It has always been at the heart of the International Permaculture Convergence to ensure that our event is truly representative of the permaculture movement and projects from all across the Globe. The world in which we all live, being what it is, everyone does not have access to the same resources to be able to join, learn from other participants and share their experiences. But isn’t permaculture solution-driven? At least, that is what we, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives, together with the International Permaculture Convergence Council (IPCC) and Friends of IPC (FIPC) believe!
We’ve had over 40 scholarships application from permaculture practitioners in India, Nepal, Vietnam, Malawi, Thailand, Trinidad, Gambia, Haïti, Mexico and other beautiful places… Now is the time to build our scholarship funds and welcome as many scholars as possible, and this is where you can make a difference! By choosing to participate in our crowdfunding campaign, you will show that every voice from every part of the globe matters and contribute to spreading permaculture in some of the regions that need it the most! We warmly thank you for your contribution and hope to meet you some time in the future to say it personally.
We are so grateful for all the kindness we have received. One of the forms of wealth we have is to be able to participate in an event like this. We have received such kindness to enable us to participate in the two IPCs, one in Cuba and one in London, and both of them made us better permaculturists at home. At IPCUK we met people who we would otherwise not have met, people who, like us, were isolated by geography, by lack of opportunities to travel, and heard their stories. It was valuable for us to meet and know other delegates from the developing world who were also recipients of the same kindness. To be able to share our experiences among one another, to hear of other people’s challenges and successes, even to share our failures and trials, was an experience that has added to our effectiveness in our work. That commonality meant a lot to us, both as an affirmation that we are not alone, but also to learn how others worked with barriers to their end goals. As delegates we not only got the opportunity we would otherwise not have been able to access, but we were treated with such hospitality and respect by the organizers, wonderful people who truly treated us so well, welcoming us as we got off the plane, and providing for us while we were there. It was a wonderful experience for us, and we are grateful to all the people who gave us the opportunity to participate.
I live in what was once a paradise. Perfect climate, diverse life, and wonderful human beings. Yet today, the soil is poorer...the plant and animal life less...the gap between the have's and the have-not's increasing...love of brothers and sisters diminishing. I wanted paradise back. I believed that we could once again live the fairy-tale. But how? Permaculture gave me a glimpse of what could be. Being granted the opportunity to attend the IPC in London far exceeded my expectations. The joy and positivity of my fellow Permies filled me with energy. The hands-on knowledge I gained from Permie Elders crammed my head full with ideas and solutions I had not yet considered. But most of all, my passion and dream of a world of love, health and happiness was strongly reinforced. Two months after my return from IPC my family and I gave up the city life to start our Permaculture demonstration site. Now, barely a year later, we are touching the lives of more people in our area than we could ever have dreamed possible. Life is returning...brothers and sisters are coming together again...slowly but surely we are healing the past and building a future together. No man can ask for more. Viva South Africa, Viva Mama Afrika!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate at the IPCUK. It was a great support for me to get to know more about Permaculture. In Nepal we just knew how to use the principles in agriculture, after my visit I knew that we can reach a lot more with Permaculture. It helped me to come through an earthquake trauma. I could share my story with 84 other people who were listening to my talk. I met a lot of Permaculture specialists and I became friend with a lot of them. Now I have a job as a village coordinator in building resilience through a recovery resilience program. I am coordinating 70 households and I teach the women about how to implement Permaculture in the village. I am also working in my own farm where we have got more than 100 volunteers from 14 different countries so far. I am very lucky that I have got the opportunity to spread my knowledge.
IPCUK, was very important for me and my wife, our participation strengthened our zeal for bringing Permaculture to children not only in Sunday schools and Mosques, rather in primary schools and Nursery schools. See my pictures with children. Climate Change is a reality, it is caused by human action and can probably be ended by human action. There used to be forests covering all the uplands down to the shores of Lake Malawi on both the East and Western parts of the lake. Towards the beginning of the millennium, many people flocked into both areas and soon the fish catch in the lake dwindled. Some fish mongers decided to open crop fields and others engaged in charcoal production in forests. About five years into the millennium, a conflict between people who cultivated and burned charcoal in the forests and the elephants, monkeys and baboons intensified. Some people were killed as the number of game in the Lake Malawi National Park dwindled too. In 2011 the Malawi Government was forced to relocate about 100 remnant elephants to Majete Game Reserve. Soon after this exercise people freely move into the uplands and all the natural wood coverage depleted. In 2014 we had in this part all the amount of rainfall we needed at once. Crops, houses and property were swept by floods. Immediately there was drought and remnant crops weathered. This repeated in 2015. The weather pattern is no more predictable, crops that grew up well around the area no longer grow up alright. The lake levels keep changing, siltation in the lake and in rivers flowing into the lake increase. People who grew own food are now entirely dependent upon UN, NGOs and Government handouts. There are a number of factors causing Climate change, nationally and international. But one thing common is that all these factors are caused by people and can dealt with by people. Thus why our children in Sunday schools, Madras and Primary schools must be told the story about our area, what we did and continue to do that cause the conditions we experience now and how human remedy is needed now. Permaculture is probably the solution!!
The IPCUK made a difference in different ways. The event was an illustration of how to bring together people to design –and strengthen- our best possible future. It provided time to refresh and learn techniques –such as to how to dis-ensemble and reuse wood from a pallet- or methodologies such as creating large, or massive! group brainstorming and capturing the best of the collective dialogues. People were eager to show how to weave permaculture into their living ethics, such as the Quaker permaculturists. I felt pleased to find commonalities with people from tropical countries such as India, and learn how their methodologies to strengthen food sovereignty through saving seeds, help prevent the genetic erosion of diversity. Meeting a wealth of people with consistent practices, helps me stick with ethics and do my best effort, everyday. More of how it has it been done there, makes it easier to visualize how could it be done here. In places with greater need for transforming practices –such as refusing plastic bags at grocery shops or preferring healthy local produce. I feel now more rewarding to focus in what is possible to change, versus absorbing helplessness or pessimism. IPC participants and organizers provided access to rich sources of information. After the event, I devoted fair amount of time studying collected and further references, renewing and organizing my own thinking, and strategically find ways to best support the movement local and regionally.
Aranya Agricultural Alternatives