Page 13 - C.A.L.L. #38 - Summer 2014

every meal) from the candle shop, and water cascades. These are now standard in
virtually all the food could be produced by
the village: bread, milk products, jams,
vegetables, herb teas, honey, and meat. This
self sufficiency is not an end in itself, but
rather a way of ensuring that each person is
employed doing something that is useful to
the village. In many cases in mainstream
society, people with special needs are
peripheralised and “looked after” and so
denied an active and useful role. In the
world of Camphill, every person has
something to contribute, and feels self-
worth even when fetching the milk or laying
the table.
In addition to the work branches, there are
the houses to be run; washing, cooking and
cleaning. This is considered work, just as
important as production, and the occupation
of “housewife”, “house mother” or
“homemaker” is as vital to the well being of
the community as any other profession.
Everyone has a workplace, and contributes
something useful to the running of the
village, according to his or her capability.
Within this sphere no money changes hands,
and work is seen to be something that is
freely given within the fellowship,
recognizing that some people have higher
capabilities than others. In recent years,
more and more Camphill communities are
experiencing a need to employ people for
specific tasks, introducing a new group of
salaried employees. However, Camphill still
strives to create fellowship in the economic
life, and a flexible equality in the social
sphere.
The farms and gardens in Camphill villages
are usually biodynamic, producing food of
the highest quality while nurturing both soil
and wildlife. Generally the organic waste
from the kitchens is composted, usually by a
village compost set-up. Horse transport is
quite common, being very efficient and low
cost at a village scale. Villages in England
have pioneered waste-water treatment
using ponds, reed-beds and «Flow Form»
13
the Norwegian villages, and throughout
Camphill worldwide. Buildings, both
communal halls and chapels, and the large
residential houses, are largely constructed
out of natural materials, and avoid the use
of poisons and plastics as much as possible.
Camphill attitudes to the natural world
and how to repair it
When Karl König came to frame the ideals
of the Camphill Community he included the
natural surroundings, and invited ”All who do
their work out of love for the children, the
sick, the suffering; out of love for the soil,
the gardens and fields, the woods…” to join
and be active in the Community.
König was aware of the dangers that the
environment faced and stated in 1956:
“There are, however, other aims ahead of
us. One of the foremost tasks will be the
care of the land. Gardens and farms today
are ruined and exploited by mechanised
work and chemical fertilizers. The soil all
over the world is like someone who suffers
and cries out for help and healing. It is to
be hoped that the Movement will find the
right helpers to create remedial work in this
field.”
Karl Kønig: “The resources of the earth are
gigantic and mankind has taken them for
granted as unquestioned conditions of
existence to which there was no thinkable
limit. But in recent decades, the results of
man’s insatiable use of the elements have
begun to loom threateningly all over the
world.”
In 1989 Fiona Wessels writes in response to
the question, How can Camphill respond to
the Needs of our Time?: “What is Camphill’s
contribution towards healing the pollution of
the earth? Pollution makes the earth and
her spheres into an ill body. It is the healing
impulse within Camphill that can contribute
to her healing. …in responding to the needs