Weide
24 July 2008
I worked for a year at the “Weide” farm in Schleswig-Holstein, in the north of Germany. The combined farms of Weide-Hardebeck make up a living and working community based on agriculture.
In this community, people – both with and without special needs – live and work together according to the principles of anthroposophy and its view of human nature. The work here follows a concept in which the relationship among agriculture, social work and environmental conservation is respected.
My job, besides caring for the residents, was to work in the fields of the farm and in the garden. These daily tasks included sowing seeds, watering the plants, harvesting when the time was right, and weeding (which wasn’t that much fun). Besides plants, I also came into contact with animals. I worked in the stalls with pigs, cows, geese and chickens. Beyond these jobs, which quickly became routine for me, I was also able to organise group trips for the residents of our community. A big part of my responsibilities was also the transportation of goods and materials between the various farms.
For me this was a very interesting year. I had the chance to gain experience in German agriculture and to learn about things that were new to me along the way. As someone from Lima, the capital of Peru, I found it difficult at first to adjust to this northern rural area of Germany. Because my German was not so good early on, I felt very lonely.
– Volunteer from Peru