Work here?
I couldn’t manage with out them!! What are they? Or who are they?
When I arrived in Lanjaron, 9 years ago, by myself, with out a word of Spanish (still not much better now), knowing no one, with a huge project of restoring buildings and revamping the land, I hardly knew where to begin.
Then I heard of the wwoof organisation ‘willing workers on organic farms’. I joined through their internet website where I wrote my profile, introducing myself along with my plans and what I needed in help. The organization is world wide, is great for people of all ages, they come from all walks of life and for any length of time.
My first helper soon phoned up, Philip from England, he was joined by my first Aussie girl Jess. She then asked if her boyfriend Sol could join her, so that was 3. They all stayed a few weeks and got me started with the gardening
Since those first 3 I have had literally hundreds, who have helped me with so much…. Gardening, olive picking, fruit or nut harvesting, pruning, general weeding, irrigation, clearing land, digging, planting, transplanting, making veg. gardens, collecting manure, building walls, painting, stripping beams, house maintenance, carpentry, plumbing, general building, cooking, cleaning, making marmalades, chutneys or helping with cooking for the clients, some have even house sat and looked after animals, houses and clients while I have been away.
Now-a-days I have help from 3 different organizations, wwoof, help exchange, and workaway. All are similar but my preference is help exchange as the site gives so much more information. The helper has to also give a profile, it gives you and them the opportunity to write a reference which I have found extremely helpful.
My helpers work 5 days a week, 7 hours a day for full board and lodgings. I always give them a week’s trial but prefer longer term helps so they get to know what they are doing on a regular basis and I like to give them some kind of project. I say that they must have initiative, self motivation and common sense but usually as soon as I meet them I can tell if we will be OK together.
My helpers are my family, they look after me and I look after them. The younger ones, who are anywhere between 19 and 40 are like my children and the older, 40 upwards are like my brothers and sisters. We all work together, eat together, often go out together, laugh a lot and learn a lot from each other, it works VERY WELL.
