Our first three wwoofers
Aloha,
we are new to the program and have been disappointed with the first three workers.All of them were 19-20.The first one(Brian Sweeney) asked if he could just pay rent his first night here.He obviously had no real interest in learning anything,and it seems that this was his way of maybe getting out of a summer job and trying to stalk his girl friend!He couldn't seem to remember some basic house rules and acted like an insolent child when not getting his way!ugh!left his cabing a disaster with every dish dirty,rotting food,dirty underwear etc.
The next two(Filishea and Alex) just came last wednesday and we had spent lots of time communicating with them on the phone before they came.they seemed to have a genuine interest,and we were hopeful.we told them we really wanted to have people who could commit to a month and they were happy with that.They did a little bit of work after arriving,and then went to see a teacher from hs yesterday.They came back in the night and took their stuff and left.called this morning to apologize for the short notice.Had not even done enough trade to cover the time spent here(not to mention the airport pickup and all the time we invested to get the cabin ready etc.)and again...barely cleaned up after themselves.And took bedding!
I am feeling very discouraged by this and not feeling like i can afford to invest time and energy with these types of outcomes.Is this just how it goes?Have other hosts had positive experiences?
positive experience
Aloha Nancy and Kevin-
I just signed up with WWOOF as I am looking for opportunities to work outdoors in a lovely environment. I am sorry to hear about your experiences with volunteers that you invested time and expenses with. I think this is an awesome program and disrespectful and irresponsible young adults make it much harder for volunteers and host to benefit from this program. I hope you still try to connect with other volunteers that are helpful, respectful and actually work. I am sure a positive experience is around the corner were everyone benefits and is happy.
experienceswith wwoofers
My first wwoofers were also a bit disappointing. Two young men came from Florida, committing to three months. After two weeks they said they were leaving. It seemed they wanted a vacation to Hawaii through the wwoofing thing. My next two, Gaby and T, arrived in April, and they have been fantastic! Although they were inexperienced at first, they have learned quickly, and have been hard working and faithful. I love this program! Happy in Hawaii............Vikki
good wwoofers, bad host
In response to the hosts that said they had a bad experience with Felisha and Adam, I think wwoofers should avoid this family. I had Felisha and Adam for a week and they were the best workers I had all summer and wished they could have stayed. They really wanted to learn about sustainable farming, unlike many who just want a Hawaiian vacation, but work hard anyway. I would have escaped from a host like that myself.
AGREED-
Brian Sweeny came to our farm and he was an excellent worker. I think that it is VERY important that you be VERY clear with potential workers EXACTLY what you offer and do not offer. From what we were told, you gave him a box of canned goods as his food, he did NO farming whatsoever, only weedwacking, and you promised that there would be other workers on the farm, and he was the only one. This of course is just what we were told- but it is sososo important to be clear with workers BEFORE they arrive. This is where we have found our biggest challenge. If I forget to mention that we are REMOTE, that it is a 2 hours drive to get to any sort of nightlife, and that there are bugs, and mosquitoes, and cane spiders here- I may risk attracting people that will just not be happy here. So, instead I tell them that I am looking for survivalists, people that can handle being wet and dirty, people unafraid of bugs and spiders, and usually it works out great. We have had a worker before that was incredibly high maintenence- who complained because we ran out of humus when we had cans and jars full of garbanzo beans. I use this as an example for future workers. We are looking for the type of worker who wants humus, so she makes it:)
If I could make a suggestion for you hosts who have been having troubles. Try hiring someone who will be your farm manager who is responsible for the wwoofers. That is what I do for the owners of the farms i manage. I am also responsible for making the farm, the kitchen and facilities pleasant for the wwoofers. I believe 100% that if you take good care of your workers, they will in turn take good care of you. And, vise-versa- WWOOFers: you will only get out, what you are willing to put into the farm. So, give it your all, and come away with a wonderful positive experience. I wish all hosts and wwoofers a happy wwoofing experience. ALoha~
Brian
Aloha Rebekah,
if you look at our listing,we clearly state that at this time we can only offer dry beans and rice and will not be preparing meals.we spent alot of time communicating with brian prior to his arrival and explained that we are just starting out and what we need most at this time is help with maintaining the orchard(weedwacking)and building.he had his own kitchen set up in the cabin(which was explained before hand and had it stocked with dry goods,canned goods,honey,eggs,and various refridgerated items.(i won't get into all the particulars but suffice it to say,we were extremely clear with our needs and expectations(we told him we had 2 workers scheduled to come at the very end of his stay.)so,i honestly feel we communicated as clearly as possible.from now on,we are asking potentials to fill out an application to avoid any problems.
