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SK DE03 – MILCHSCHÄFEREI ASBACH / FINDEWEGE
IDENTIFICATION OF THE CASE STUDY
Case study number: DE-03
Name of the farm/organization: Milchschäferei Asbach / Findewege / Dairy sheep farm Asbach / Findewege
Title of the case study:
Integrating youngsters into an organic sheep farm
MAIN DATA
Country
Germany
Year of establishment
2015
Target groups
- Teenagers and young adults
Type of farm
Biodynamic dairy sheep farm
Size (in hectares)
37 ha
Numbers of employees from target groups
0
Number of members from target groups using services without employment
1
Sources they live from
The dairy farm and the social work with youngsters are financially independent enterprises
Innovative / not innovative
Innovative
Websites
Farm:
www.instagram.com/milchschaefereiasbach/
Social work:
www.instagram.com/findewege_to_go_
DESCRIPTION
The dairy sheep farm Asbach which works with young adults was founded in 2015 by Raphael Heinze. It is located in Asbach (Thuringia, Germany). The main idea is to work on the farm with male young adults. During a period between three and seven months, young adults stay on the farm and the work together with an individual pedagogue who is Tobias Schäfer. The concept is that the (male) client comes to the farm voluntarily, that he works independently and that he takes on responsibility. The work they have to do is mainly with the sheep on the farm but sometimes there can be work to do on other farms close by. Financially all the costs are covered by the government.
POSITIVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
The main aspect was that when Tobias Schäfer did his apprenticeship to become a farmer, students from a Steiner school used to come to that farm to do their internship there. It was the moment when he realized that there is something special about young adults working with nature. His motivation is to create a good environment for the young adults where they can feel secure and he can be trustworthy person for them. After their experience there the young adults are able to keep the knowledge with them and carry it into the world. For that reason his biggest success is when the young adults can learn something for their own personal future during the time being. The biggest innovation for him is the way how he works that he not only supports young adults but by doing he supports his local community as well.
OBSTACLES AND HOW TO OVERCOME
The biggest obstacle for him is that you have general conditions given by the government when you work in the field of social farming. For example, you need to have an operating license for the work you do and you need to have a budget in order to establish everything. “Of course, there are always some problems” Tobias says, “but those problems are really based on the individual level. The most important aspect is that you are aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and then you will be able to help other people with their own problems”. But one aspect with is often similar with all his clients is that they are often overwhelmed by the world outside. In order to settle in properly into their new home, they need time and also space to find themselves again.
RECOMMENDATIONS, ADVICE
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Tobias Schäfer, photo provided by him
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Tobias is working with youngsters who are not easy to handle. “If a farmer wants to establish a similar concept on his farm, he should look for a collaboration with a social worker who would like to do the same. Because the social worker and the farmer will be able to combine their knowledge and skills to establish it together”. Living in a society based on the division of labor, a farmer does not need to become a social worker, but should look for sharing the work and competences. “You have to realize yourself how much work it will be and how much work you can manage. You really need to make sure where the personal limits are. Only then you can complete all tasks you need to achieve.” Each day should have a structure. You can orientate oneself on the four seasons in order to find this kind of structure. “The social worker should avoid to earn his money by only looking after the young adults but work with them, because “this is fulfilling your life and the life of the other person”. Furthermore it should be avoided to have the expectation that the young adults are able to do things the same way you can do them. So they should not be blamed for not doing things the right way.
PROMO
The farm has a homepage www.milchschaeferei-asbach.de as well as Tobias Schäfer www.findewege.de where he posts some content about his work from time to time. When he set up his business he wrote to government offices for youth welfare to inform them about his work. But after some this was not needed anymore because people knew about him. So then it just became word-of-mouth advertising.
FINAL SENTENCES
Within the next five years he would like to establish the work he does a little bit more. At the moment he already started to set up another place like this for young adults which is close by in a town called Tilleda. He also wants to encourage more people to do the kind of work he does. Maybe in the future some of them could join him too. He thinks that within the next ten years more and more people will work the way he does. Already now many people have a real interest in what he does. He is really happy about the fact that his concept worked out and that it has become financially self-supporting for him.
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A youngster caring for sheep, photo by Tobias Schäfer |
