Milking goats by hand and feeding cows were new experiences for a city girl from Moncton, N.B.
“It was fun,” said Melanie Daigle of the week she spent on a Clavet, Sask., farm.
Daigle was billeted at the farm as part of her time with Katimavik. The program takes Canadian youths aged 17-21 for an eight-month work experience in each of three regions of Canada. The volunteer program was created by two federal politicians 20 years ago, then axed by budget cuts, but reborn as a federal government project. This year 825 young people will take part in 75 projects, said a Katimavik news release.
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During her 10 weeks in Saskatchewan Daigle worked with the Canadian Red Cross providing abuse prevention education in schools.
But it also became a chance to learn about farming. She said the best part was the lifestyle and fresh air.
Her host for one week, Margo Zadvorny, said it was a realistic experience.
“She got a shock about some of the odors and how hard the work was.”
A couple of hours of stall cleaning on a neighbor’s dairy farm gave Daigle sore muscles.
Zadvorny said she did the billet because she enjoys young people and she wanted to show farm life as it is. She said people who think farmers asking for aid are bad managers don’t realize the lack of control over the weather or global pricing that farmers have to face.
Zadvorny also gave Daigle some other cultural exposure – riding a snowmobile, seeing dog mushing at a winter carnival and listening to a country music concert. Then she turned Daigle loose with some teenagers to go bowling and driving around. Daigle was astounded at car cruising, a common habit for prairie youths, but apparently not in Moncton.
Zadvorny and her miner husband have taken over her father’s farm since he retired. Their haying operation doesn’t take too much time but the farm is a lifestyle she wants for her two young daughters aged seven and five.
“We planted carrots and the girls said, ‘now let’s eat,'” said Zadvorny with a laugh about the lesson learned about patience.
For information about Katimavik call 888-525-1503 or visit the website at www.katimavik.org.
