[Sdpg] Concentric Rings of Change - The Power of a Single African PDC, by Warren Brush, on PRI Website

[Quail Springs]

CONCENTRIC RINGS OF CHANGE - THE POWER OF A SINGLE AFRICAN PERMACULTURE
DESIGN COURSE

Excerpts below

(Full Article with photos at Permaculture Research Institute website:
http://permaculture.org.au/2010/12/29/concentric-rings-of-change-the-power-o
f-a-single-african-permaculture-design-course/) 

December 29, 2010

by Warren Brush of True Nature Design and Quail Springs Permaculture

Over 700 children, orphaned by the scourge of HIV in East Africa, live here
at Nyumbani Village. Nyumbani Village was founded in 2006 by the late Father
Angelo D'Agostino with a dream of offering orphaned children love, guidance,
and a sustainable existence. 

In just four short years, Nyumbani Village, located in the heart of the
Akamba traditional tribal area, has become, with the help of local and
international partners, an important and successful model for the care of
orphaned children and elders. It has developed an impressive infrastructure
that includes site-built housing using mud, cement and tin for nearly 800
people, ecological toilet composting systems, rainwater harvesting, food
security, long term natural capital systems, vocational education in
woodworking, sewing, metal work, and agriculture. 

Two years ago I was contacted by Joseph Ntunyoi, Director of the Nyumbani
Village Sustainability Department, and asked to teach the first Permaculture
Design Certificate (PDC) course at the village with the goal of inspiring
and advancing stable, resilient and sustainable systems of human settlement
in Kenya...

Our Nyumbani Village Permaculture Design Course attracted a powerful and
diverse group of students. From villagers and local Kenyans, to those from
as far away as Uganda, Liberia, India, Germany, and America, people came
with the goal of bringing useful knowledge and skills back to their
communities. The combination of their varied backgrounds and visions brought
an invaluable depth of understanding and experience to our course. This
diverse group of people, their unique constituencies, and their commitment
to generating concentric rings of positive change into the heart of the
world is the focus of this article...

...we were able to create a leverage point for the permaculture teachings
and their application to reach far and wide into the fabric of myriad
constituencies, cultures and bioregions with very little overall energy
expenditure. I realized that the very design of this course was working with
the principle of making the "most amount of change with the least amount of
energy input." A well designed and strategically attended Permaculture
Design Course is a keystone in creating a worldwide network of the local
application of the ethics and principles of permaculture. Let's each of us
support the growing of our capacity as an international grassroots campaign
by supporting a strong PDC teacher network and certification process so that
millions upon millions of PDC graduates in the future will be the fruit of
our efforts now.

 
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE WITH PHOTOS:  
http://permaculture.org.au/2010/12/29/concentric-rings-of-change-the-power-o
f-a-single-african-permaculture-design-course/