Museums are fine to look at and learn from and all that... but knowledge from real world experiences is.. oh something else!
A visit to Falkulla I thought was going to be just another entertaining trip where
we 'll get to see a few animals and probably have a bite to eat sitting under the sun. How naive of me to have expected just that! It was a lot more than simple fun. The hands on learning thrilled the little ones and the impact it had on them was amazing.
The sheep, goats, pigs, cows, horses, hens, ducks, rabbits became their teachers. The animals guided them as Vaibhav and Shriya fed the pinkest pigs with the curliest tails, petted the big ,burly, bellowing cows, watched the goats being milked and the horses being put to bed in their stables.
Falkulla is extra special also because of the people managing it. Young volunteers, 17 and 18 year old schoolkids are in complete control. They engage in practical work caring for the animals and take full responsibility for the gentle beasts. And what a brilliant job they do! How did that slip of a girl manage to steer that huge cow? Can a goat be so deftly milked that it does not even realize it? How do they get a herd of rams with fearful looking horns follow them without straying?
Farm activities are labour intensive. Its no joke, pushing bales of hay or carrying heavy pails of animal feed. And of course who better to do it all than young people with their boundless energy and intense curiosity? There are activities for young people aged all the way from 9 till 18. Every day of the week offers a different job and everybody is welcome. You can volunteer to clean the stables one day and probably learn about dealing with a sick animal another day.
How educative, how exciting!
The National History Museum we visited a few weeks back had spectacular displays. But I think the kids' votes for a revisit would be to this living museum, fun, fun, fun Falkulla Farm!
