WWOOF Israel first Sustainable Life Experience Seminar

Dear all,

We wanted to share a taste of the first WWOOF Israel seminar that took place over the weekend of 17-18/12/2010 in ‘Yarok Az’ farm in the northern part of Israel. As part of WWOOF Israel effort to increase the exposure to WWOOFing and more ecological way of life, the main idea was to meet as a group and share various aspects of sustainable way of living through lectures and on hand experience on the farm.

The Kick Off

Our hosts, Hadar and Shahar gave us a warm welcoming and you could sense the special atmosphere building up right from the start.
We started with a short introduction and every person shared their view and personal connection to the WWOOF and ecological life domains along with their reasons for participation and, it was absolutely great to see the variety of people in different ages and with reasons ranging from “Sustainable life is my life’s mission” to “I am here to because of my spouse :-)”.

The Content of the Seminar

The two days seminar was designed to give us a chance to learn and experience various topics including: Permaculture gardening, Cheese making, Different uses of local herbs , morning sightsee stroll in the area with historical context, building a rocket stove, and a special share of an ecological farm in Brazil.
The lectures gave us an insight into the domain of sustainable life and opened new perspectives and possibilities assembled from the different views and experiences offered by all the people that attended, towards each person’s life and also to the benefit of Hadar and Shahar’s farm. Every lecture, movie or work we did had a joyful tone about it while delivering valuable knowledge and collectively sharing new ideas and perceptions, which came to a climax with the building of the Rocket Stove model as it was a first time for everyone and showed the great companionship and the power of a formed group that was established during the weekend.
We had lots of fun making cheese and learning the basic concepts of Permaculture Gardening raised so many engaging understandings as part of how to think about these subjects when you’re on a farm or in the city and how to integrate these concepts in the best way on every location.
Another special lecture was done by Nisim krispil about the different herbs of Israel, their use and their significance through ancient times till today. This is a very important aspect in understanding the natural world around us and can contribute to a more holistic view of Permaculture.

It is true that food has a valuable place in Israeli culture, but it was wonderful to see how each meal and the preparations for it became a festival with everybody contributing to each part (from preparing the food to getting the fire going and cleaning up). It was genuinely rare to have witnessed this type of natural corporation that was found according to the need and each person’s liking without having to ask people to do things or hearing complaints about chores. This type of volunteering has resulted in a state of wellbeing and led to forming new relationships, trust and a cheerful mood that was apparent around the camp fire and the personal and meaningful conversations that took place.

Epilog

If that wasn’t clear from the things written by now, let me say that it was a very special experience in so many levels.
It showed that people can bring their best when mutuality and true sharing takes place. I know that some of the new members were moved by the concepts of the WWOOOF and will be volunteering on farms in Israel very soon.
I believe that each and every one of us learned some new things and had a splendid time just being in this type of atmosphere for two days. We hope that this was the first of many seminars arranged by WWOOF Israel, and we already look forward to the next one. If you are interested in attending or have ideas and suggestions,
please Click Here to contact us.

Testimonials

A central aspect of Permaculture planning is creating connections between elements in nature. This weekend gathering at Ilaniya in the Lower Galilee was a good example of Permaculture application in the social sphere. WWOOF is an international organic activity oriented social network. Permaculture is similarly international and focuses on environmental activities. To bring these two elements together is a classic example of Permaculture in practice. For me personally, as a Permaculture designer and teacher, the weekend was a wonderful experience of being able to sit back and enjoy a relaxed and smoothly run gathering. I really enjoyed the social interaction, the food was great and the subjects we covered were stimulating. Many thanks to the participants and to the organizers, and hoping that this was the first such gathering of a series.

Jan Martin Bang, Permaculture designer and teacher, Norway and Israel.

"I really enjoyed the WWOOF Seminar and the fabulous group of people that attended. Yarok Az was a great example of sustainability and permaculture and I'm glad that the seminar was held here. It was fun to help with the projects the farm had going on including building a new garden bed and rocket stove. Between the cheesemaking and fabulous lectures and tours I feel I really learned a lot. Thank you for an amazing experience that I will never forget!"

Lucy Rayberg, USA.

"I came to the seminar clean of expectations, and was amazed by the openness, sharing and acceptance that was apparent in every aspect of the weekend. The lectures and experiences were stimulating and engaging and left sediments to think about. It was a wonderful weekend and I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in new approaches to natural way of living."

Eran Peres, Israel.