Don’t you just love travelling and exploring new places? Of course you do. What if we tell you the phrase, “if travelling was free, you would never see me again” might come true for you? Excited? We knew it. Well, let us just spill the beans for you and tell you something very interesting here. Travelling has now just not been limited to visiting a new places, clicking pictures, writing about it in your diary and going back to sleep. A new concept and term has now been associated with travelling- voluntourism. It is a concept which aims at combining both-people’s wanderlust and their desire to bring a difference. There are several voluntourism organizations in India and one among them is WWOOF- World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. The organization offers various opportunities that are not only pocket friendly, but offers you eco-friendly vacations.
WWOOF is a non-profit organization that works with tourists and organic farms. It provides amazing accommodation facility and delicious food in exchange of a few hours of daily volunteer work. It also gives the tourists an offer to learn organic farming techniques. WWOOF started in 1971 in England and initially stood for Working Weekends on Organic Farming. But later as it became popular, it was renamed to World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Currently, more than 50 countries across the globe are connected with WWOOF. The organization publishes the names of the organic farms associated with it where the tourists can experience organic farming and can learn various techniques. After this the volunteers usually pick one according to their preference and directly contact to arrange a stay.
WWOOF in India was started by Harish Chander Tewari, a member of SEWAK (an Uttarakhand based NGO) on August 15th 2007. Initially there were only 14 hosts in India but eventually farms and owners started connecting with WWOOF and now they have a total of 217 farms spread across 16 states in the country which welcome volunteer help. These farms include all types like the coffee estates, vegan agricultural communities, fruit orchards and spice estates.
For the farms to get registered with WWOOF, they need to submit a minimal amount of 500 rupees once and this is also exempted for small farms. And as far as volunteers are concerned they pay a fee of rupees 1,125 (Indians) and dollar 25 (for foreigner) annually.
“This arrangement is beneficial to both hosts and volunteers. The volunteers can work anywhere. They can also choose the kind of work they would like to do and the duration of it. The farmers, on the other hand, get help tending their farms, composting, running the machines, and so on,” says Tewari, adding that WWOOF India focuses on sustainable livelihoods, promoting cultural understanding and community mobilisation around organic farming activities.
Good job done WWOOF. Keep spreading 🙂
