tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76162013587642520772024-03-13T08:40:52.812-07:00Sustain-abilityThese are my thoughts regarding the sustainable community project in Sicambeni village, 15 kms inland from Port St Johns on the East coast of South Africa.We started 6 months ago and have a thriving vegetable garden.The important changes have been in people and how they approach life knowing that they are running their own lives, helping a community to sustain itself and showing others that it can be done.Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-63130818649910713852008-06-06T07:22:00.001-07:002008-06-06T07:24:37.217-07:00Decentralising sustainability is becoming more attractive as most organisations ignore warnings of increased food shortages.For much of the 20 century many people lived a comfortable life. Many did not live as comfortably but there were not as many living in desperation and despair as there are now.<br /><br />Food shortages will only increase and it is becoming obvious that centralising assistance does not solve the core issue. Governments and other organisations looking at the problem have very little capability other than handouts. It is up to the smaller projects on the ground to teach people to go back the old way of life, living directly off the land.<br /><br />This idea of decentralising and focusing food solutions on individuals and then their immediate communities succeeds because it is started on a manageable level.<br /><br />The massive deliveries of food aid, whilst essential to prevent major loss of life, can never turn the situation around and teach those people how to sustain themselves.<br /><br />This sort of turnaround is made by the individuals, community members and volunteers who don’t work as a number in a large organisation, they are left to pursue ideas and develop as individuals even while they help the community to develop.<br /><br />What is an unquantifiable consequence of this strategy is the people who move on and in turn teach their new community or home community the idea that sustainable living is actually sustainable.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
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<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-22313283628026132752008-04-29T12:29:00.000-07:002008-04-29T12:50:42.704-07:00Reverting back to subsistence farming is not only a poor persons responsibility.The recent price hikes in staple and basic foods across the world are a warning and indeed a wakeup call to all who value life on this earth and feel a need to nurture and look after nature as we know her.<br /><br />We have plundered and pillaged nature and her resources and we are starting to feel the bite as the realisation creeps in that the honeymoon period might just be over and nature could be starting to fight back.<br /><br />Insufficient crops and people starving. Countries that were exporting rice before have cut back as they need to feed their own people.<br /><br />The first targets of these kind of breakdowns in food production are the poor and we in South Africa are in the midst of some desperation driven by hunger.<br /><br />Trevor Manuel, our Finance Minister, urged poor people to go back to subsistence farming and yet the warning was something not heard by many it seems.<br /><br />We have far too much land available for cultivation that lies unused or underused and in these times of global crop uncertainty this is tantamount to a criminal act.<br /><br />If disused land were made available for cultivation, it would make feeding our people an easier task and many people unthreatened so far by shortages would be suprised at the results of their own backgarden once it is pressed into subsistence use.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
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<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-6850088350492038512008-03-19T00:11:00.000-07:002008-06-14T23:32:40.470-07:00Water is life and is essential to building sustainability.The publicity surrounding Water Week in South Africa and the focus on issues like access to water and the hazards of drinking dirty and polluted water is a positive event on our calendar.<br /><br />Water is life and the search for a workable model of sustainable living that can be maintained indefinitely must revolve around the question of access to clean water and the uninterrupted access to this resource in the future.<br /><br />At Sicambeni village we dug a small dam at Mama Pats place last year in time for the rains. This was done to prevent the loss of water due to runoff down the hill and also to alleviate the soil erosion.<br /><br />The success of this dam in providing ample water for irrigating the garden at Mama Pats has focused attention on the need for proper water management in the rest of the community.<br /><br />On the new land recently released by the community for further expansion by Amapondo Projects the question of how to store this precious resource and not allow the rains to simply flow into the river and out to sea is being debated.<br /><br />Possibilities include another small dam or two, a channelling system whereby rain water can be redirected onto the crops as well as neighbouring land with their own small gardens as well as the location of these projects with an eye on future expansion.<br /><br />We don’t have final plans as yet, the debate and discussion within the community is in itself a crucial part of the Amapondo Projects and the direction they are taking.<br /><br />The current crop of volunteers are also involved in brainstorming and looking at possible solutions to making the new land self sufficient and not dependent on water from taps in the community.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
