My travels with Workaway

Since I discovered Workaway.info I have become an "addict"!
I have been traveling three times and for this year there are still two trips in the planning.
All experiences I had were very different but all great.

Cultural exchange
How does it work? Workaway.info is about cultural exchange and meeting new people. By working in a country you get to know other cultures and by working together you learn from each other's culture and background. You search online on the site for a "host" and you have the choice of around 37000 hosts in 180 countries.
The hosts offer all kinds of volunteer work in exchange for board and lodging.

Sheep farm in South-Africa
For example, in South Africa I worked on a sheep farm with accommodation: I helped the staff to cook and serve, but I also did many sewing jobs: repairing sheets and making aprons for the staff. I did that five hours a day and five days a week and during the weekend I went exploring the area. I had a lovely room with a bathroom for me alone, there was a beautiful garden with swimming pool and one of the farm dogs lay sleeping at my feet every night until I got up to make a nice morning walk before I started my workday.
           

Organic farming in Japan
In Japan I worked on an eco-farm: weeding weeds for three weeks and sowing vegetables on my knees. I lived there with five other volunteers and two Japanese in a house with beautiful "tatami rooms" and we cooked together and also cleaned the house together. In the afternoon I had time to cycle in the area or take a train to visit temples. In the weekend I hitchhiked to interesting places or went to a coastal town to rest and make walks.
Before I went I took some Japanese languageclasses and with this very basic skills and my hand and feet, I could get around very well with help of the very friendly and forthcoming Japanese!
           

Community projects in Uganda
In Uganda I stayed in a village  with an Ugandan couple who organized all kinds of projects for the community and there, together with them and other volunteers, I made sure that a new school could be set up with school desks, that women had sewing lessons, a (natural) playground was laid out and we started a waterproject. All in all, the imput of the Workawayers for this community meant that many changes could be realized for good: the first Workawayer immediately started raising funds to build a school, which was completed during my stay and with a donation of a Dutch Foundation could be furnished. Other Workawayers gave computer lessons or did hearing tests and had enough hearing aids for everyone who needed one. Still others interviewed the women to find out with what they could earn money so that they could offer their families more. One of the women's wishes was to learn to braid hair, so that they could give their clients a nice haircut from home. A Workawayer then made sure that heads were bought with hair to practice under the guidance of a professional hairdresser. The lessons were attended with great enthusiasm.

A large choice of volunteer work
The great thing about Workaway.info is that it offers a range of volunteer work with opportunities to work for a few weeks (I do not work more than three weeks at a time) up to several months. And to choose from work that suits you: caring for children, working on a farm, working in a hostel, building a house or project, helping with websites or online marketing with a small organization or giving language lessons.
In doing so, you immerse yourself in other cultures, get to know people who you can learn from (and they from you) and meet nice volunteers.
For example, I was never that interested in working on a farm, but now I have worked with great pleasure between the sheep (South Africa) and broccoli plants (Japan) and learned a lot.

How nice is it to work in different countries during your gap year? Or just to have a "meaningful work holiday" every now and then?
You can register as a single person, like me, but you can also go as a couple, or even as a whole family. That's how I heard from families who are going to work together on a farm in the summer holidays, or who are building a school somewhere. A wonderful experience right?

If you are interested, visit www.workaway.info (and no, I do not have any shares in it ...)