Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker, Episode 2 – Ringo in Afghanistan II
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Developments, Land, News, Podcasts, Project Positions, Village Development — by Patrick Blampied May 5, 2010
‘Confessions of a Permaculture Aid Worker’ (CPAW) is a new weekly podcast show from PRI Australia aimed at documenting the experiences of people out in the field and making more information available about what’s happening in the Permaculture world.
You can subscribe to CPAW podcast feeds here!
A local girls school started by Mahboba’s Promise 8 years ago and is the
location of an upcoming Permaculture garden program initiated by
"Kids Are Sweet International" founder Lesley ‘Zaynab’ Byrne.
Episode 2 is the second part of an on-going conversation I’m having over skype with Paul Kean, aka Ringo. Originally from Perth in Australia, Ringo is currently in Kabul, Afghanistan working on a project there which has been organised by PRI and funded by Mahboba’s Promise.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Local Knowledge
- Cement Water Tanks
- Excursion to Panjshir valley
- Mud building and design
- The hunt for nitrogen fixing trees
- Bali Belly
- Building the Compost Toilet
- Waste Disposal
Editor’s Notes: Ringo has taken PRI’s Permaculture Project Aid Worker (PPAW) course, which helps prepare workers for challenging/interesting/rewarding permaculture experiences worldwide, and is now finding paid placements through PRI’s growing network of projects. After Afghanistan, Ringo is heading to Malaysia. Our next PPAW course starts June 14, and after that is September 13.
Want to make your work known?: If you are working on-location somewhere, and want to tell the world about your work and vision, contact editor (at) permaculturenews.org in the first instance.
Pictures to follow:
Comments (2)Keeping Heart in Pine Ridge
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, Financial Management, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by Cory Brennan May 4, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a series. Read Part I of Cory’s series here.
Many good things came from the Permaculture Design Course we held last September at the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation. Our project is on target to be self-sustaining within three years and has moved beyond that in a number of ways.
Comments (2)Cultivating an Education: A visit to Allyn River Permaculture
Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by P. David Stockhausen May 1, 2010
As the permaculture movement marches forward into the sustainable future, there appears to be a growing collective insight shared by permaculturalists world-wide; information is the new global currency. In response to a growing demand and an increasingly urgent need for education and information, strategies and techniques we can use to create a sustainable future are invaluable. And there are many who feel that they can’t be spread quickly enough. Sensing a call to action, some permaculturalists with access to land and resources have begun to see the value in the propagation of a truly sustainable crop: students. One of those permaculture designers is Peter Brecknock.
Letters from Chile: Visiting Dichato – the Town That Was
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News, Retrofitting, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor April 30, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a series. Read Part I here.
A former beautiful, bustling and touristy coastal town in Chile clings to an uncertain future after being engulfed by the 2010 tsunami.
A Dichato fishing boat scene, in waning evening light, exudes a serenity that
belies the realities of the almost complete destruction behind.
All photos © copyright Craig Mackintosh
Up to 90% of the buildings of Dichato were destroyed, creating a graveyard
of rubble, peppered with dilapidated buildings – many of which may soon end
up the same way.
Yesterday I visited the little coastal town of Dichato. A few months ago, such a trip might have included a bare-footed wade along the town’s tranquil beach, and, depending on the time of day, could have included a friendly wave or greater interaction with some of the smiling local fishermen bringing in their hauls. Afterwards I might have had a nice meal at one of the sun-drenched seaside restaurants or a coffee break in one of the town’s modest cafes, frequented by sea-loving tourists from near and far. It’s the kind of place many could envision themselves retiring in, or where you might establish a small business to accommodate a more leisurely lifestyle choice. Framed by green hills and groves, lined by a long sandy beach, and embraced by a beautiful natural cove that passively calms the restless South Pacific ocean, Dichato was, simply put, a very nice place to be.
