KORA’S TEAM AT LA BUONA TERRA
An uncertain time has brought Kora’s team to live all together at the farm “La Buona Terra” in Passignano sul Trasimeno, where the association was originally founded. Seven people from different countries, but this experience has united them more than ever.
The last month at the farm was vivid for Kora’s team. They helped in constructing, cleaning the plants from weed and harvesting. Besides that, they continued their work in photography, video-making, social media and project writing. Also, they had the chance to try the COMnGO Online Training. In their free time, they organised cooking days, movie nights and team building activities to not get bored. This is what our intern Antonia from Austria experienced during this time:
“It was a very exciting and interesting month for me. Such as the weather changed from snow to the summer heat, everyday was different at the farm. I could learn so much about the plants on the farm by harvesting the rosemary or cleaning the thyme plants from weed. For me, this was very refreshing since it was something I have never done before. Also, I got the chance to try myself more in video-making and photography. I created English lesson videos for the Youth center where we used to work, and it was quite entertaining. One of the most memorable moments was for sure when we built the Dome together. For three days we were screwing piece by piece together just to have this amazing result in the end that we could only achieve by working together. During this last period here I love how everyone of us contributed with ideas to make our free time as rich as possible. Once we organised a night to present our passions to the others, the other day we followed hints around the farm in a treasure hunt. Also, we had the chance to learn many new Italian recipes, from Ravioli to Parmigiana. All this made me grow much closer to all the people around me and I am really happy I have the opportunity to live at this beautiful piece of land”.
Our volunteer Diana from Latvia told us about her time at the farm:
“My month here at the farm was amazing. We were doing a lot of things, like cleaning and taking care of the herbs. For this we had to kill a lot of “Mother More” plants (blackberry plants) and grass around the herbs. I would say that was the main work during the last weeks. I also started to learn more about the herbs such as thyme or lavender, how to cultivate them and their benefits and usage. This happens in a way automatically when you work with the plants since we could always ask questions to the Vice President of Kora, Daniele, who is with us during the day. What excited me a lot was also to collect the rosemary for the essential oil. During this time I realized that here in Italy there are plants growing all around the farm that you can use, like sage for tea or asparagus from the forest. So I learned that in Italy it is impossible to starve! The most exciting part during this month was to build the Dome. In the beginning, I just saw the material and I could never ever imagine what it will be in the end. But it turned out so great and I am really proud of myself that I was part of this. Also, I started to take care of the sheep on the farm, which is just a small task to bring them to the house and give them food and water. But still, it makes me feel good to take care of something alive.”
Also, Kora’s volunteer Arturs from Latvia had an exciting month at La Buona Terra:
“Every day was a discovery of different plants or trees. Also, I was preparing the firewood and heating the oven for the house. For me, this place here is really a place for discovery. The wood here in Italy is so different from what I know from Latvia, because of the environment and the weather. I learned many skills and ways to grow plants here thanks to Daniele and his family and their self-sufficient way of living. And now it is spring, I guess, even though the weather sometimes seems like summer, I shouldn’t be fooled, maybe the winter will return. I find it very interesting how all the plants are blooming already. This is nothing I am used to see in Latvia.”
In the next weeks, our volunteers are going to continue working on the farm, harvesting and learning more about the Mediterranean herbs. All these they will capture in pictures and videos. Stay tuned!