Margaret Halliday´s Report

At the tender age of fifty-one I became a ‘wwoofer’ (a ‘willing worker on an organic farm’, or, more recently ‘world wide opportunities on organic farms’). This organisation has mushroomed since it’s inauguration in 1971 in the UK (1974 in New Zealand). By the way, ‘organic farm’ is a very loose term, encompassing family gardens, retreat centres, schools, communities, hostels plus guest houses with attached land, market gardens, crofts and, of course, farms.

The concept is simple; the wwoofer works 4-6 hours per day (one, sometimes two, days off per week) and in return receives accomodation and food. However, much else is exchanged between host and worker- a wealth of experience which is hard to define.

My introduction to wwoofing took place in New Zealand, commencing in late January 2002. I flew to Auckland from Bali, part of a round the world trip and planned to mix work with travel during my five month stay there, both to keep costs down and allow me to digress from the well-trodden tourist circuits of the North and South Islands. Before travelling I had joined the Kiwi branch of wwoof for a sum equivalent to £15. In return they sent me a booklet detailing all the hosts, with a short description, location and contact details. This can be done online through their web site at Http://www.wwoof.co.nz.

After a couple of days, rested and recovered, I started phoning hosts in the Northland area, in the far north of the North Island. I was surprised to discover that there were a lot of people around with similar ideas to mine! All the places I contacted were full! On hind sight it would have been better to have e-mailed them. Fortunately, one host gave me a contact number for a friend who informally took wwoofers. I phoned him and in no time had organised to ...

(click to read the complete report)
http://www.mediafire.com/?9042syu5l4hlfju

Photo: Ripe wheat
Courtesy of Beatrice Velarde (www.beatricevelarde.com)