Comments (6)Mullumbimby Community Gardens Moves Ahead Apace
Community Projects, Consumerism, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, Food Shortages, Land, Networking Sites, People Systems, Social Gatherings, Society, Surveying, Swales, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Jeannette Martin April 12, 2010
Editor’s Note: For background on the excellent work going on at the Mullumbimby Community Gardens, an update for which is found below, see here, here and here.
Mullumbimby’s community garden is blossoming into a hive of activity with people from all walks of life building, creating and gardening together. Our communal gardens and new allotments are now brimming with organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers while 18 "Pods" (special interest groups) develop programs and projects that are launching MCG into a sustainable living education centre.
Comments (2)Permaculture Network in Ghana – 2004 – 2009
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Paul Yeboah April 7, 2010
This article was written by Paul Yeboah, Permaculture Network President and Ghana Manager of Edge5 and Agnes Ameyaa the secretary of Permaculture Network – Ghana.
In the year 2004, Kristo Buase Monastery invited Greg Knibbs from Australia to teach at the monastery in the Techiman District in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. It is situated in the transition area between the Forest zone in the south of the country and the Savannah zone in the north. One of the most dominating landscape features of this area is the enormous sandstone rock outcrops (called ‘inselbergs’). Greg came for the purpose of running the first Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course in Ghana. This initial course was for farm workers and the monks. A second course was conducted for the rest of the farm workers and some people from nearby communities. Paul Yeboah, the farm manager at that time, helped Greg Knibbs in the translation of the English language to Akan language for the course and was valuable in lecturing on local farming systems.
Comments (3)Morocco PDC – a Success in the Making!
Courses/Workshops, Developments — by Andy Homer April 3, 2010
A big Thank You to all who helped out when it was looking doubtful the course on the 17th April would have enough students to make it viable. We now have plenty of students, many from Morocco. There’s still room for more, but at this late stage it would be camping only.
Comments (2)Towards Local Democracy
Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organisations, Community Projects, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Networking Sites, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Marcin Gerwin March 23, 2010
It’s been more than a year since we’ve started our initiative in Sopot, Poland. It has the same aim as the Transition initiatives, however we have decided to focus on local democracy first. Democracy helps to eliminate the struggles of political parties and it weakens vested interests. What we have also quickly realized is that even if you come up with a great plan for improving public transport or installing a biogas digester in your city, there’s this little, tiny issue: how can you make it all happen? Where will the money come from? Who will give all permits and change the city plans? The city council may be supportive and help you with that, but what if your city council is not interested in preparing for peak oil and doesn’t care about climate change? Certainly, citizens can exchange the city council in the next elections, nevertheless, at least in Poland, members of the council don’t have to keep their promises. Their commitments are not guaranteed by law. With participatory democracy citizens are involved in decision making directly. Citizens don’t need to worry about political campaigns, they can think long-term. If most of the citizens share the vision of a sustainable city, and if they have a direct influence on budget spending, than realizing this vision becomes possible. And, what’s also important, all projects are not imposed on people by the mayor, but they are agreed upon by the majority of the population.
Introducing the Southern Oregon Permaculture Institute (SOPI)
Commercial Farm Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Chuck Burr
Southern Oregon now has its own permaculture institute, demonstration farm and more. After two years in development, the Southern Oregon Permaculture Institute (SOPI) nonprofit is now open for business. “Our first courses will be held this spring.”
SOPI provides a unique blend of permaculture education, new model demonstration and what we call Culturequake education. Our book, Culturequake: The Restoration Revolution and future courses describe how we got to where we are now, what the obvious impacts are and then how to design new community and economic models that blend what has worked well in the past with what we have today.
Comments (1)Work of Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge Begins Snowball Effect for Entire Region
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Alex McCausland March 8, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is an exciting update on progress from the Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge project in Ethiopia. Congratulations to the whole team in Ethiopia!
