World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

Comments on being a host

I recently heard, second-hand, a comment made by a WWOOFer that they were frustrated by the fact that more and more hosts were requiring experienced help, and were not open to taking those who did not have relevant skills.

I have had cause to reflect on the calibre of WWOOFers myself, as we complete two years as part of this scheme. We have been host to over 70 people during this time. My own reflections have brought me to two conclusions:

(a) it is not so much experience that I am looking for, as much as a particular attitude of mind and a certain level of awareness. By this I mean, a willingness to engage in our lifestyle and not just perform a job; a capacity to observe what is actually happening, and from that experience, distil the necessary information to take the initiative, rather than waiting to be prompted all the time; and a real interest in what we are doing.

(b) as a farm progresses in its development, there are very different tasks which need performing when setting up a farm, as against developing and maintaining it. What I see is that a farm mirrors in microcosm the develop mental evolution of a country. First it is necessary to have pioneers, those willing to lay in the basics then move on, this is then followed up by farmers who lay down another layer of structure and finally, there are settlers who are involved in developing and maintaining the most complex structures of all. In reality there is probably something in each of these areas going on at the same time in a new farm, such as ours.

The skill is matching the types of people to the tasks involved. A pioneer type to me is one who is great at clearing a area of overgrown land, but is not necessarily good at taking out all the weeds and removing the stones, a farmer on the other hand would be. A settler, however, would be one who is able to establish plants, keep them watered, remove the weeds and mulch the land.

It seems to me that some of the current difficulties being experienced both by WWOOFers and their hosts is the change that the concept of WWOOFing has undergone over the years. Both my husband and myself were WWOOFers 15 years ago in New Zealand, at a time when those of us who went to work on farms did so because of a deep interest in that way of life, and mostly prompted by a desire to progress in that direction ourselves. We were aware of the fact that the reason that hosts were part of the WWOOF scheme was because they needed help, but were not in a financial position to pay for it. We went prepared for subsistence living, with low expectations of creature comforts, with a desire to help and not add to the significant challenges that already existed.

That experience to us was pivotal in our lives and has informed what we are doing 15 years later. However, we have found more and more that people who are using the WWOOF scheme are using it as a cheap way to see a country, or an opportunity to practise a language, or the chance to access educational opportunities as an un-paid by-product. I have even heard that WWOOFing is mentioned in Time Out as a novel way of spending a weekend! As a result, I believe that WWOOF hosts are needing to be more discriminating, because the invisible costs of taking those who are not awake to our lifestyle is becoming prohibitive.

Although most of us who are committed to a more conscious way of living freely undertake an educational role, and see that as part of what we offer, the time that is now spent in this task is increasing as a result of the change in the calibre of person using the WWOOF scheme. I find that I have to instruct at the most basic levels ... to complete the washing up after a meal, to lay up a table, to collect equipment and return it to the shed after completing a task, to wash the bedlinen before it becomes brown with dirt, to clear their own personal possessions up in communal space, to keep communal space clean, to pay attention when instructions are being given (some of these concern serious issues, such as dealing with bush fires or the conservation of water), to ask questions when instructions are unclear, to let us know when they break or lose equipment and so on.

One of the most challenging aspects of this educational role is what seems to be the lack of ability to make connections, and absorb principles. For instance, if one comes to WWOOF in a dryland area, where there is an annual drought, in seems reasonable to expect diligence with regard to the use of water ... the turning off of taps, the minimising of baths, the minimising of washing up and the re-use of washing up water and so on. However, in this and many other instances, this is simply not the case. No one yet I believe has made the connection between daily acts of care and conservation.

Again, this places a large burden on the Host in their educational role, because instruction is needed for every instance, rather than the WWOOFer being able to apply the principles themselves.