WWOOF Volunteers

Who can become a Volunteer

    Generally, volunteers should be able to participate in physical labor and perform tasks such as harvesting, compost making, milking, fencing or feeding animals.
    However, some farms also welcome WWOOFers who prefer doing non-farming tasks such as office work, child-minding, website development and helping out at the farm shop.
    Most importantly, Wwoofers should be comfortable adapting to new situations and environments. They should have experience with hard physical labor and travelling within foreign countries.
Wwoofers under the age of 18 should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
    The cost is 10 Euros paid only through Paypal. However, the membership is free to Romanian citizens, as one of our goals is to maintain an interest in traditional and organic practices within Romania, as well as encourage volunteerism in-country.
    Once you become a member, you will recieve a username and password that will allow you to see our WWOOF Farm List. Then you will be able to contact farmers at your convience and try to arrange a time to come and volunteer.
To see examples of farms (without the contact info), here is our Farm List

Conditions at farms

    Being a Wwoofer means contributing to farm labor and experiencing a cultural exchange with the local community and surrounding areas.
    The volunteer's daily program depends on the needs of the host farm, as well as the volunteers personal interests and skills. In general, the volunteers will have 6-8 hours of activity, at least 5 days a week, depending on the needs of the farm.
    The volunteer will be treated as a guest by the host farm, they will have a place to sleep (such as a guest house, or an open meadow for camping), and food to eat. Volunteers are not expected to pay for food or accomodation, just earn it through work on the farm.


How to apply as a Volunteer

1. PAYPAL MEMBERSHIP DONATION
First you must pay a 10 Euro Donation to gain Membership.
This Donation will give you a USERNAME and PASSWORD to access WWOOF Romania's Host Farm List

The Donation must be paid through PayPal by clicking here:


2. CHOOSE FARM(S)
Use your membership USERNAME and PASSWORD to access the FULL HOST FARM LIST, where you can choose which farm(s) you would like to contact for volunteering

3. EMAIL FARM(S)
Send an email to the farm(s), expressing your interest to volunteer for them. In that email:
  3.a. Write WWOOF VOLUNTEER APPLICATION in the Subject Line
  3.b. Carbon Copy (CC:) wwoofromania@gmail.com
  3.c. Copy and complete the Volunteer Application Form (below)

4. FARM CONTACTS YOU
If a farm is interested and has a place for you, they will contact you.

5. DISCUSS THE TERMS OF YOUR WORK AND STAY
Before you decide to leave for the farm, you and the farmer must agree on the details of your work and stay, including:
  5.a. How long you will be staying
  5.b. When you will arrive
  5.c. How you will get to the farm (or deciding where your host will meet you)
  5.d. Meals and Accomodation
  5.e. What type of work you will be doing
  5.f. How many hours/days you will be expected to work each week

6. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
VISAS
WWOOF Romania CANNOT grant visas. DO NOT ask farmers to help arrange a visa.
INJURIES/INSURANCE
WWOOF Romania is not responsible for any injuries that occur on the farms. Volunteers are encouraged to take caution at the farms and to not perform work beyond their abilities.
TRAVELERS INSURANCE
Volunteers should obtain some form of travellers insurance before arriving in Romania.


  VOLUNTEER APPLICATION

  1. Name:
  2. Email Address:
  3. Telephone Number:
  4. Physical Mailing Address:
  5. Country of Residence:
  6. Languages Spoken:
  7. Age:
  8. Gender (Male/Female):
  9. What months of the year you would like to volunteer
  10. Desired Length of Stay (minimum and maximum)*
  11. Experience with farmin or related work
  12. Any additional skills:
  13. Special dietary considerations:
  14. Are you traveling with children or pets:
  15. Any thing else we should be aware of (health issues, etc.):
  16. A brief statement about why you would like to join WWOOF Romania:


*Average length of stay is 2 weeks to 1 month, but may vary depending on the farm.



Advice for Wwoofers

    There are some 'common sense' guidelines that we would like to emphasize:

  • If contacting host farm by phone, please contact at a reasonable time.
  • Please be respectful in your communication with the farmer and let them know your interests and the capabilities/skills you can offer on the farm.
  • Keep farms updated of your plans; if farmers respond to your email, but you are no longer interested in visiting them, or your plans have changed, please let them know.
  • Keep in mind that an average day of work for a Wwoofer on a farm is around 4-6 hours.
  • Please respect the WWOOF Host Farms requests about minimum (and maximum) stays, unless the farmer says otherwise.
  • Please take note of the host farms' diet, since you will be eating what they eat.
  • Depending on what you will be doing, consider bringing gloves, good work boots, and a hat.
  • Once in contact with the host farm, ask whether you should bring your own sleeping bag (accommodation ranges from bedrooms inside a house to camping in the farm's yard)
  • Due to the busy schedule of the farmers, please try to sent your requests 1-2 MONTHS in advance.

Travel Advice

    Here is some advice for traveling to Romania, and within the country:
Travelling to Romania from US and Western Europe
Since the majority of volunteers are from US, UK, France and Germany, here is some useful travel information. This is not an exhaustive list, other options are available.

  • Airplanes:
    Budget Airlines: Tarom, CarpatAir, Blue Air, Wizz Air
    Most major cities in Romania have airports.
  • Buses and Trains:
    Budapest, Hungary has many buses, vans and trains going to Romanian cities.
    Arriving from Serbia and Ukraine are also possible, but not as easy.
Travelling Within Romania
  • Train Schedules in Romania: CFR is the Romanian train company, its website is www.infofer.ro.
    The German train site www.bahn.de
    is recommended, it is available in a variety of languages and provides more accurate information about trains throughout Europe.
  • Bus Schedules in Romania: www.autogari.ro, not always accurate, call ahead of time.
  • Vans, Microbuses, and "Freelance" Drivers are also available, but make frequent trips when they have enough passengers
  • Hitchhiking/Auto-Stop (RO: "ocazie") is also a common method for travel. As with any hitchhiking, it is only as safe as the driver. Be careful and cautious, especially if you are alone and don't speak the language.


Work for Eco Ruralis

WWOOF Romania is a project of Eco Ruralis, an association in support of small organic and traditional farmers in Romania.
Eco Ruralis is always looking for volunteers to help with WWOOF Romania and many of our on-going projects. If you are interested in helping out, please contact us at ecoruralis@gmail.com.