It was a moment of fulfillment for us at Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge (SFEL). The head of the Konso Woreda Education Bureau, Mr. Geyeto Gedeno, stood in front of those gathered, his fumbling speech soon beginning to gather momentum:
We now want to see this program expanded to all the schools in Konso, making us an example to the whole society and the rest of Ethiopia! Permaculture shows us how to achieve food security and environmental preservation, how to improve our nutrition and benefit our ecology, all through direct community action!” We all clapped and cheered heartily.
Gathered around the training room were teachers, parents and children from the three schools where the Permaculture in Konso Schools Project (PKSP), pilot project, had been underway since May 2009, when it began with training of teachers at SFEL, in a PDC that was part funded by a former volunteer (and a good friend of ours, Sarah Davis from Austin Texas) and part funded by Save the Children Finland (STCF).
Comments (4)Jawaseri School Garden Project, Jordan
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conservation, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Irrigation, Land, Nurseries & Propogation, People Systems, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor February 6, 2010
Just as I was leaving Jordan, after making the Greening the Desert II update video, another little project was just getting underway – the Jawaseri School Garden project. A few people have emailed pictures of progress over the last few months and I’ve combined these with Geoff’s narration from the PRI home base in Australia, to give you all a bit of an idea what’s happening there. May it inspire you to do similar where you are!
Permaculture education should be in every school, everywhere. If it was, I believe most of the world’s problems could be solved within a decade.
Comments (6)The Panya Permaculture Project & the Living Seeds Festival
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments — by Leah Galvin December 30, 2009
Recently, The Panya Permaculture Project here in Thailand collaborated with Pun-Pun (an organic farm, seed-saving operation, and sustainable living and learning centre) to launch The Living Seeds Festival; an annual festival to celebrate biodiversity, sustainable living and community in northern Thailand.
The Festival included local organic food, organic seed exchange, massage and natural healing, and demonstrations such as natural building, earthen ovens, organic gardening techniques, appropriate technology and more…. The main aim of the Festival was to raise awareness on our present food crisis. The loss of food varieties (both in the markets and our diets), damage to land and soil (caused by conventional farming techniques), and the fragility of food security were just some of the many issues presented.
Comments (2)How to Repair the World
Aid Projects, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Land, News, Plant Systems, Project Positions, Rehabilitation, Trees, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor December 9, 2009
The video embedded in this page spotlights the excellent work of Willie Smits I profiled a little while ago, where rainforest restoration in Borneo not only restored biodiversity and gave increased livelihood opportunities to local people, but it also increased cloud cover and rainfall as well. It’s well worth a watch:
We’re pleased to announce that we’re partnering with the makers of the video above, WeForest, to help establish self-replicating permaculture reforestation demonstration sites in accordance with our Permaculture Master Plan, in several worldwide locations – starting in Zambia in the first instance. Our Geoff Lawton has just agreed to be on their advisory board, and we’ll be working to supply guidance, knowhow and staff to pioneer these projects.
This is just one example of the many encouraging collaborative results we get as people boil current events down to their only logical conclusion – discovering we need to quit battling nature and get busy harnessing biological synergies to repair the earth and rebuild sustainable community interactions.
Comments (4)Exploring Dryland Strategies for Resilience – Atacama, Northern Chile
Community Projects, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Grifen Hope November 27, 2009
Desert Flowers
Recently we had a whirlwind tour of Atacama in the north of Chile, the driest place on earth. This was a learning experience rather than teaching – in this hostile and vulnerable landscape that has been occupied for thousands of years we find strategies for building resilience.
Comments (3)Permaculture Seeds Sprouting on St. Croix
Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, News — by Ethan Roland November 18, 2009
Birds eye view of the Virgin Island Sustainable Farm Institute
St. Croix, a 6 x 20 mile island in the Caribbean, is exploding with positive action. Led by the Virgin Island Sustainable Farm Institute, locally grown food and ecological agriculture are seeding in with island people and travelers across the island. Now, in collaboration with AppleSeed Permaculture and Gaia University, the US Virgin Islands are being innoculated with the empowering principles and processes of permaculture design.
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