permaculture

It is so clear to me in Haiti how interconnected all of these things are. So many of these issues are connected in self-perpetuating cycles...

Approximately 98% of Haiti has been deforested (connected to farming cash crops and collecting wood for cooking fuel) = less transpiration from trees = less rain = farmers have more difficulty farming = some farming families can't grow enough for themselves to eat (25% of farmers in one study said they have to buy food all the time). Deforestation also = loss of top soil due to erosion = even more difficulty farming.

In French, the verbs for crying (pleurer) and raining (pleuvoir) seem pretty close - je pleure (I'm crying) and il pleut (it's raining). I've also often wondered why the weather is preceded by "il" (he) and not "elle" (she). A few weeks before our trip, I started using the verb pleuvoir, saying "je pleut", when I cry. I thought this was kind of a quirky thing to say, the kind of mistake an anglophone would make - I'm raining :) - and I found it fun and silly, turning my tears into smiles. 

We started a small garden with about 25 people at a camp today – a sunken garden bed at the bottom of a little dip, with a raised border on the lower end and an overflow trench, to catch water and allow excess water during intense rains to flow out of the garden.

My emotions have been like big waves here in Haiti, some moments being filled with joy, Love, beauty, peace or curiosity, and other moments feeling intensely frustrated, deeply sorrowful and angry.

Personal reflections from our journey while working in Haiti...
 

What is "permaculture" anyways? At its simplest, permaculture is an eco-logical approach to design. It can be described as a way of thinking, making decisions and designing things based on observing nature. Permaculture has a set of ethics and design principles, which can be applied to physical things - like farms and landscapes - as well as to invisible things - like business models and our personal lives.

I think abundance is a way of thinking and a way of rethinking about our lives and the world. What would the world look like if people everywhere caught onto these kinds of ideas? I have learned from practicing Nonviolent Communication that it is very possible - and often so enriching - to approach our relationships and conflicts with an intention of meeting everyone's needs. Yes, we really can. If we let go of our specific ideas of the way we want things to happen, and we focus on what's ultimately most important for all parties, we can, with practice and patience, find a way that works.

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of going to a house-raising. Our friend, who designs and builds traditional timber-framed homes, had taken several months to design and pre-cut the entire frame for their new house. They invited all their friends to come for one day to help "raise" the frame. Imagine 25 people working in tandem lifting, pulling on ropes, pounding sledgehammers and levering prybars to move huge wooden posts and beams - a job for which they usually hire cranes! And to top it off, the frame itself is held together with not a single nail. It all fits together like a highly-elab

Last week we were invited to participate in a house raising party. Bonita will speak more about it in her post, so I won't be too long... Here are the pictures. It was an awesome community and friendship experience. Don't hesitate if you have the opportunity to participate in one!

Check out this photo album!

When I hear about "the bad economy", I find it easy to fall down the slippery slope of fear into scarcity mode. I would describe both scarcity and abundance as self-reinforcing loops - the more we sow, the more we reap, and the more we have new seeds to sow again more of the same. Gladly, I've been reminded recently that abundance can be found and cultivated, even in hard times.