During the summer of 2007, I
began working on an organic farm in Upstate New
York. Though it was an organic farm, it was far
from sustainable because its main source of energy
used to grow and harvest crops was fossil fuel. I
was curious to see what farming was like in other
countries, especially countries that did not depend
on fossil fuels for their main source of energy. I
expressed this interest to my farm manager and he
suggested that I work on his friend’s farm (SADP) in
Nepal so that I may observe what “true sustainable
agriculture” was like. I immediately agreed to this
proposition and asked what he recommended that I
bring and read so that I may prepare myself. He
simply laughed and said, “That is impossible . . .”
He was right, nothing could have prepared me for
what I experienced in Nepal. There were some
uncomfortable moments, byproducts of cultural
differences, but keeping an open mind, good sense of
humor, and most importantly being patient made them
tolerable, and in retrospect very memorable.
For example, being a girl and traveling alone was
somewhat troublesome as there were times when I felt
unsafe. This was mostly in the beginning of my stay;
as I got used to my surroundings and interacted with
locals on a daily basis this feeling gradually went
away. Also, since I am of Asian descent it was easy
to “blend” in; it was only when people started
talking with me did they realize I was a foreigner.
When
I first came to Nepal I thought I was going to spend
the entire month working on one of the farms that
was managed by SADP. SADP is a fledgling
organization and even though it is severely
under-funded it is making impressive progress in its
goal to promote organic farming principles in local
communities. That being said due to the lack of
resources and staff members, SADP seems to have
organizational issues. For those who volunteers
with SADP, each person has a different agenda, but
it would help if there was clarity in the beginning
about practical things such as travel and food
costs, living situations, and social or political
situations in order to avoid confusion and being
pressured into doing things out of feelings of
obligation. It
was not until the second week that I was able to
work and even then it was only for several days.
The days I did work were interesting, but did not
follow any schedule. On the farm in the USA I was
accustomed to set work hours and was given a clear
schedule of what work was to be done during the day.
On the farm I worked on in Nepal I was not expected
to do any particular task. I think for the future
participants it would be nice to have a clear work
schedule and agenda in addition to an explanation of
the farming practices and tasks performed on the
farm. Perhaps
the most challenging thing was communicating with
others. It was difficult to teach myself Nepali and
without available teachers, the task of
communicating quickly became frustrating and since I
spent most of my time accompanied by someone who
could speak Nepalese, I was not able to practice as
much as I would have liked. For a month I felt I
learned a considerable amount of Nepalese language
and culture, though wholly understanding it was
another matter. Being that I could minimally
participate in most of the discussions about
agriculture, I felt a bit out of place and was used
more as an example of foreign interest in organic
agriculture in Nepal than an active participant who
could contribute ideas and discussion.
Some day I hope to return to Nepal; my experiences
while working with SADP were very enjoyable even
though I would have liked working on the farm longer
in order to understand how it worked.
Katherine Moon,
Lewis Family Farm
1230 Whallons Bay Road
NY 12936, USA
(Katherine Moon came to Nepal
in an Exchange Program with SADP-Nepal from Lewis
Family Farm USA)
When
I first came to Nepal I thought I was going to spend
the entire month working on one of the farms that
was managed by SADP. SADP is a fledgling
organization and even though it is severely
under-funded it is making impressive progress in its
goal to promote organic farming principles in local
communities. That being said due to the lack of
resources and staff members, SADP seems to have
organizational issues. For those who volunteers
with SADP, each person has a different agenda, but
it would help if there was clarity in the beginning
about practical things such as travel and food
costs, living situations, and social or political
situations in order to avoid confusion and being
pressured into doing things out of feelings of
obligation.
It
was not until the second week that I was able to
work and even then it was only for several days.
The days I did work were interesting, but did not
follow any schedule. On the farm in the USA I was
accustomed to set work hours and was given a clear
schedule of what work was to be done during the day.
On the farm I worked on in Nepal I was not expected
to do any particular task. I think for the future
participants it would be nice to have a clear work
schedule and agenda in addition to an explanation of
the farming practices and tasks performed on the
farm.
Perhaps
the most challenging thing was communicating with
others. It was difficult to teach myself Nepali and
without available teachers, the task of
communicating quickly became frustrating and since I
spent most of my time accompanied by someone who
could speak Nepalese, I was not able to practice as
much as I would have liked. For a month I felt I
learned a considerable amount of Nepalese language
and culture, though wholly understanding it was
another matter. Being that I could minimally
participate in most of the discussions about
agriculture, I felt a bit out of place and was used
more as an example of foreign interest in organic
agriculture in Nepal than an active participant who
could contribute ideas and discussion.