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<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-68923886494253289612008-03-07T01:49:00.000-08:002008-06-14T23:31:23.083-07:00Volunteers come and volunteers go but the Amapondo Projects go on growing and building on each individual contribution.As we once again bid farewell to some volunteers and welcome others with new ideas and different skills and knowledge to add to our growing database it is interesting to take a look at the impact that this constant change has on our projects.<br /><br />Some would say instinctively that it must be negative with faces changing constantly at the school and new recruits needing basic training from Mzu up at Sicambeni . The reality is different though as each individual leaves a footprint and a definite impact on children, community members, other volunteers as well as the permanent and semi permanent people involved here.<br /><br />The whole keeps growing bigger and those that move on leave something permanent. We are also experiencing that deeper need in some volunteers to return, after earning more cash back home, and add more to what they see as unfinished business.<br /><br />This characteristic of leaving than returning that is creeping in with all the volunteers to some degree or another is a direct result of becoming a member of a large, global family that connects than moves on, changes and reconnects.<br /><br />The personal identity that each member of the crew has gained is something that they can build on further in their personal lives and future endeavours.<br /><br />In regular conversation with volunteers on the final lap of their Amapondo stint a curious pride has been revealed in having been involved in a work in progress. The point about our projects is that it really is all about the journey and not the destination.<br /><br />Having a destination and reaching it means a certain period of stagnation whereas a continuous movement onwards and upwards means being ever vigilant for new opportunities and new areas to apply older and well perfected tricks of the sustainability trade.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
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<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-9060088737751535412008-02-14T02:44:00.000-08:002008-02-14T02:56:03.801-08:00Volunteers are at the core of all volunteer programs but just who are these individuals that build these programs.We have many people that have volunteered and moved through our projects so far and all have left something of themselves and their past experience behind.<br /><br />Most come into a rural or semi-rural environment from a city back home in the 1st world and it would not be unusual if they struggled to find their feet.<br /><br />The opposite however has been the rule as they jump straight in and start participating.<br /><br />The word volunteer means, “a person who voluntarily takes part in an enterprise or offers to undertake a task”. The Concise Oxford offers us this very broad definition that does not focus enough on the individual.<br /><br />Each volunteer has a background and a history complete with achievements and setbacks which they bring on board when they join the project.<br /><br />These aspects are part of what goes to make a specific person tick and most relish the distance from home and certainty, within which they can work and contribute to a cause greater than themselves.<br /><br />Our experience so far is that anything less than 3 weeks is not usually beneficial to either the individual or the project. It takes time for the individual to acclimatize to the dynamic and find a niche within which to live and sustain while contributing.<br /><br />The overlap that occurs when volunteers arrive and depart at different times creates a wonderfully enforced change of personnel and the team dynamic is constantly switching.<br /><br />This dynamic has a positive spin off and effect on those more permanently involved in Port St Johns and a constant inflow of energy and information. This dynamic would have to be created if it didn’t actually exist.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
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<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-60634202468187575102008-01-31T02:52:00.000-08:002008-01-31T03:41:07.966-08:00A moving volunteer gathers no rust.We are moving forward with a couple of new ideas within the space created for our sustain-ability project. One of which is extending the volunteers program into Forest Glade, a farm outside of Port St Johns with a mango orchard and people living in different stages of sustain-ability and self sufficiency.<br /><br />On the small farm we are working with there are ample amounts of chilies, mangos, potatoes, onions, various herbs, mielies, tomatoes and passion fruit amongst other seasonal fruit. There are also coffee trees growing, some with berries but most will only produce in about two years time.<br /><br />One evening this week the meal cooked for the volunteers living at the Jetty was a vegetable potjie that consisted of ingredients all picked and harvested from the Glade except for the cooking oil.<br /><br />Sisonke school opened its doors for 2008 on January 16 and enrolled 60 pupils. This was a major event for all the teachers and Pippa who is the driving force behind the school is excited about the teachers desire to teach and the learners desire to learn.<br /><br />We have also been sharing and discussing the ideas and philosophies expounded by Masanobu Fukuoka, author of ‘One Straw Revolution’ within the volunteers circle.