment!
FAQ
Q: What is an ecovillage?
A: An ecovillage is an intentional community or neighborhood designed from the ground up to integrate human living with ecological sustainability, social connectivity, and cultural vitality. For example, Auroville is often described as an ecovillage or “experimental township” where residents from dozens of nations live intentionally, in service of human unity and sustainability. Interestingly, though it's recognized worldwide by the term "ecovillage" most of Auroville's residents prefer the term community.
Q: Do I need prior NVC experience?
A: No — this training is designed for practitioners of all levels. You’ll be guided step-by-step into deeper practice, connection, and embodiment.
Q: What are the accommodations like?
A: Upon registration, our team will provide you with specific guest-house options. You are responsible for booking travel to India, and we’ll support you with local logistics where possible. The training itself takes place at the Tibetan Pavilion in Auroville.
Q: What about meals and travel?
A: The USD $2,500 covers the program only (tour + training) plus lunch during the training itself. You’ll cover your airfare to India, local ground transport beyond the defined program, meals outside the scheduled program, and any accommodations you choose before/after the training.
Q: Is the fee refundable?
A: Once you apply and are accepted we’ll send you the specific deposit, payment, and cancelation terms!
Q: What level of fitness or travel-readiness is required?
A: Moderate. You’ll be in a tropical environment (Tamil Nadu) and involved in community and nature-based exploration. If you have significant mobility constraints or health concerns please contact us to discuss. This is probably not a fit for you if you are only accustomed to five-star, luxury travel.
Q: Can I bring a partner/friend?
A: We ask that each person apply separately, and indicate in your application that you would like to come together. If you have questions or concerns about his, please contact us to discuss.
Q: Assuming I am accepted, how far ahead should I arrive to handle things like jet-lag and getting settled?
A: This is entirely up to you! In part it may depend on accommodations availability. There is probably a middle ground: for travel planning purposes arriving a couple of days before may help you acclimate to the place and time-zone better than arriving the day before.
Q: Who handles my accommodations reservations?
A: You do. Once you are accepted, we will coordinate with you and the team in India to find something suitable. However, our team is very small and has limited administrative capacity. We will help as best we can!
Q: How are we doing food?
A: We will have local options available. The team in India is taking care that our food needs are met. Only lunch during the training itself is covered by the fee. Typically, guesthouses will include breakfast. For dinner we will be on our own, but the team will compile a list of recommended options.
