WWOOF

Name of Organization: WWOOF
Website: www.wwoof.org
Project Duration: From a week to as long as you want
Location: More than 90 countries worldwide
Cost: about $25 per country
Type of volunteer work: Organic farming
Necessary Skills: None
Country’s safety level at time of travel: Varies
Required vaccinations: Varies
Would you recommend to a friend? Yes, to friends and everyone I meet

While in college studying foreign languages and cultural studies, I wanted to spend time abroad during summer vacation to gain fluency in my languages of study, but I didn’t want to just wander aimlessly, staying in youth hostels. For one thing it was too expensive, and more importantly it wouldn’t have offered the kind of contact I was seeking with local culture. WWOOF offered the perfect solution. For one thing, it was essentially free. For a small fee paid to the WWOOF organization in your target country, they will send you a list of organic farms including a description of the farm and their activities as well as contact information so that you can get in touch directly with the farmers to see if they need help. The listing will also include helpful details like what languages your hosts speak and whether they offer accommodation in a tent or in a proper room. In exchange for about 6 hours of work, 6 days a week the farmers will provide you with food, accommodations and will teach you all about their work.

If you are the type of person who likes to travel with a mission, WWOOF offers you the chance to get to work doing something good for the planet, while affording you the opportunity to learn about a culture in the most natural way possible: through shared work and shared meals.

My first experience WWOOFing was in Germany. Over the course of six weeks I worked on two different farms. The first was a small farm with everything from an apiary to a zucchini patch. They did everything with very little help, which meant that there was a lot of work for me when I arrived. Since they were so understaffed, my first WWOOF experience was a little overwhelming. The second farm was the polar opposite: there were dozens of workers and far fewer products. It was a special place with fascinating characters of all ages from all sorts of backgrounds.

A WWOOFing experience is as good as the farm you choose. Not every farm will be perfect, but you will learn as much from the good as from the bad.  And when a farm doesn’t suit you, all you have to do is choose another one.  Some countries even offer online forums to help you find just the right place. I can’t imagine a better way to travel and really experience a culture. That is, naturally, assuming you don’t mind getting a little dirty.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.