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44 WC DAIRY NEWS  CHRISTMAS 2024
A Different Temporary Foreign Worker
Meet Gabrielle!
Ben and Suzanne Cuthbert of Silvermaple Holsteins on Vancouver Island first hosted a French intern student in 2012,
after being approached by a ‘friend of a friend’ from Germany. “We didn’t know what to expect, but we can say after
hosting 10 interns, every one has been exceptional! They work hard, they are intelligent, curious and it’s clear they want
to be here,” Suzanne shares. The Purpan Engineering School in Toulouse, France, focusses on the agri-food industry,
agronomy and agricultural sectors. Cuthberts’ 2024 intern, Gabrielle explains, “The summer after the second year
at this school, students spend 12 weeks in an English-speaking country working in a research center or on a farm.
Students go all around the world - Canada, New Zealand, Australia, USA, Scotland, United Kingdom and many other
countries.” All agricultural operations can be considered, not just dairy. “These young people aren’t afraid to dive in
and get dirty,” Suzanne continues. “What you don’t realize at the start, is that these experiences are just as rewarding
for us as them! We are still in contact with our first intern, Jade, who operates a trout farm with her husband in France
– selling direct to restaurants.”
Gabrielle Hope-Rapp
PURPAN is an engineering school in Toulouse, France.
For all the students on farms, they live with the family
and spend time with them, not only at work, but also
experiencing everyday life. It is a great experience to
improve our skills and knowledge about agricultural
work, but also to become more independent and develop
our adaptation skills. Furthermore, the main goal is to
become fluent in English.
Thanks to my study, I had the opportunity to spend
the summer of 2024 at Silvermaple Holsteins on
Vancouver Island, where Ben and Suzanne Cuthbert
hosted me. I came all the way from France where I am
studying agronomy and food processing at Purpan
Engineering School. It is a five-year program with a lot
of opportunities to travel to foreign countries to grasp
tomorrow’s challenges and understand the world and
its issues.
In this context, I flew to the farm at the end of my
second year to spend three months immersed in an
English-speaking family. I had a wonderful time with
the Cuthberts where I felt welcomed right away.
Gabrielle’s favourite farm task was tedding hay.
Besides the farm work, Ben and Suzanne took me
to visit the Island, and I am very grateful for that! I
never thought I would see so much of the Island, from
Vancouver to the landscapes and wildlife of Hornby
Island, Ucluelet, Cathedral Grove, Tofino and other
worth-seeing sites.
This experience was very enriching for all the things
I saw and learned about the farm but not only that. It
was a wonderful human experience; I am grateful for
meeting this family and the time I spent with these
wonderful people.
For anyone who is of thinking taking an intern, know
that if you want to host a French student from PURPAN,
it is not only the opportunity to have someone to help
you in your work. It would be working with someone
eager to learn about your work, how you run your farm
and about your country.
Interns benefit greatly from the non-farm
experiences too – like seeing giant trees!
(Cathedral Grove)
Gabrielle admitted learning a lot through her
responsibilities with the calves and youngstock.
On the farm I had the opportunity to work with the cows, the
calves and even on the fields. Every morning, I was working in
the barn before breakfast to push cows to the robots, clean
the barn, stalls, robots and feed hay to the special needs
cows. And every afternoon I took care of the calves, to feed
them and treat them if needed. Taking care of the calves
was not always easy, but I am glad it was my task because
I learned lots about their raising and how delicate it is. In
between, it was a little bit different every day. Sometimes
I was making sure the cows were going through the robots,
and everything stayed clean, moving calves, tagging, and
registering calves, or my favorite thing, tedding hay. It
was also worthwhile to go help at Thomas’ chicken farm
because I did not know anything about it before coming
to Canada. I got to see the auction of a herd in the Fraser
Valley and be at the VI Holstein Club Barn Day and picnic,
both remarkably interesting experiences and opportunity
to see diverse kinds of barns.
Interested in considering this unique
experience? Students must work full-time,
for a minimum of 12 weeks between June 15
and October 6, 2025. Students should have
one to two days off per week (or equivalent).
All agricultural operations can be considered
for this program – not just dairy.
For further information,
please feel free to contact:
Philomène Guilbert
Head of Internship Abroad Program
E-mail: internship-abroad@purpan.fr
All of us at TerraLink
wish you a very
Merry Christmas
and the very best for the New Year.
Rooted in your community® since 1973.