Gaining Experience
It would be ideal to get some experience on a farm project to (1) see if what I imagine the experience to be approximates the reality in ways that make me want to pursue this path (2) develop skills to have something to offer a community and/or myself in the future.
Permaculture Jobs, Sustainable Living and Endless Travel sounds like a dream but I know from walking through this world to wonder what their experience would have been if they were people of colour…being invited by complete strangers to house sit? Hmm…. They do endorse the following go-to sites for anyone looking for jobs in this field though:
Wwoof (various meanings depending on the organization: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms; Willing Workers On Organic Farms; We’re Welcome On Organic Farms…you get the idea….)
These sites have ‘organic farms’ in the name! Exactly what I was looking for…or so it would seem—“Let’s come together and save the world!” they say because…how much are you willing to pay? For starters, each country has its own Wwoof organization which means paying a membership fee per country that varies per country.
I paid to join Wwoof Costa Rica and my experience has been that farms registered there are often omissive about fees. When I’ve emailed them, they then reveal there’s a “contribution” of maybe 300 dollars a month. Participation is, of course, for a three-month minimum! I came across one farm owner who said upfront that there were no hidden fees, indicating to me that it was a thing. Disappointing. Another money-making business, and so, exploitative, even when workers are slaving for free on farms that produce enough to feed them.
A natural way of farming has been repackaged and commercialized to capitalize on the expanding consciousness to do better. Enabling people to do better should be free.
In the photos on farm sites, the beds aren’t only of cabbages, and corn and other plants I recognize by their leaves and fruit, but of people I can name by their melanin freckled skins and gap year smiles. While I’m an advocate of seeing people as members of the human race, the absence of colour is a blaring reality which saddens me because it’s difficult to escape the signs of social inequalities.
I liked that you can search by location within the country of your choice. In HelpX below, for example, I got a list of farms with their addresses and had to look for the ones that interested me based on what they offered, then do a search to see how far they were from the capital where I’d be staying. This site gives you access to information about the experience offered, but you’ll have to register to access the host’s contact information. A little more expensive than HelpX at 36USD/year for a single person and 46USD/year for couples.
The user interface looks like it’s from the 80s with a lot of words packed onto the page…but it had many opportunities for work on organic farms (as well as other options). As I said above, you’ll have to search online for their locations since the farms are not grouped by city. Like Workaway, the site gives you access to information about the experience offered but you must register to access the host’s contact information. 11 USD a year, but only two-year subscriptions are available at 23USD…however, it’s the cheapest subscription you’ll find.
Jema, who has lots of experience working in other countries, does a comparison of work exchange sites which includes HippoHelp (you have to register to have access to host information but can see on a map where they are located).
Nicaragua
It took some searching, but on this site for independent volunteerism opportunities are cheaper because you pay the people you stay with instead of some organisation. The place I found (that I haven’t heard back from) is in Ocotal, in the mountains of northern Nicaragua.
It’s cheap (about half the price of anything you’ll find on Wwoof Costa Rica). It seems small scale, less commercial and, therefore, less interested in swindling you out of your money in exchange for a piece of paper to be framed and put on a wall. Only interested in getting the experience, if push comes to shove, I’m going to ask sellers at farmer’s markets or show up at people’s farms and ring their doorbells.
Foot in the door
Once I’ve gotten a foot in the door, that will lead to other opportunities, and with my English teaching skills I’ve been thinking I could develop a course in organic kitchen gardening and/or medicinal plants; grow my own food for sale at farmers’ markets and perhaps do some vermiposting (composting using earthworms) to sell soil and earthworms and, I want to grow carnivorous plants again…I could sell them too and, in this way, increase and diversify sources of income.
My vision board is full! (And I haven’t even added teaching myself to play the berimbau!) Much better than slaving away for the rest of my life in a job I hate, it would at least be out of an office and I’d be managing my own time…a step closer to freedom.
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