BECOMING A FARM HELPER

Help us grow food

If you would like to come and help us with the food growing work we will be very happy to have you with us. You don’t need to know anything about food growing to join us as there will be people to help you with the simple tools we use. Come with a willingness to learn and an open heart as these are all that is required to get started.

There are two ways you can help

DAILY HELP

Just arrive on any day when work starts and you will be very welcome

STAYING ON THE FARM

If you want to stay on the farm you will need to join the FARM EXPERIENCE PROGRAM

The Farm Experience program

AN IMPORTANT NOTE IF YOU HAVE A FOREIGN PASSPORT click here to know more

THE FARM EXPERIENCE PROGRAM is for anyone who would like to stay on the farm. This will enable you to experience what it is like to live in Buddha Garden and participate in the daily organic farming work that we do here. This program will give you hands-on experience of how we grow our food as well as opportunities to ask questions of the members of the Buddha Garden team.

The minimum stay is one week and the contribution is in work and money.

Work activities consist of helping in the garden at least from 6.15 – 9.00am every morning Monday to Friday and 7.00 – 9.00am on Saturday.

The financial contribution for the first week is Rs300/person/day

These contributions cover; accommodation in basic shared cabins/dormitory, breakfast Monday to Saturday when work finishes, your contribution to Auroville and wifi/internet. You also have the use of the communal kitchen to cook your own food if you would like to do so. Otherwise there are many places to eat both in the nearby village and in Auroville.

ACCOMMODATION Please be aware that the accommodation is very basic and potentially has to be shared this depending on how many people we have staying. The pictures give some idea about what it is like.

The quality of the accommodation has deteriorated ever since 2022 when we were told about the new VIP road which is planned to go across the middle of the farm. As a consequence we have not invested anything into the infrastructure as there is no point if it is all going to be torn down for the new road. In this situation you may prefer to stay somewhere outside Buddha Garden and just come in for the morning work. Please note we do not have proper family accommodation.

This is what we have available:

To find out about places to stay in Auroville write to (https://guesthouses.auroville.org/) For local places in the nearby village google ‘places to stay in Edeyenchavadi’ or just turn up and look at the many places available.

If after the first week staying in Buddha Garden you would like to stay longer, you can choose your financial and work contribution as follows:

· You can continue to pay Rs300/day and work as above.

· You can reduce your financial contribution to Rs200/day and work 6.15 - 12.00 midday Monday to Friday and 7.00 - 12 Midday on Saturday.

NEXT STEPS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THIS PROGRAM: Please contact us on buddhagardenav@gmail.com to let us know when you want to arrive and how long you plan to stay. We will let you know if we have space available which, apart from during the busy guest season January to March, will probably be available. We are happy to answer any further questions you have.

OTHER ACTIVITIES: Please note that we expect those staying in Buddha Garden to commit to the regular morning work during these hours. This is when it is cool (even during the hot season) and when we all work together to get as much of the farm work completed as we can.

If you are coming to Auroville to go to a workshop or participate in another activity please make sure that the hours do not overlap. Even when this happens we have found that some volunteers find it quite demanding to do workshops after the morning work. We are not able to accommodate people who want to change their work hours so they can go to other activities. In such cases its best to find somewhere else to stay while you go to the workshop and then return to Buddha Garden when you can focus on the food growing work.

If you want to visit Matrimandir for concentration your first attendance has to be at 8.00am so please let us know in advance when you want to do that. After that, please make arrangements to visit Matrimandir outside the Buddha Garden work hours.

If you have further questions about this please contact us on buddhagardenav@gmail.com

AN IMPORTANT NOTE IF YOU HAVE A FOREIGN PASSPORT:

If you do not have an Indian passport please be aware that it is illegal to be a volunteer on a Tourist visa. A new long term volunteer process is being worked out and details of this will be posted here as soon as we get the details. If you are coming on a Tourist visa you are allowed to participate in an experience program as described above as well as workshops and other similar activities. You should not call yourself a volunteer if you are on a Tourist Visa as this could cause difficulties for you and Buddha Garden. Tell anyone who asks that you are going to do an ‘Experience Program’/workshop on the farm as described above and think of yourself as a ‘Farm Participant’.

OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION FOR WHEN YOU COME TO STAY

TRANSPORT; While staying in Buddha Garden you will need some form of transport to get around. We ask all volunteers to do this consciously using either bicycles or electric bicycles. You can obtain a bicycle from the Visitors Centre (just across the road from Buddha Garden) which costs Rs60/day, Rs330/week or Rs1000/month. If you would like to have an electric bike you will need to contact Kinisi. For full details contact their website https://www.kinisi.in or Call +91 8300 460 679 They have special rates for helpers so tell them you will be helping in Buddha Garden and for how long you plan to stay.

Please note that we only have a small parking place which at some times of the year can fill up quickly. If for any reason there is no space for your car at the farm the safest place to park it is in the Visitors Centre car park across the road. You can park your car just outside the gate by the temple but at certain times of the year that can get very busy and congested as well.

CONDUCT WHILE ON THE FARM; please note that Buddha Garden is a completely non-smoking area. We also do not encourage parties or drinking alcohol. If smoking and parties are important to you Buddha Garden may not be the right place to stay so please think carefully about this.

We expect all farm residents to take responsibility for looking after the place. Especially with regard to the kitchen and disposal of rubbish. Everyone is responsible for seeing that the kitchen is left clean and tidy in the evening and is ready for Bhakia when she comes to use the kitchen in the mornings. We all do what we can to keep Buddha Garden free of litter and to dispose of our rubbish responsibly in our recycling area. Of course we are happy to help if you have any queries about how to do this.

If problems arise between people in Buddha Garden we see these as challenges to be resolved. And to do this in a peaceful and respectful way. A way that enables everyone in Buddha Garden to develop and learn more about ourselves and the world.