Real Wwoofing survives a crack down on volunteer labour

Friday, 11 May 2018

British visitors Jeanie and Elliot Lea have happily worked on a dozen New Zealand properties as unpaid volunteers.

In the third part of a four part series on freebie labour Amanda Cropp looks at real Wwoofing.

Every year thousands of young travellers come here to work unpaid while living with Kiwi families – it's cultural immersion on steroids.

The genuine Willing Workers on Organic Farms (Wwoof) scheme has the stamp of approval from the Labour Inspectorate as long as it involves a cultural exchange and training element, and the volunteer labour is not exploited for commercial gain.

Since they arrived eight months ago British Wwoofers Jeanie and Elliot Lea have packed in a lot – drenching sheep, grooming horses, beekeeping, planting trees, feeding peacocks, helping lay down a hāngi and putting a radio collar on a kiwi.

A dozen Wwoofing placements have taken the couple all over the country – Taranaki, Coromandel, Kapiti Coast, Tolaga Bay, Motueka and Christchurch – working for four to six hours a day in return for free accommodation and the chance to learn new skills.

**READ MORE:

Beekeeping is one of the skills Wwoofer Elliot Lea has picked on during his stint in New Zealand.

* Wwoofing scheme rejects a host a day seeking travellers as cheap labour

* Freebie labour and the story of Robinwood Farm

* Backpacker hostels bite the bullet over volunteer labour

* Blatant and endemic: Illegal 'volunteer' labour rife in NZ's accommodation industry

* Freebie labour has fish hooks for the tourism industry**

Elliot Lea, who works in red squirrel conservation back in Northumberland, says the experience here will be useful if they ever manage to buy a lifestyle block of their own, and they never felt exploited.

'I definitely think there's a place for unpaid work. If it's done right, it really benefits both parties… I hope it continues well into the future.

'We've learned more about the real New Zealand because agriculture and farming are a massive part of the culture.

'The first place we stayed, a chestnut farm near Hamilton, they gave us a crash course in Māori language and pronunciation.'

Child play centre manager Jeanie Lea says most hosts were extremely generous and treated them like family.

'A lot of tourists just pass through and take. It's all about the photographs, and ticking off all of the touristy things. We feel like we are doing some good and giving back.'

The Leas' most recent hosts, Ben and Maaike Cummings and their three daughters, have a lifestyle block at Lincoln just out of Christchurch where they have been welcoming Wwoofers for 18 months.

Ben Cummings says his family enjoys mixing with people from all over the world.

'We get life lessons, we get stories of travel, we get to meet different cultures.

'I get a lot of satisfaction out the teaching people something different. We try to give them an experience, rather than 'we want five hours work a day from you' type of thing.

'They can stay at our house and not open their wallets once. I run an open beer fridge policy, and as long as they don't abuse it, they can eat and drink whatever they like.'

There are now Wwoofing organisations in more than 100 countries.

The term Wwoofing is now widely used by other organisations offering work exchanges and Lesley Powell has hosted more than 50 Wwoofers through the HelpX website

She and her partner have a 140 hectare beef farm near Wellsford, and helpers did odd jobs that Powell says they would never have employed anyone to do.

Now they only tend to use them as house sitters when they go away on holiday.

'We've usually made the effort, if time permitted, to show the helpers around our local area, take them to the beach, and sports events such as rugby and netball.'

Some have become firm friends. Powell says they were invited to the wedding of a young Dutchman when he married in Australia, and a young Dutch woman who ended up settling here is a regular visitor.

'We've met a lot of really nice young people and overwhelmingly found it a good experience.'

Powell says Wwoofing can be a life changing experience and particularly remembers a young man who chucked in his studies at a top American university to travel the world, much to the consternation of his parents, who refused to fund his wanderings.

'When he'd finished his little trip around the country, he was a completely different person.

'He'd had enough of having to sing for his supper and was quite happy to go back to his wealthy existence in Boston and do what his parents wanted him to do.'

Like other hosts, Powell has heard her share of horror stories from Wwoofers exploited by farms, vineyards, cafes and camp grounds.

Sometimes, she admits, it is hard to know where to draw the line.

The owners of a small holding with a few olive trees might not be able to afford to hire pickers for a couple of weeks, but they could give volunteers an enjoyable experience.

'That is quite different from a host using helpers to milk their cows on two farms and not having any employees at all, or a cafe having a succession of helpers as waitresses.

Lesley Powell (centre) has hosted about 50 Wwoofers over the years including French travellers Roxane Elric and Bastien Amasse.

'It suits some helpers to have bed and lodgings in exchange for work for which a New Zealander could be employed, and they do not think about the ethics of the situation.'

Powell says there used to be a lot of emphasis on cultural interchange, but now the use of unpaid labour by businesses appears to be widespread.

'I don't have any time for people who're operating their businesses in that way … it does people out of tax, it means people might be working in conditions they might not be safe, there's a whole lot of issues associated with it. '

Federated Farmers vice president Andrew Hoggard says people use the term 'Wwoofers' too liberally and getting someone to help with milking unpaid four hours a day is not on.

'They're not Wwoofers, they're temporary staff. If you're going to employ anyone on farm, you've got to treat them right and obey the law.

'Be above board and give these guys a good experience in New Zealand.'

All about Wwoofing

What's with the weird name?

The concept was dreamed up by London secretary Sue Coppard back in 1971 as a way of getting people out of cities and into the countryside to support the organic movement.

Originally called Willing Weekends on Organic Farms, Wwoofing became so popular, the two day stints were extended so the name became 'Willing Workers.'

Following concern that having 'work' in its title suggested links to clandestine migrant worker organisations, Wwoof International changed its name again to World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, but some groups kept the old name.

Can anyone do it?

Pretty much, as long as you're physically fit and 18 or over. Some hosts welcome families with children. You don't need to be a visitor, about 7 per cent of Wwoofers here are Kiwis.

Where can I do it?

More than 100 countries,.

How much does it cost?

It varies, but here annual membership for Wwoof NZ is $40 for hosts and workers.

What do I have to do?

Andrew Hoggard of Federated Farmers says it's not acceptable to use unpaid Wwoofers for jobs such as milking.

Help with chores for four to six hours a day, for example cooking, composting, weeding, cheese making, feeding animals.

What do I get in return?

Free accommodation and meals, new skills, experiencing a new culture by living with a local family.

How long can I stay?

Anything from a few days to a few months. You can leave at any stage.

How do I find a host?

Try the Woof website. Other organisations offering similar schemes include FarmHelpersinNZ, HelpX, VolunteerX, Workaway, HelpStay.

Is it just organic farms?

No. Wwoof New Zealand has a cultural exchange option with hosts who are not on organic properties.

Other websites matching hosts with helpers offer a wide range of work options that are not farm-related.