Having spent the last several days visiting Pitchandikulam Forests and its surrounding projects, Lourdes and myself have decided that Nadukuppam High School is a perfect candidate for the Global Schools Link ( GSL) in India. Yesterday I returned to the school to give presentations to the Headmaster, Teachers and Students concerning Community Forests International (CFI) and the GSL. The day was a great success and the program was met with a real enthusiastic vigor.

The students were especially excited to speak with children in Tanzania, when they saw how similar  the landscape and biota looked.  After speaking to the school, I had the honor of planting a tree with some of the younger students.

 This was a symbolic act to mark the beginning of the GSL here at the school.  The same students are responsible for the care of this medicinal tree and can see it grow  alongside the project during their time at the school. I am relly thrilled to be working with Lourdes and Pitchandikullam Forest, and Nadukuppam High school, as they are really very progressive, and can bring a lot to the GSL and the schools that comprise it. Below is some pictures of Nadukuppam High School’s water filtration system which cleans waste water from bathrooms through a 5 phase natural system, using a solar pump to finally get the water to the onsite nursery and surrounding environment.

Here is a small spirulina (algae) production managed by Pitchandikulam Forest. It is  set up near  the school. The spirulina produced here is self sustaining financially and also provides the school with the super food for inclusion in school meals (which are also grown onsite by the children in the vegetable garden club!)

This area is also used as a place for women groups and medicinal healers to meet and learn about a host of different things (from smokeless stove operation to sewing classes) and share and teach each other new skills. They are also developing a model home for the village level on this site, which comprises appropriate technologies to improve life and reduce costs. Lastly there is a huge section devoted to restoration of arid land, and will become a area of food production and forest.   All in all a great new partnership has been developed and I look forward to future collaborations with all our new partners!

Pitchandikulam Forest

After an overnight train to Chenai (Madras), a bus to Pondicherry and a 4km walk, I have found myself, in a place called Auroville. My teacher, Rico had been telling me of this remarkable couple who had worked to build an amazing forest where arid nothingness had been. (You can check out a video with Rico  at www.vimeo.com/3760052 )  The story of Auroville is in itself quite interesting as well. It became a site for a universal community, based around the ashram of Shree Aurobindo and his spiritual partner, know as Mother. People came from all around in the late 60’s and began building a new community from the ground up. This couple is an absolute inspiration! Jos and Anita( along with a host of others) have rejuvenated what was arid sandy coast , into  the forest  it had historically been .

 They did it while helping build this new community and presently have a forest (Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest) which contains 500 species of indigenous plants (and their associated animals and organisms) in a forest type that is so endangered only  an estimated 500 acres of healthy forest remain in scattered areas.  Jos mentioned that one of the saving graces of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF) was that these small pockets of indigenous forest had remained intact surrounding village temples.

 These pockets of heritage biodiversity were kept as sacred groves, where a local deity lived and rode out on horseback to protect the villages from evil during the night. Another important factor in helping protect the areas and build on these successes was the verbal knowledge of these plants/trees and their medicinal uses were still around. They used both of these to the forests advantage, and in the past 35+ years has turned this sandy coastal land into one of the most diverse pockets of endangered ecosystems going.  

Jos and company have been working through their NGO, Pitchandikulam Forest to promote renewable energy, biodiversity, and environmental education (to name a few). I have had the opportunity to work with Lourdes, Pitchandikulam Forests Education Coordinator on the Global Schools Link (GSL).  That is for the next post though….so stay tuned!

Having finish with the Course, I had a day in Mangalore to meet with some past graduates from the Coady International Institute. I had the great pleasure of meeting  Emmanuel Monis, who now works as regional officer with a German Based NGO, Andheri Hilfe.  He works with over 45 small grass roots organizations in three Indian states. We discussed CFI’s projects as well as the myriad of small ngo’s under his supervision and have found a few that I can hopefully meet with on my way north.  (more on that later).

Here are a few more pictures of our Permaculture experience. Enjoy.

Me in an Edible Forest Garden...Mmmmm

Children's Garden at the Sabina Orphanage

Class time in the Sabina Garden

PDC students taking some shade

Estelle and I have completed our PDC and we’re now making our way to Tanzania, via Kenya.  Overall the course was quite good.  Though we were familiar with much of the information presented, having already studied Permaculture independently for some time, we learned a lot about communicating the principles cross-culturally and applying them in a tropical climate.  Our group design work in particular  helped us to appreciate the obstacles faced by many East African communities and how intelligent design can address virtually all  major problems.