<br /><br />The ideas that he puts forward about farming and life in general have stimulated much thought and discussion. Theories about farming and how to blend in with nature and not struggle against it are important but most critcial are his observations about how people change and find time to write haikus despite running a successful farm.<br /><br />Try find a commercial, "scientific" farmer with time for haikus.<br /><br />The effect of working on a sustain-ability project and eating organically grown vegetables flavoured with organic herbs have had a noticeable impact on our volunteers, many of whom come from large cities and were initially intimidated by the rural and semi rural environment.<br /><br />It has also left indelible memories with volunteers who spent time here and are now back ‘home’ and wrote to tell us of their feelings and how much the project has meant to them as well as how much they miss it.<br /><br />Some are working at marketing the project back home and others are gearing up for a return to work and live the sustainability project that as a whole is fast becoming greater than the sum of its parts.<br /><br />Our extended family unit now includes peoples in the UK, US and Australia.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-22588715507586943762008-01-14T21:03:00.000-08:002008-06-14T23:30:05.434-07:00Change is something that affects everybody from all different backgrounds.We recently had communication from a volunteer who was with us October 2007. <a href="http://www.sicambeni.co.za/node/246">http://www.sicambeni.co.za/node/246</a> Kelly talks of being back in the heart of the First world in the UK but her experience at Sicambeni and with the school has opened her eyes to the way people live across the other side of the world.<br /><br />Looking at her UK life and appreciating what she's got and maybe becoming a little less materialistic. This kind of change is bound to happen when a project like Sicambeni gets going. People travel long distances and sacrifice time with loved ones back home to spend time volunteering and learning about a different way of life and maybe more about themselves as well.<br /><br />The impact that this crossing of boundaries and sharing has on all involved is one of the perks that volunteers gain. Seeing themselves through somebody else's eyes who has never seen their home country and couldn't possibly imagine the wealth and access to material goods.<br /><br />We have a new group of volunteers, all with us for different lengths of time and all bringing their own experience into the search for sustainability. Sustain-ability is simply another way of saying keep on keeping on.<br /><br />We hope to hear from more of our Sicambeni family once they arrive back home as their feelings looking back are a crucial learning curve for us here.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-21594176970245138872008-01-01T21:50:00.000-08:002008-01-01T22:43:30.409-08:002008 is a year that we at Sicambeni are going to use to build further on the sustainable foundations laid in 2007.2008 kicks off with more volunteers arriving, coffee seeds planted and areas demarcated in the village for the plantation as well as more work on the gardens, water management and the brick making.<br /><br />2007 was an exciting year with lots of firsts including volunteers, vegetable harvests and pushing forward with the coffee plantation.<br /><br />Sicambeni has a new website going live (we'll update you on this new development) with a forum for ongoing discussion and debate around the way forward with the project and how interested people around the world can fit in and contribute their unique skills.<br /><br />Once again the emphasis on people is absolutely crucial to the ongoing building and development of the sustainability project.<br /><br />We are also writing a history for Wikipedia and will keep you updated. The project has come a long way since its inception and more leaps forward are planned but these don't happen on their own, they are people driven and then sustained by people.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-3095613946578738202007-12-12T22:00:00.000-08:002008-06-14T23:29:09.767-07:00Building small farmers and sustainable village communities by increasing coffee production makes sense in South Africa.Coffee is the second biggest commodity traded globally after oil, and South Africa is not even listed globally as a producer. This information comes out of the farmers weekly, <a href="http://www.farmersweekly.co.za/index.php?p[IGcms_nodes][IGcms_nodesUID]=da803a3f67b81bbecddcfd61f0a6115f">http://www.farmersweekly.co.za/index.php?p[IGcms_nodes][IGcms_nodesUID]=da803a3f67b81bbecddcfd61f0a6115f</a><br />, and raises some interesting questions regarding the lack of coffee production in South Africa.<br /><br />At 100ha, the current portion of land dedicated to coffee is quite ridiculous given that coffee originated on the African continent where climate, soil and high unemployment and poverty make the region ideally suited for coffee growing and processing.<br /><br />Coffee is a labour intensive crop that would benefit areas of high unemployment like the Wild Coast (old Transkei). It is also ideal for inclusion in sustainable rural village projects as it provides work as well as income for the community.<br /><br />South Africa also has an advantage with none of the major diseases that affect coffee plants except leaf rust. farmers weekly goes on to say that the gene bank currently contains rust resistant varieties that augurs well for organic coffee production.