#1
I am a wwoofer and I love it when I am complimented or thanked for my work, as I make sure to thank them for the food and the beautiful place that I get to live.
#2
If I was to give one piece of advise it would be that what you get out of an experience is determined by what you are prepared to put into it
#3
Our philosophy is that woofers are not slave labour but welcome visitors to our country. We do different things, for instance I have taught many to fly fish
#4
It helps to clarify what they are expected to do around the house as part of sharing in the family, over and above their wwoofing jobs - eg cooking or dishes, cleaning their room before they go,
#5
Think about what you want your wwoofer to do before he/she arrives and think about what the the rules or the limits surrounding his/her stay at your place are (ex. eat what's served to you vs. help yourself in the fridge, ...)"
#6
create a list of jobs that is varied. And don't only let them do whatever you hate doing, or work that is tedious.
Be appreciative and show that for instance in the quality of the meals you serve.
#7
Always set clear expectations at the start of the stay, including responsiblities for sharing dishes, dinner duties etc - that way everyone is happy
#8
Remember your wwoofers are actually people on holiday. Negotiate days off, and sleep ins
#9
One tip for hosts is to create a set of basic house rules that can be discussed early on with your Wwoofer. For example these could cover things such as internet or phone use, use of heaters, access to the kitchen – help yourself or not to food, mealtimes and in some cases water usage (in summer if on tank water there may be restrictions). Sometimes small irritations can occur just because it hasn’t been discussed at the beginning
#10
Our advice would be that it is best for the hosts and WWOOFers to have an open discussion first by phone or email about the sort of activities underway at that time of the year and the time involved, before committing to visiting
#11
Empower wwooffers by giving some instruction on a job that they would not have thought they could do, but trusting in them that they can do it, while at the same guiding them through the process.
#12
Vicky and I always give constructive feedback to our wwoofers in relation to their work. It is great to give praise to a job well down and give constructive advice and support when they have struggled. If feedback is also provided on the respective pages afterwards it is also useful for hosts and wwoofers to get an idea of the strengths, personalities etc before committing to a stay
#13
The thing that we do is try to make the woofers stay an expereince. We vary their chores and if one shows aptitude or likes doing
something we get them to do it eg painting.
#14
I would say to remember why we joined and to share all that we have as
it is about sharing, not the work or amount of it,
#15
if you want your wwoofers to work as fast and efficient as a professional worker then get a professional worker and pay for their work. Woofers are young inexperienced people often totally unaccustomed to physical farm type labour. It is hence reasonable that wwoofers take longer to complete a task than a trained experienced professional worker would.
#16
Plan to spend some good quality time with Wwoofers each day. This makes it a good experience for all and recognises that the exchange is about much more than just labour for accommodation and meals.
#17
I offer longer working week days and weekends off - its great if they have transport and can go off fishing skiing etc for a couple of days
#18
Take wwoofers if you are willing to talk to them and treat them like people/learn about their culture and share stories;
#19
Enjoy them!!! - engage with them!
#20
Get to know your WWOOFER as part of your family, learn their name and pronounce it correctly, do NOT refer to them as ‘the wwoofer’
#21
I would advise both wwoofers and hosts to ensure what is expected from each party and what each party wants is clearly defined prior to arrival
#22
Keep the wwoofer jobs interesting short and sweet. Instead of long hauls of any task (such as weeding) intermingle the tasks (such as 1 hour weeding, 1 hour mucking out, 1 hour feeding the animals, 1 hour... ) This way you keep their interest and nothing ever gets too arduous.
#23
Goodwill (going the extra mile) goes a long way whether you are a
worker or a host
#24
"Try to keep good communication with your host, express yourself if a task is too hard or if you don't feel you're treated right.
#25
I consider wwoofers as guests who are very helpful. They are here to experience our country (and very rarely consider the idea of living here permanently). I don't see wwoofers as cheap labour.
#26
Make up a WWOOFer pack...
this contains details about us as a family, local names, towns, pronunciation, postal address and physical address in case they have mail sent while they are with us.
It also give a bit of a light hearted overview of what we expect from them as a WWOOFer and what they can expect from us as hosts.
#27
Communication is VITAL
Right from the start, you have to let your wwofer know what your expectations are, especially ‘off the job’ ie at mealtimes – personally I love to cook for my guests, but I expect them to help with the dishes afterwards, they live in our house and are more than welcome to use it as their own, but I expect it to be kept clean and tidy.
#28
Be very clear about the accommodation terms and conditions and the environment before the wwoofers come. I am in Southland, in winter I always state it is cold and often raining so do not come if this bothers you and make sure you bring good wet weather gear
#29
Let them know the boundaries you have around the kitchen I had one who had been one place previous and kept asking permission for putting milk into his coffee etc. I was horrified and thought each woofer should have access to at least drinks when they want and snacks when working hard.
#30
Tip: "Instead of giving Wwoofers a set job to do each day, write out a wish list and let the Wwoofer choose from it. This way the Wwoofer can do something they may be more skilled at. This also helps build a sense of personal responsibility and achievement for the job
#31
We have a computer that we make available to wwoofers for e-mail etc , but we find that we need to set down rules about its use from the beginning . If we don't wwoofers are soon spending lots of time on it , and often very late at night into the wee small hours .
Not good for a productive work day .
#32
Treat then well & feed them well..... you’ll get much more work out of them!!
#33
If you want your WWOOFers to work well, house and feed them well!
#34
As a host i have to remind myself that there are huge cultural differences and some bad traits are simply cultural differences, and totally different upbringing to ours.
#35
Our main suggestion would be to plan ahead to work alongside your wwoofer as
much as possible. It's more sociable, you learn from each other, and the work
gets done without inadvertant mishaps and mistakes
#36
A tip, both for wwoofers and the host: ask the other party to post feedback on the profiles. It just enhances the chances of being contacted (if you are a good wwoofer or a good host of course).
#37
We aim to feed our woofers rally well and generally when asked at the end of their time here that they are healthier than when they arrived
#38
Discover a person’s talents and make the most of them
#39
Ask for confirmation a certain time before expecting a Wwoofer to arrive. This allows us to maybe find another if the first one was unreliable.
#40
Wwoofers love a project. Give them a project based upon a problem with your idea of a solution that cannot readily be accomplished without their help eg creating a new garden feature.
#41
When initial contact is made I sometimes forget to ask how long they would like to stay. As we like people to stay longer its great to know this
#42
Always make sure you provide extra large helpings food for the hard-working wwoofer, they burn up a lot of energy and will need to eat twice as much as normal.
#43
Magical win/wins arrive when you focus more on what you can give than what you can get.
#44
My suggestion is to write a welcome and leave it in their room
#45
Make sure you run through all the house rules on the first day; theres nothing worse than telling off your Wwoofer when they don't understand they have done wrong
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