And now the photos we have promised:

The PDC Class

PDC Class at Sabina

Amaranth beneath Papaya

Swale in Food Forest

Fresh Salad from Sabina Garden

Ssanje Market

Group Design for Ssanje

Closing Ceremonies

Nursery at St. Jude

What an amazing week! I have been busy working on our group design project on Purnavasu farm in the village of Adamaru, 15 kilometers south of Udipi in southern India. We left Beeja in  the morning, visited  Hindu and Jain temples in Belur and ended up near the coast 12 hours later,

….after what could be called a typically Indian journey (amazing but painful!) over the coastal mountain range known as the Western Ghats. Having arrived late at night, we settled into our home-stay with Vasu Roa and his family, leaving the unveiling of the farm until morning.

The sun brought us the full view of Vasu’s family land. We took a walk around and discussed our possible projects for the next week.  It is an remarkable place (parts of the house are 200+ years old). Our task was to help make the farm more productive and viable, so Vasu can return there permanently and live and work with his aging parents. Our week was spent working on farm-improvement.  Starting usualy with building projects during the cooler morning hours, then breaking into designing and mapping our group project in the afternoon. My personal favorite is the outdoor shower.

 We made ours in a flash , and we put it right between some arakia nut palms so excess water would feed the trees/plants. (they chop up the nut and put it in “pan”, which is a mild narcotic used by people all over India). We also built a small check dam to help hold and infiltrate water,bermed up the banana jungle for ease of watering for the parents , and a bunch of other smaller projects (that’s just scratching the surface)

 Our

design project revolved around transforming an old cow barn (seen above) into a fully functional permaculture guesthouse, which could accommodate 1 family and 2 woofers to provide income for the family (the family has been approached by a newly constructed powerplant inquiring if it had a place for a middle management/supervisor and family to rent)

.

All and all it is magical place for a Canadian east coaster. The entire course, my brain  has been turning out lots of ideas for possible solutions to issues in Pemba, like soil fertility, agro forestry and water catchment/storage. I think between Me, Daimen, and Estelle, we will be able to share some really meaningful approaches and systems with our colleagues in Pemba. One interesting method I could see having a role in Pemba, involves collecting and propagating indigenous micro organisms (IMO’s) from the surrounding landscape, and spreading them around to help enliven and enrich soils.

Being a mycophile I thought I would mention a method for collecting your very own indigenous micro organisms. The IMO’s we are looking for live in the first few inches of the soil (topsoil) and generally comprise the molds and bacteria’s that help enrich soils and speed up its breakdown, creating healthier, more fertile soils. This is particularly useful in a tropical environment because, unlike the temperate climates which keep a lot of organic material in the soil, tropical regions tend to store their organic material in living plants, so It can’t be swept away with seasonal rains of baked of by blaring sun. Used alongside other techniques, this could rejuvenate any area that has depleted soils and could be used to enrich garden soils and increase/promote soil fertility anywhere in the world using on-site micro-friends.

Recipe and instructions can be found at the end of this post. Please note that I would caution using this technique if you are growing mushrooms specifically, as molds and bacteria tend munch on our fungi friends.

This is where I geek out, so fell free to skip this part If you like.

Step 1

1-Get a few non-metallic containers that fits together in 2 halves (2 bowls).

2-Fill one side with cooked rice (loosely, making sure there is lots of air able to circulate)

3-Add a little (very small amount!) of water.

4-Close it up by tying the two halves together. There should be a small gap between bowls so organism can get in. Make 2-3 of these contraptions

5-Bury them (just covering the top) in an area with rich, dark brown/black soil. Each one in a different spot to maximize variety Forest and compost piles are great spots.

6- Leave for several days, the rice is ready when it is multi colored and smells sweet and organic. If it stinks of death, the mixture had too much water and became anarobic. Chuck it out and start again.

Step 2

1- Dig up mix, check the quality.

2- Take a bucket and dissolve 1/2 litre of molases in 4-6 litres of water.

3- add the newly “colored” rice (mixture should be a thick slurry)

4- cover well with cheeze cloth or a t-shirt (allowing it to breath)

5- put in a room temp environment for 5-10 days

Step 3

 check again, if it smells like death, you added too much water, chuck it.  Use the t-shirt to strain out the mix so you are left with two parts: IMO rice and IMO liquid. The rice for compost is used for speeding up decomposition of organic material and making better quality compost. You can also scratch it in around plants/ garden beds. The liquid is used as a foliar spray (spray underside of leaves at a mix of 20:1 (water: IMO liquid) The liquid will also act as a good deterent to pest and fertilizer. Can mix in compost or around plants.

