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We inspire people to help make the world a healthier place
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We teach people tools to take care of the Earth and the people around them
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We support people in living meaningful and purposeful lives
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Our lives are enriching and empowering -- we want to share this inspiration and these tools with you
Bonita Eloise Ford, BSc, MA
Bonita aims to inspire people, giving them tools for healthier living. She gives courses in permaculture (ecological design), Reiki (energy work) and Nonviolent Communication (cooperative communication), and has led workshops around the world for over 19 years. She facilitates community design projects, and does life and holistic coaching with individuals. At the heart of it, her work is about cultivating harmony with ourselves, our communities and Mother Earth.
Bonita and Sébastien grow a lot of their own food. They have been (re)learning skills in: growing annual and perennial food plants, food storage (fermentation, canning, drying and cold cellaring), seed-saving and starting, backyard and worm composting, edible wild foods, herbal medicines, bread-making, butchering, fire-making, animal tracks, tanning and more. The land they call home is 1/5 of an acre in Perth, Ontario, which is unceded Algonquin Territory on Turtle Island.
Bonita and Sébastien co-founded Permaculture Eastern Ontario (formerly Permaculture Institute of Eastern Ontario) with Douglas Barnes in 2011. They also co-founded Transition Perth with Peggy Land in 2010. Bonita is active in her local community and has volunteered with Dignity House Day Hospice, The Table Community Food Centre, Canada World Youth, the Lanark County Community Justice Program and Stewart Park Festival.
Bonita has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Queen's University, a M.A. in Holistic Health Education from John F. Kennedy University in California and a diploma in Permaculture from l'Université Populaire de Permaculture in France. She co-presented at conferences at Harvard University and Trent University, and has been a guest speaker at the University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, Algonquin College, John F. Kennedy University and Merritt College. She presented at international, continental and regional Permaculture Convergences and has contributed several articles to the Permaculture Design Magazine (formerly the Permaculture Activist). She was a member of the Permaculture Institute of the Northeast and continues to collaborate with teachers and designers across the continent.
Bonita has led the teaching team for six Permaculture Design Courses (PDC). She took her first PDC from 2005 to 2006, through Oakland Permaculture Guild and Urban Permaculture Guild with Christopher Shein and Kat Steele. She has taken workshops with Eric Toensmeier, Brock Dolman and Mark Sheppard; and she did work exchange with Steve Read, Andy and Jessie Darlington. Her NVC teachers included Hava Eva Jonai, Henry Wai, Martha Lasley and Gina Lawrie. Her Reiki teachers were Denise Carpenter and Michele Chase.
Bonita and Sébastien have collaborated with Anishnaabek (Indigenous) communities in Ontario to connect permaculture and Traditional Teachings, and have been learning with Algonquin and Odawa teachers, namely Grandmother Francine Payer, Sunny Osawabine and Ashley Manitowabi. Bonita is incredibly grateful for all the guidance she's received on her spiritual journey through the years and especially for all the support from David Sherwood, Lucie Brunet, Nancy Sherwood and David Cameron. Finally, Bonita is grateful to her parents Dorothy Ford and Ron Ford, and her grandparents Ng Sui Chee, Poon Pak Kwong, Foo Sui Yong and Fok Yew Kay, for making her life possible here. She offers the benefits of her life to All Her Relations.
Sébastien Bacharach
Sébastien Bacharach, originally from France, is an Eco-logical Educator, Community Builder and Web Architect. He is the former Education Director of the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) and the Garden for the Environment, and co-founder of the San Francisco Permaculture Guild. Sébastien became certified as a permaculture designer in the spring of 2001, at the Permaculture Research Institute, New South Wales, Australia, by internationally renowned PRI Director Geoff Lawton. He trained as a Permaculture Teacher in 2004 at Ocean Song, California with Christopher Peck, Michael Kramer and Kat Steele. He has applied his knowledge in many different settings, in France and especially in San Francisco, California.
Sébastien is very involved in his local community of Perth, Ontario. Amongst other projects, he is a part of the steering group of Transition Perth. Sébastien strongly believes in holistic ways of thinking, whole systems design and applies these principles in his personal life and his work.
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