Calling early birds! Take care of cows on a Swedish farmstead

Netherlands

1

This was my first worldpackers experience and i was happy to hear from other volunteers that its usually nothing like this. I felt really uncomfortable while i was there. The house was an absolute mess, not because of volunteers 'not cleaning up after themselves' but because its the house of a hoarder. If you want to live like that thats totally fine, but then dont invite volunteers into the house. The work with the cows was honestly quite depressing and i have not had the farm since.. thinking of turning vegan. This place was just no good for my mental health, this is why i left early.

over 1 year ago

Spain

1

I didn't enjoy my stay, I don't think the cleanliness and organization of the house was adequate and i didn't feel comfortable with Olov.

over 1 year ago

United Kingdom

2

Olov was very nice and welcoming to me, but I know he made the female volunteers feel very uncomfortable, which resulted in them leaving early. The work is ok, but the house was a mess, and very dirty. The surrounding area is lovely, but without a driving license, it is hard to get anywhere.

over 1 year ago

Canada

2

To start I have to say this was my first large scale volunteering experience but i have to say after considering it for a long time,it was a very weird one and i think overall not a good one.The biggest issue for me was the mess in the house which was horrifying.I am not a germaphobe or an extremely organized person but this place was like out of a horror movie, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in 10 years. The work was ok. Other bad things were he was quite creepy towards the female volunteers & passive aggressive to the male ones.So much was wrong in this place its hard to write in here

over 1 year ago

Olov replied

Yes it was a very weird experience even for me. Many different expectations from every person being in the house during your stay here. Every day was a surprise for me. The load of the house is extremely high with 5 or more different young volunteers, the floors toilets and kitchen surfaces need to be cleaned almost every day. As this group did not do that by themselves I emphasized the tasks in the schedule. You did not follow the schedule the first week, next week you did, the third week when I asked if you cleaned the toilets you answered I did them last week, I did not think it was necessary again. You throw your working clothes on the clean kitchen towels. You left your dishes until next day and that was a big problem for the other volunteers so I for the first time of being a host had to give an ultimatum, do your dishes or leave the house, I guess that was aggressive, sorry.

Germany

3

I've done this experience with a friend and when we arrived at the house we both were a little bit shoked because it was dirty and messy. Olov was welcoming and wanted to make our stay great - he is a really nice person- but to be honest we felt really uncomfortable. Sometimes we had the feeling that we don't have so much personal space. After a few days it got better and all in all it was an experience worth it, but I would have liked to known beforehead what to expect. Working with the cows wasn't so hard and we worked as much hours as agreed.

over 1 year ago

Olov replied

Yeah, it been a time of degrading, it seams that including the cleaning tasks in the work schedule helps to balance the responsibility. That there is a lot of things in the house I do not want to want to change.
Groups are different and when the previous group accepted the old man as one of the volounteers l hope the next group will do the same and I try to make it happen. But when there is not at least one person in the volouteering grop that includes everyone it never works. It takes some time though to figure out if the new group make a distinkt difference between; work with the people living at the farm and having free time on their own or being a part of the community full time.

United States

4

The people in the house, and the workers at the farm are respectful. And they make sure that you have what you need, or tell you the steps to fix what you need. I was able to do some construction because I have some work experience, but I primarily worked cow shifts. They provide boots, clothes, and gloves so you don't ruin your things. The only downside was that the house was made in the 1600s so it was a little outdated. Ex. Slow WiFi(it was down for a day or two but was fixed), the house is messy, & weird tasting water(they bring in drinking water). But overall, this was a good experience.

over 1 year ago

France

4

Part. 1/2 At the time we were there we took care of the animals. The work with the cows was intense and sometimes the schedules were harsh (the morning shift is between 5a.m and 10a.m and the evening shift between 3p.m and 8p.m) But it is possible to organize with Olov according to work preferences and days off,in this way it is possible to do several activities.

over 1 year ago

Spain

5

As my first experience with world packers I can say that this was one of the best decision I could ever made , everyone is so nice and we did a lot of things in our free time , it was a unique experience and I made a lot of friends as well xoxo

over 1 year ago

Japan

5

This was my first volunteer, and the volunteers here had already built strong relationships with the host, making it easy to communicate. With several volunteers around, we could explore in the car during free time or breaks. The host didn't always reside in the same house but made efforts to enhance understanding of the local area by going to neighborhood bars on weekends. Living as a volunteer demanded both initiative and teamwork, and overall, it was a very positive experience for me.

over 1 year ago

United States

5

My time at the farm was amazing and so comfortable. The host, as well as the people working with us with the cows were very helpful and nice. I got to meet lots of international vollenteers and made friends with them. It was just the volunteers at the house we stay in most of the time. We cooked together or someone would do each meal. We would also go out to the bars, lakes and beaches. It all worked out wonderfully and was a great space to stay in.

over 1 year ago

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