<br /><br />The Sicambeni sustainable village project near Port St Johns is an ideal location for coffee growing with soil that is unspoilt by commercial farming exploitation leaving a vast potential for organic yields.<br /><br />There are moves to increase land dedicated to coffee crops and to assist and train small farmers in Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal but more needs to be done to bring the smaller communities into the game possibly via a cooperative style arrangement.<br /><br />With the potential for increased jobs as well as export possibilities it makes a great deal of sense to focus on building up this microscopic local industry and providing employment, home grown South African coffee for the local market as well as increased potential in export earnings.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-34709415645312627002007-12-03T01:13:00.000-08:002008-06-14T23:28:15.877-07:00Dear Luke,<br /><br /><br />I would like to congratulate you again on the work you are doing at Amapondo. And “congratulate” might not be the best word… It’s better to thank you, to encourage you, and to reflect back to you a bit of the infectious energy I experienced. I was impressed and inspired during my short stay as I tried to submerge myself in the Amapondo world. I had two overwhelming impulses: to learn and to contribute, and nothing else seemed to matter.<br /><br /><br />Your projects are multi-faceted and many-leveled, and because of that you will attract a large spectrum of people and achieve highly varied success. Because of your stance as a facilitator and Amapondo’s potential as a hub, the possibilities are endless. It’s as if Amapondo is in the center of two funnels pointed in at each other—or it’s the middle of an hourglass—and people come from everywhere to find a launch pad and a small tribe of collaborators, provocateurs, and guides quietly welcoming them to accomplish anything.<br /><br /><br />Your central thesis of cultivating initiative and sustainability in individual communities should be the mantra of a new world order. It seems to me the truest approach to alleviating the current plight of people who are misled by money, media, and self-serving leadership. Your work restores self-worth and independent thought in places that have been disrupted, displaced and deprived of these basic rights. But at the same time your project is not about politics, global poverty, or about redressing the past; it is about giving life now to those around us.<br /><br /><br />You provide a starting place—a physical, productive, and comprehensible way to act in response to an overwhelmingly chaotic struggle. As a privileged foreigner I must admit that I was overcome by the struggle I found in South Africa. Amapondo has established an accessible and open dialogue, an active forum for questions of cultural relations that begins with nonverbal discourse, communal action and creation. I believe in this kinetic contact and take the same approach when teaching or touring with my own physical theatre company. Your program at Amapondo calls for action and not discussion because you are seeking to effect change, not to generate ideas.<br /><br /><br />In the end, my greatest take-away from my experience was the cultural education and social consciousness that blossomed in me. Amapondo raised many questions for me about community service, cultural arrogance, colonization, and the capitalist empire. I see my own nation and its history in a new light, and I have a more tactile understanding of the global ramifications of American action—individual, federal, and corporate. I also understand how important this type of education could be to other Americans and American culture. However, this was my experience and just part of the Amapondo ripple you have sent across the Atlantic. Educating privileged Americans is not your mission, nor should it be, but this is one way your program is able to work on multiple levels.<br /><br /><br /><br />Clearly I’ve been deeply effected by my time at Amapondo. Thank you for everything you have given me. Your community plays an incredible host, and I am looking forward to the soonest I will be able to return.<br /><br /><br />Warmest regards,<br /><br /><br />Thom<br />Artistic Director<br />The Savannah Theatre Project<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-70150635086813202592007-11-01T00:08:00.000-07:002007-12-12T02:34:07.219-08:00Sustainability depends on the entire community being involved.In a recent development we met with the community in Sicambeni and discussed the way forward as a joint project and not something that we, as volunteers, could make a decision about unilaterally.<br /><br />There was a consensus about the positive results of the joint project so far and there were also some crucial questions asked by community members that we were able to answer and build further ties between volunteers and community members.<br /><br />One of these was the question of where the community centre will be built, to which I answered that the community must decide on the site and then we’ll build it together.<br /><br />There were some other moments of community and volunteer bonding when we were granted the use of some of the natural resources including the dam.<br /><br />The end result of a small meeting like this is a giant leap forward with everybody involved aware of what others are doing, what has been achieved so far and where the community as a whole is heading towards.<br /><br />This crucial concept of including everyone concerned within community decision making is paramount and something we are going to keep building on.