WWOOF Around the World

While waiting to go on another expedition with Humane Borders on Friday, I coincidentally discovered my blog topic for this week, along with a program that could potentially be a post-graduate adventure for me.

World-Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms (WWOOF) is an organization that helps people find international organic farms to volunteer at. After you become a member of WWOOF, they give you the contact information of host farms in whichever country you choose. You, the WWOOFer, must call and make arrangements with the host farm to see if they have any available positions for you.

There are WWOOF host farms in almost every country I could think of. On their Web site, there are two lists, one with countries that have national WWOOF organizations and one with countries with independent WWOOF hosts. From what I could understand, the difference between national and independent is that you directly contact the independent host farms.



In exchange for your work, the host farm provides you with food and board. You work anywhere from four to six hours a day, six days a week, sowing, making compost, gardening, planting, cutting wood, weeding, making mud-bricks, harvesting, fencing, building, typing, packing, milking, and feeding according to the WWOOF Web site.

So on Friday as I was waiting for my Humane Border adventure, I started talking to an ex-WWOOF member, Emily Hertz. Emily told me she had WWOOFed in New Zealand and had an amazing time. Prior to her WWOOF experience, Emily was accepted into a graduate school program. She changed her mind at the last minute because she wanted to experience life outside of academia. She said she chose New Zealand because it was English-speaking and she didn't want to have any miscommunications. Most people I know that have been to New Zealand never want to come back. Although she loved New Zealand, Emily wanted to come back because she was too far away from her family. She told me it was a 20 hour plane ride back home. (Yikes!)



Emily's experience with WWOOF inspired me. I have been thinking about volunteering abroad but I do not want to be gone for two years or pay thousands of dollars to work for free. It costs anywhere between $25 to $50 to become a member of WWOOF, depending on the country you choose. Some host farms even cover you under their health insurance.

All you need is a plane ticket and an open mind.

For more information, check out these links:
WWOOF Newsletter
WWOOF Handbook
WWOOF History