There is always a need for volunteers to help out on the Nassar family farm. In addition to supporting the actual work carried out on the land, the presence of international volunteers helps keep the Israeli Military and illegal settlers off the land. Volunteers provide a cadré of possible eyewitnesses to any effort to demolish animal pens, trees, compost toilets, tents, etc.; you need to be both hard-working and observant.
The Tent of Nations website has a volunteer application form with detailed descriptions of the kinds of work needed to be done there. All volunteers are expected to help defray the costs of their time on the farm, which sounds like an oxymoron: Who pays someone for the privilege of volunteering? Well, it is a privilege in so many ways, but there is an expense present that the family is not yet able to cover. They are on their way to making the farm self-sufficient, but that time has not yet come. Meanwhile, there is food and water to pay for, laundry needs, bedding, transportation costs, etc. that must be covered. The fee is minimal, and it decreases for the long-term volunteers.
The biggest benefits to volunteering on the farm come in small packages:
- planting a tree and nurturing the roots as they take a strong hold in the rocky soil;
- picking grapes and watching them turned into wine, raisins, jam;
- hauling rocks and turning them into walls of support;
- watching as a child at the Summer Camp smiles as he or she pets a donkey for the first time or swings high into the freedom of the open air;
- learning about yourself and the wider world around you;
- getting to know others from around the world;
- giving back when you are given so much;
- singing around an open campfire with friends and colleagues after a day of hard work;
- picking olives or almonds or apples or figs, one at a time; and
- sharing a glorious sunset in a part of the world you never expected to visit – the Holy Land.
You pay a small price for these memories; you reap huge personal rewards from your work.
Thank you for considering becoming part of an ever-growing group of individuals who love justice.