Note: Very Potent stuff. Dilute well or use small amounts. Liquid will keep for 4-6 weeks (don’t freeze)

We have just wrapped up a busy week of PC instruction and are now moving from our requisite individual design projects to group design. The area to be improved is in the village of Ssanje and includes some high-density tenant housing as well as a market. In discussions with the local LC1 we have identified the major issues facing this community and are now applying PC site analysis and design techniques to address them.

The issues to be addressed include inadequate food and water, insufficient toilet facilities, and erosion. Contributing factors include poor land tenure and very little land for home-scale food cultivation as well as over-grazing by unfenced livestock and virtually no medium- or large-scale rainwater harvesting. In our design we intend to include a community latrine with a fixed-dome biodigester for methane capture and compost production, rainwater harvesting and storage off all roofs, living fences surrounding community garden space and a central composting facility for all home and market organic waste. It is hoped that the community will get behind some or all of the features in our design and help bring it into reality. As there is little public service of any kind in the area it is up to the community members to address such problems on their own. Hopefully some intelligent design and the inspiring work at the nearby Sabina Home, including trained locals, will help.

Estelle and I have also had time to explore further how PC could inform CFI’s projects in Pemba. One technique that is really intriguing to me is seed-pelleting. Popularized by Masanobu Fukuoka of Japan mainly for grain cultivation, the process involves surrounding seed with a protective coat of clay, manure, and in our case some mature forest soil to create pellets that can be dried and broadcast over an area to be reforested. When rain comes the seeds germinate very well, around 95% with viable seed, and are equipped with everything they need to get a good start in life. The mix includes the very important and specific soil biota which in most cases is absent on site. Seeds of native species intended as the mature canopy can even be blended with seed from support species including nitrogen-fixers that will act as a ‘nurse crop’ for the climax species and speed their establishment and growth.

We apologize for still not being able to upload photos, we will be sure to post several when we return to Kampala in a week or so.

CFI is proud to announce our newly updated Global Schools Link.

Last year CFI created the Global Schools Link, a pilot program focused on uniting schools from around the world with the goal of creating a cross-cultural, environmental learning experience.  The program was a success, and we thank all of the participating schools for their invaluable input.

After receiving and reviewing the feedback from both teachers and students, the CFI team has worked diligently over the last two months to roll out with an entirely new and updated Global Schools Link.

So please check it out, and if your school is interested in joining the Global Schools Link then Contact Us.

In our Permaculture (PC) training, we have begun by identifying global issues that need to be addressed. These are polluted air and water, soil erosion, deforestation, peak oil, population growth that cannot be maintained, and unfair trade/economics. These problems are creating loss of biodiversity, unfair distribution of wealth, land degradation, and climate change. Permaculture provides solutions to these problems as a design science for sustainable living and land use. Using methods of Permaculture, we can create food security, sustainable communities, fair trade, diverse ecosystems, less use of oil, and environmental and social rehabilitation. Daimen and I hope to introduce the ideas we are learning in our Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in Pemba, Tanzania, helping to create more sustainable communities (i.e. more localization of food, goods, and services) that will result in fair trade and less dependence on outside resources. Implementing PC in our tree planting projects will yield better growth of not only timber products, but food products as well. At the same time, people of Pemba Island will be improving their island’s environment and soil for future generations. These PC ideas can be applied in our daily lives as well.

“Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.” Algonquin

Pictures coming soon, as the connection is too slow for that right now.

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in our updates. We are a walk and a 25 min. bodaboda (motorcycle) ride from the nearest connection. You can expect our next post around next Sunday, on our day off.

The school and dorm where we are studying is located in the Rakai district of southern Uganda, near a small town named Ssanje and not far from the border with Tanzania. Most of our fellow students are Ugandan and many have given personal testimonials describing the impact that climate change and petroleum scarcity is having on the region. Though we are presently in the ‘dry season’, rain has been frequent and has caused severe flooding in some areas. As well, the price of manioc (cassava), a staple food, has quadrupled in the country recently due in part to a fuel shortage. Our course instructor, Rosemary Morrow, has travelled here from Malawi and Cameroon and reports of food scarcity due to fuel shortages in those countries as well.

It is clear that less wealthy countries such as these are suffering from the effects of a changing climate and overdependence on oil earlier and in more pressing ways than we. It is also evident that it is our highly consumptive lifestyles that contributes most to these problems and that probably the best way that we can help remedy the situation is to live more simply and consume less ourselves.