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-76174805806067836112007-09-18T07:24:00.000-07:002008-06-14T23:33:40.429-07:00Shifting consciousness and convincing people that they can sustain themselves without outside interference.The challenge in building a successful and sustainable community in a rural area is very simple. It means creating a paradigm change in people attitudes and perspectives. The shift in consciousness that kicks in once a person or persons realize that they can do it themselves is astounding.<br /><br />Achieving this means not allowing the community to start to depend on the volunteers assisting them and teaching them the basics about permaculture and other life skills necessary to sustaining themselves alongside nature.<br /><br />These volunteers will not remain indefinitely and should be able to reach a stage where they can move on having planted many seeds literally as well as figuratively in peoples’ minds that will germinate, grow and bear fruit in future discussion and interaction with other communities like themselves.<br /><br />Many programs that start off with good intentions lapse and end up leaving 4x4 vehicles, empty school rooms and other evidence that they were indeed once there and yet these items are of no future use on their own to the rural community.<br /><br />We are intent, at Sicambeni just outside Port St Johns, on teaching and nurturing the absolute basics for sustainable living and then letting the community evolve slowly, increasing their knowledge of permaculture and teaching others around them these basic fundamental life supporting skills.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-138660729630571212007-08-31T01:34:00.000-07:002008-06-14T23:34:49.224-07:00Applying the philosophy in a specific community.The essence of a successful approach to building a sustainable and workable rural community is working hand in hand from the start with the community and building a philosophy of inclusivity from the word go.<br /><br />Different communities have different strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities as well as their own individual combination of human individuals. Obtaining contribution from all towards the greater whole and the ultimate good of the community is a prerequisite.<br /><br />Some will get involvement from the outset and others might be a bit skeptical until they see positive results. Bringing in expert input and advice is a tactic that bears fruit, not only for this community but also for those brought in from other communities to share and help build.<br /><br />Permaculture is a much bandied about word and has lost a great deal of its impact through repetition and being randomly used to describe community programs that don’t adhere to the basic concepts.<br /><br />Someone brought in to work and teach can not only strengthen the community and its structures but will gain much food for thought and take back a different perspective on methods and techniques that go to build a workable and sustainable permaculture ethos.<br /><br />This meeting of minds and sharing the same philosophy on the individual and the individual rural community and their right to structure and build sustainability in their distinct and unique way is a crucial building block for communities as well as other communities that they meet with and share ideas that they have worked.<br /><br />Permaculture deals with the growing of food and the efficient use of arable and fertile land as well as the structure of grazing fields, planted fields and rested fields. As a starting off point it has the benefits of dealing with the basic need for a reliable and stable source of healthy nourishment that comes from planting crops with a plan and getting back into sync with the earth and its cycles.<br /><br />Those in a community that are initially skeptic will be confronted with results that show short term, immediate gain and benefits for the entire community.<br /><br />This is a critical step in reinforcing the community belief in their individual identity and the culture of building their place on the planet from the bottom up independent from government choices or decisions made by big business.<br /><br />As a foundation, instilling a belief in the people regarding their capacity to supply enough food for all from the earth is a great boost and can underpin the next stages of constructing new houses and other structures and fencing for keeping animals out of vegetable patches. Water management is a factor in choosing where to plant and where the waste management site is located as that can infect and affect the growing of healthy and nutritious vegetables, herbs and fruit.<br /><br />These are all key long term decisions and need to be thoroughly discussed with the community and people need to be chosen to work on these aspects of community existence in a full time capacity.<br /><br />The emphasis is on building a program block by block that never actually reaches a destination but keeps evolving as the dynamic changes and the flow of people, food, livestock, waste and water keeps changing, increasing and decreasing related to human movement, demand and climate change.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-31172791077525142242007-08-31T01:31:00.000-07:002008-06-14T23:34:22.789-07:00Building sustainable and self supporting communities in the rural areas is an achievable goal.Regaining a place in the earth cycle and ending a process of simply being a consumer is the key to building sustainable and productive communities in rural Africa.<br /><br />The engrained feeling of being a victim and floating along at the mercy of the ebb and flow of human dynamics that one has no control over has been the lot of the citizens of Africa and other third world countries for decades.