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Wwoofing: Route to new adventures
un article par Hélaine Glé and Claire Neveu
Together, the two of us took to the road in France
to explore alternative solidarity and citizens'
initiatives. Over a period of a year, we have
chosen wwoofing
as the main theme of our road trip.
Wwoofing, if you don't know it, is a system of
exchange of work for housing and food. At first
wwoofing involved only organic farms, but it is
now being extended to other places with an
approach of sustainable development. Wwofing is
an
international system , but each country has
its own national association.
Hélaine and Claire in their Volkswagen bus
click on photo to enlarge
As for our experience, since the beginning of our
travels, so far we had the opportunity to share two
places.
First, we had the pleasure of spending a week with
Mary Jo and Jean Claude, a couple preparing to
retire, environmental activists involved with some
twenty associations,and the establishment of a
university of popular education. It is with a
smile that they had us visit their countryside in
Berry and its specialties such as barangeonnais
beans shelled and roasted on an open fire. In
return, we put our hands to work in the kitchen,
the garden, and other daily tasks. They even have
made a new parking area for several vehicles
which our Volkswagen bus was able to enjoy !
Through our discussions with them, we learned that
they have already received over forty wwoofers
from all over the world, which has enabled them to
travel in spirit without having to move from their
home.
As we near the the end of our second WWOOFing
experience at the European Children's Farm, here we
are at the neighbors David and Kiki, whom we met
through Happy, the golden retriever of the farm, and
with whom we are writing this article.
After nearly three weeks of various activities and
perpetual exchange , we leave with our hearts full
of emotion. With animal care (chickens, cats ,
rabbits, sheep , pigs, the pony Caramel and the
cow Doudonne), through the daily life of some 60
children, and support for different activities (
tree climbing, carpentry , arts and crafts,
spinning wool, etc ...) , our head is full of
meetings and learning and our ears are ringing
with the songs invented by children to describe
their activities.
After joining the
WWOOF Association France , it took only a
simple exchange of emails to land us in these new
adventures. The wwoofing hosts who are accustomed
to this principle facilitate the entry of wwoofers
in their daily lives. Thanks to the room and
board that we received through this system, we
have been able to make our voyage.
And so we continue our wwoofing experiences; next
stop will be a cooperative bakery with educational
animation.
(Click here for a French version of this article)
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