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Wwoofing: Route to new adventures
an article by 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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This report was posted on April 24, 2014.