Public Story
A Backpackers Farm Tale
This Visa gives to the young people the chance to travel and work in all the Australian territory for the duration of one year, with the purpose of promoting the open-mindedness about multiculturalism, allowing them to experiment the culture of another Country. In order to give more chances to the people who attempt to settle down in Australia, the government give them the opportunity to earn the renewal of the Working Holiday Visa for another year, working for at least 88 days in one of the farms of the Country. Once completed the 88 days, it’s possible to use the second Working Holiday Visa after the first or, as most people do, use it in the future keep an open door for a potential return to Australia. Before to undertake this experience a lot of young people are skeptical due to the little information regarding this argument. Most of them consider the farm a kind of forced labour to gain the freedom of traveling in Australia for another year. In a few words, a lot of people consider this opportunity to be more trouble than it’s worth, without knowing that the farm is not only a working experience, but a unique life experience and unrepeatable. During this experience the young learn what it means to work hard in order to reach an aim, they learn how to live everyday with people from every corner of the world who have completely different habits from theirs, but most of all they learn what is respect, cohesion and solidarity. The experience begin when entering the first time in the “Shared House” meeting all the other backpackers who will share this same path. Frequently the welcoming is not the best for a simple reason. Most of the houses are incredibly overcrowded and even one more person makes the difference when there is no privacy. Especially during the high season the Shared House can host more than 20 backpackers at once, making the cohabitation borderline impossible. The common spaces as the kitchen, the bathroom and the living room are often occupied by other people, and this in the long run can create irritability that spills over into frustration. However this is only temporary because after having spent several week all together the backpackers are no longer unknown, but they already begin to be friends. The bond that is formed among the backpackers is every day more solid thanks a totally shared life style. After several months spent together, the backpackers have shared the same sufferings during the working day, the same frustrations due to an overcrowded house, but they have even shared wonderful moments at the beach, long strolls in the nature and crazy party nights. All the barriers erected by the cultural difference have been demolished by the sense of togetherness. All the sufferings and the exertions caused by the hard work have been wiped out by solidarity. All the moments of loneliness and sadness due to the distance from the loved ones have been supplanted by the smiles of the people that were near you everyday. These people that only few months ago were unknown to each other from every corner of the earth, have now become what is possible to call a full-fledged big multicultural family. At the beginning of this experience you can have the sensation of ending up in a nightmare from which you’re looking forward to escape. Surprisingly when the end comes, a part of you would never want to leave because unconsciously you know that you’re leaving behind a second family that will be impossible to recreate, but that will stay forever in your heart.
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