Welcome to Hidden Villa Farm and Wilderness Preserve, a 1,600-acre natural sanctuary where activists, mostly comprised of volunteers, preach environmental education, multicultural understanding and social justice to children everyday.

According to representative Noelle Marquis, Hidden Villa is a place to volunteer, hike, eat, go to camp and to visit farm animals of all kinds and sizes. Marquis, like many other Hidden Villa representatives visited social and behavioral science classes such as sociology, child development and environmental studies during De Anza’s first week of instruction in an attempt to recruit volunteers.

According to Garth Harwood, assistant volunteer coordinator, several dozen De Anza students signed their names, informing Hidden Villa of their interest in the volunteer programs. He said that 10 to 12 students came to the volunteer training Saturday, Jan. 13.

La Voz had the opportunity to visit Hidden Villa last week to witness volunteers in training. When we arrived, the doors to the visitors’ center were locked, but a group of volunteers inside began gesturing for us to come in. We smiled, perplexed, until environmental educationist Elizabeth Bowden-Smith, who has worked at Hidden Villa for 17 years, opened the door and greeted us inside and offered us a hot cup of tea.

Bowden-Smith informed us that she was in the middle of training volunteers but that we were welcome to sit in on the session.

She was in the middle of explaining the backpack must-haves. Out of her backpack, she pulled a no garbage lunch, a water bottle, a handkerchief with a trail map on it, a sock with a magnifying glass in it, and sunblock. “It can be intense working with children … Bring aspirin to take care of yourself,” Bowden-Smith said.

“Hidden Villa encourages teaching guides to learn how to interact with the children,” Harwood said. He encouraged the volunteers to discuss the “Six Plant Parts,” the heat of the compost pile, feeding the chickens, and to visit Heather the Jersey cow. As in regular school, children often become bored or uninterested in this “living classroom,” said Harwood. So, it’s the responsibility of the leader to engender wonder and awe with the children. “Once they care about something, they’ll take care of it,” he said.

“If a student says, ‘eww, a bug,’ here’s an opportunity to liven up the crowd.” He said that volunteers could respond with, “That bug is one of our garden helpers.” Little conversational pieces such as these hold the interest of the young students.

According to Harwood, a goal of Hidden Villa is “to open children’s eyes for the first time to see something new.”

According to their website, the following programs unite diverse people and encourage respect to the connectedness to each other and all living things:

• Multicultural summer camp programs for youth, ages 6-18.
• Environmental education programs for elementary school classes.
• Community programs offer insightful forums, hikes and cultural performances.
• Group rental facilities, including a hostel for international and local visitors.
• Fresh organic produce from the Community Supported Agriculture program.
• Kids’ activities and programs on weekends for youth and families.
• Volunteer and internship opportunities in their programs, from organic gardening to trail maintenance to office administration, for ages 15-95.

Hidden Villa is located at 26870 Moody Road in Los Altos Hills.