My Day Job

“So what is it that you do for a living?”

"I live and work in a Camphill."

"Oh great... what is that?"

At this point there are two ways out of this question. Answer a) would be "I run a non-profit". This answer gets me by, it fits into our pre-agreed frameworks of what type of job someone can hold in society. Also, it does allow for a quick conversation starter without me having to labour through a cumbersome explanation of what a Camphill is and why I said 'live and work'.

But if I were to try and attempt to give my most frequently asked question then I would have to opt for answer b). This one starts with a warning: "There is no quick answer to your question, but if you really want to know, give me about five minutes of your time please."

The first Camphill was founded in the 1940s in Aberdeen, Scotland, by Jewish refugees from Austria. The idea was to establish a living community where children with learning disabilities could be given the opportunity to live a life where their dignities were fully upheld and they were given the chance to become a full member of society to whichever degree they were able to. At the core of the Camphill movement is the belief that all human beings are just right the way they are and everybody has something to offer to their fellow humans.

Nowadays this idea might seem more commonly accepted, but if you were to look up your own countries' history of institutionalisation of people with learning disabilities, I bet you would be shocked.

How come that I ended up in a Camphill? Pure chance. Nothing intentional, although intuition did play a large part. But this is a story for another time.

I joined this Camphill community as a volunteer for my 'gap-year' (I know this is not a common practice in the US, but a lot of European young adults take a year 'out' between leaving school and starting University or their work training). I basically started at the lowest entry point here, a role with little glamour to it, but one that gave me the most amazing and challenging experience following my pampered youth in Germany. I shared a household with eight other people, which in itself was a shock for a single child, and I have lived in a shared household now for nearly fifteen years. Although through my own doing I now live in a household of 15 (I added five of my own children to the mix).

After my first year in Camphill I pursued a university degree, as I had always planned to do. However, I was unable to leave Camphill behind, as the bonds that I had forged with the people I lived and worked with, as well as the bond with the place itself were too strong to let go of. I continued studying until the British university system ran out of degrees whilst at the same time continuing to live my life at Camphill and taking on more and more responsibility in its organisational structure.

I had many moments of wondering what other work paths I ought to pursue, but none seemed to offer me the same combination of feeling challenged enough to grow as a human being whilst offering an incredibly rewarding experience. So when the job of CEO came up in 2018, I felt incredibly intimidated by the challenge of the role but equally a very strong pull towards this position as my life up until that point seemed to have prepared me for this role.

So when giving an answer about what I really do, a truthful answer ought to include providing care and support to some of the most vulnerable in society, nurturing and hosting young voluntary workers who come and live with us for a year, being socially invested in an active community life and working on ensuring a long and prosperous future for this place, which offers a home, a place of work or both for nearly 200 people. This place has been my home for since 2006, I met my wife here, we had our children here, I have either worked or lived in every single one of our 12 buildings, I have held all types of roles here and I feel that I have only scratched the surface of what truly is on offer here. But if we were to meet in an elevator I would need to revert back to me 'running a non-profit' as I continue to fail to provide a truthful concise answer to my most frequently asked question.