<br /><br />Decisions made by multinational corporations and 1st world countries regarding trade, the environment, agriculture and economic control of the planet seldom include African and other 3rd world problems in the decision making process.<br /><br />This is a top down system and makes no space for revitalization and empowerment from the bottom up. Arbitrary decisions based on politics, ego and building a specific brand with advertising on 4x4 motor vehicles do not contribute to finding lasting and sustainable solutions to poverty, starvation, unemployment and the other scourges that beset Africa and the 3rd world.<br /><br />In order to address this gulf, that separates not only decision making processes but also the list of priorities that potential communities at the bottom work with compared to their well off counterparts at the top, it is necessary for people to forge their own progress around communities built around people and not political agendas.<br /><br />Choices made by the community and built on are an important empowering factor in freeing people from a dependence on factors beyond their control. From this freedom stems a direct increase in self belief and identity with a community, a cause that is greater than the individual.<br /><br />This vision of a living, dynamic community organism can be a living model for the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
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<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-51050062478037961842007-08-22T08:52:00.001-07:002008-06-14T23:23:59.314-07:00Sustainable opportunities open to volunteers.The Opportunities open to volunteers at the sustainability project are big and the potential for building still more opportunities is even bigger.<br /><br />The opportunities that abound here for volunteers with ideas and paths forward to improve and enrich the ongoing community development towards the goal of sustainability will provide self starters with a context within which they can build content that is beneficial to themselves as well as the community.<br /><br />Along with the opportunity to meet and work with rural people that are striving to improve their position on this planet and not relying on government and big business handouts, volunteers will have the chance to find themselves and be able to contribute time and ideas to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.<br /><br />Life changing is a phrase that gets used far too often and yet we have people that have passed through our part of the planet and expressed thanks for the opportunity and used that phrase as well as others just like it.<br /><br />There is no specific daily schedule simply a need to do things that have to get done in the day to day running of a community that sustains itself without hand out contributions from the outside.<br /><br />Volunteer time, effort and patience in getting to understand the dynamics here is of more benefit to the community than cash and advice from people that have never been here but sit behind computers and just throw stats around.<br /><br />The chance to set down a footprint and watch one of your own ideas take wings and fly, contributing yet another brick to the foundation that supports the journey towards sustainability may just be intoxicating enough that you want to stay longer and contribute more ideas.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616201358764252077.post-70107491139846996692007-08-22T08:52:00.000-07:002008-06-14T23:18:56.368-07:00Sustainable opportunities open to volunteers.The Opportunities open to volunteers at the sustainability project are big and the potential for building still more opportunities is even bigger.<br /><br />The opportunities that abound here for volunteers with ideas and paths forward to improve and enrich the ongoing community development towards the goal of sustainability will provide self starters with a context within which they can build content that is beneficial to themselves as well as the community.<br /><br />Along with the opportunity to meet and work with rural people that are striving to improve their position on this planet and not relying on government and big business handouts, volunteers will have the chance to find themselves and be able to contribute time and ideas to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.<br /><br />Life changing is a phrase that gets used far too often and yet we have people that have passed through our part of the planet and expressed thanks for the opportunity and used that phrase as well as others just like it.<br /><br />There is no specific daily schedule simply a need to do things that have to get done in the day to day running of a community that sustains itself without hand out contributions from the outside.<br /><br />Volunteer time, effort and patience in getting to understand the dynamics here is of more benefit to the community than cash and advice from people that have never been here but sit behind computers and just throw stats around.<br /><br />The chance to set down a footprint and watch one of your own ideas take wings and fly, contributing yet another brick to the foundation that supports the journey towards sustainability may just be invigorating and stimulating enough that you want to stay longer and contribute more ideas.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start AMATOMU.COM code-->
<img height='1' style='display:none' width='1' src='http://www.amatomu.com/log.php?blog_id=2963' />
<!-- End AMATOMU.COM code --></div>Luke Boshierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805168824554642858noreply@blogger.com0