[Sdpg] permaculture connections

[Matthew Blom]

Green Greetings!

 

I got these addresses as possbile places where an course posting could be sent.  I have sent a brief course description, and then a personal account from one of the course participants.  They are still looking for participants for the course, so any place or people you could inform would be greatly apprecaited.

 

peace,

Matthew

 

4 Week Sustainable Living Training
Permaculture Design, Natural Building & Sustainable Living Skills
January 22th-February 22nd 2005

Join us in Thailand this January and February for another 4 week training in Permaculture and Natural Building. Instructors from three continents will lead this training which will include: Permaculture Design, natural building, Deep Ecology, community building, weaving and spinning, natural health & healing, and alternative models of learning. 
    
http://whisperingseed.org/pcinfojan.html

a project of: The Whispering Seed (www.whisperingseed.org) A village based, community learning center and home for orphaned and abused children, finding the joy in serving others through cross-cultural exchanges and sustainable living practices.

 

 


more on my personal experience at the course last year...

i went to this course not knowing much about agriculture or gardening at 
all, and not really knowing what to expect. i will admit to being one of 
those typical urban recyclers & cloth shopping bag carriers that didn't 
understand that those actions aren't enough. and as the permaculture course opened my eyes to the impact of my every action/choice on the earth, society, and my immediate community - the lessons were reinforced by the 
scenes of rural thailand: the villagers who are in the first generation of 
casting off a sustainable (by necessity) lifestyle for one that emulates 
the western ideal; the farmers who are in their first few years of being 
able to afford the 'advancement' of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; 
the hillsides and diversified farms that have newly been stripped and 
planted with rows of cassava or a similar cash crop. i'm sure you're 
familiar with these facts - there's just something about learning 
permaculture in a recently fallen garden of eden that makes the principles 
that much more persuasive, and the movement that much more urgent.

but this particular course was extraordinarily special. no, really - there 
were qualities of magic. one participant's fiance even remarked after his 
return to israel that he had a marked personality change. i think it had to 
do with the community that was created during the 6 weeks that we were there (the upcoming course has been shortened to 4 wks). both of the organizers have worked for many years in the field of alternative 
education, and the course was run much like an open classroom - which is to say that the emphasis was on building a community of individuals focused on learning from each other rather than following a schedule of events and lectures.

the collection of individuals was already incredible - from a man who had just spent the last 2 years building a fully sustainable (they felled and hauled each log themselves with only natural power) dwelling in scotland, to a group of youth from shan state (burma) who were committed to bring back permaculture to the native farmers as a means of empowerment, to a woman who had just spent the last few months intensvely building cobb houses in oregon. and i learned from each and every one of them. plus various friends of the organizers would stop by every few days & give a spontaneous presentation or performance: a traditional musical group from 
chiang rai, a deep ecologist who leads spiritual forest walks, a thai man 
who rides his bicycle to a new province every few months teaching 
permaculture principles to village children. by the end of the time i was 
there, i had a network of people to visit and projects to help with 
throughout thailand.

i could really go on and on. it was an incredible introduction to 
permaculture, thailand, and the ideas of empowerment & self-sufficiency. my 
experience in thailand was the first step in my path to living for Now, and not for some future recognition, prize or accomplishment. and i attribute a lot about my current mind-space to the people i met there - at this course. to the immediacy with which things happen on a beautiful permaculture farm, in a tropical country, surrounded by people living their dreams. over the 6 weeks we were there, we became a community. and at the end of 6 weeks, we had a home.

thailand, permaculture, playing in mud. how can you go wrong?
i might even go back myself...

...wanda, san francisco



 



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"When we understand the needs that motivate our own and others' behaviors, we have no enemies."

-Marshall Rosenberg, creator of Non-Violent Communication (www.cnvc.org)


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