Kudos
For joining a program that has been going on for Decades i am 22 and have been going to school for Horticulture, and would presume a Resume would probably make people a little more work oriented.. sorry to hear about your unfortuante experience.. but maybe a deposit from ppl could work..
thanks
just to update....after last summer i have asked people to fill out an application of sorts and that seemed to weed out a lot of people.We have since had a sweet couple come and they renewed my faith in wwoof.We now have a really awesome man staying with us,and he is such an asset and has helped enormously!Good luck to you!
Would host accept woman with a 5-year-old boy?
I'm a Chinese woman of 30 and with a 5-year-old boy; the city (Shanghai) we live is far away from farm. I'm really willing to learn and help in farm work, and I also think to make my kid know how to do farm work is helpful for his growing. And my parents who are close to their 60s used to be farm worker. They are experienced in farm wok, and they are glad to have the opportunity to do so in a very different country.
so would any host be willing to accept a group of people like that?
Thank you very much for your reply!
Shanghainese
I want to go to Hawii this summer.If you interested in that,you can add my . . .
WWOOF
Hi Nancy and Kevin,
I'm sorry to hear about your expierince with your WWOOF workers. I am very interested in working on a farm this summer or next year. I am a very hard worker. Although, i don't have much expierence working on farms, i am a very quick learner and pick up on things fast. I am extremely clean! And am respectful of other peoples belongings and homes!
Let me know if you're interested!!
Danielle Colaianni
Yan Hu with a 5 year old boy
Aloha Yan Hu,
if you are still interested in wwoofing with your child you are welcome to contact me as we have many children and much room at the table and in our hearts for one more :)
Rebekah
Rebekah: What a wonderful comment and soooo true.
I believe 100% that if you take good care of your workers, they will in turn take good care of you. And, vise-versa- WWOOFers: you will only get out, what you are willing to put into the farm. So, give it your all, and come away with a wonderful positive experience. I wish all hosts and wwoofers a happy wwoofing experience. ALoha~ (Rebekah's comment)
John (Admin)
I am a GOOD WWOOFER!
I would like to stand up for people who are willing to work and want to learn!!! Hey guess what the people who just want a vacation are making it extremely hard for the rest of us! I am a really hard working person who just wants to learn more about horticulture... So that is it! There are actually people out there that want to learn!
Thank you!!
Thank you so much for being very clear, telling other hosts to do the same! Im looking forward to doing this in the summer and it helps a lot if we match up - cuz some people have not had a good exp or the hosts weren't happy. I don't want a fun little vacation but neither do I want to be cheap labor
"WEED OUT"?
Nancy & Kevin:
Nice to know that your application process is working for you guys. But do you WEED OUT people? That statement shows how do you treat the fellow human beings.
Regards,
Ravi
It seems to me more farms
It seems to me more farms than not are just looking for cheap, or even free labour. I've been on 8 farms on the big island, and it becomes apparent after even one conversation with hosts what they are looking for: students or slaves.
It's clear which you are looking for, from this "complaint".
Hmmm...
I'm not sure if their complaint is indicative of the fact that they're looking for slave labor. However, I don't agree with the way it was written. It makes the host's seem like negative people.
clarification
just to clarify,if you re-read what I wrote I did not say I was asking people to fill out an application to 'weed out' anyone.What I was saying is that very few people were willing to take the time to fill the application out,or even write back after I sent them an email with more information and an application.
I am sorry I came across in such a negative light in the initial post.I WAS feeling negative after having so clearly communicated what we could offer,and then to be treated with total dis-respect in my home(clearly explaining that after dark it was not ok to come into my home with three sleeping children to use the internet and having that boundary violated and then being yelled at when reminding kindly the rules.it takes a lot of trust to have strangers in your home when you have small children.
on another note,i wish i could have gone back and edited my post or even deleted it.it would be nice to have that feature.i was trying to get helpful feedback from other hosts to try and figure out what we did wrong and was under the impression that since the forum title was for hosts,it was only for hosts to see.
It's just too bad that no
It's just too bad that no farms are actually getting back to kids who are actually really interested in learning to live simply and off the grid. I was on Kauai back in June and there are very few farms there. Scott Pomeroy on Nectar Gardens had a great place with room for me but I could not commit to the new 6 month commitment instead of the 3 we talked about. No other farm on Kauai got back to me and none of the farms I emailed on Maui got back to me either. In a desperate situation I went with a farm that wasn't exactly my first choice and I ended up not learning what I had hoped to. I've WWOOFed twice on Big Island now but my best WWOOF experience was in Oregon. I learned more in my two weeks there than I did in a cumulative 6 weeks in Hawaii. It's a shame really. I'm a hard worker who's seriously interested in this and I've yet to find any quality farms on Hawaii. It also doesn't help that most kids on these farms are only interested in hooking up and having fun off the farm. That's not my scene. What can I say, I'm an anomaly in the 20 year old age group.