I am Anuradha Miraji, writer – artist from Belgaum. I am environment-friendly, and love to get my hands in mud.

A long proposed dream finally turned into reality on 31^st March 2019, when I boarded the bus to reach Kundapur from Belgaum. I came across FSL-India, when I was searching for work camps online, where I could work directly in the farms; get my hands dirty and feel the sun.

I enquired with the Bangalore office and then had a telephone conversation with their team leader, Manjesh about the camp. Manjesh put my doubts to rest and the video about the Training Centre on the FSL-India site was inviting. I’m glad I came, made that trip that was at the back of my mind for sometime. Spent 5 days here, lived on a farm and met friendly people working for nature and on other welfare projects.

My work camp started with filtering the compost along with Linda and other German volunteers. I enjoyed loading the compost and filtering it through the sieve as I love to work with compost. We got fine compost and I sweated like I was in a sauna. It took a day to adjust to the heat here, and was much better after that.

I enjoyed working in the kitchen garden, mulching, making basins for seeds, mixing the compost and watering the plants. Working on an actual farm for someone like me, who has always dreamt of it – was a golden opportunity.

Coming across FSL-India was valuable knowledge, as it provides opportunities to get involved in alternate areas of learning and working. The Training Centre comes with accommodation and food, which make it a convenient place of work. The food was tasty, cooked by a team of ever-smiling women – Parvati, Sushila, Geeta, Sujatha.  I will definitely miss the 11 o’clock juice break, as a new juice was served each day. 

I would love to come here again and be a part of other projects. I’m especially looking forward to bringing my children here to experience life closer to mother earth and understand the toil that goes on in the fields. 

To sum up, some of the best things in life or on a farm that cannot be framed but experienced. In all, a wonderful stay and lot to take in.