Paying it Forward--Permaculture style

Recently I was interviewed for a permaculture themed podcast by one of my former students, Scott Mann. Since taking the Permaculture Design Course in Lancaster, PA Scott has himself gone on to get certified in teaching permaculture and is doing some good things in the Harrisburg, PA area including the aforementioned blog and being involved in the local food movement there. One of his reasons for interviewing me was to ask about a project I've had percolating in my head since about a minute after I took my own design course. The idea is called The Permaculture Paid Forward Project.

The idea was born out of the ethics of permaculture which I first learned at the Eco-village Training Center at The Farm in Summertown, TN. Those ethics are Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share of resources. Learning those ethics taught me that we as humans can live sustainably, beautifully on the Earth by taking care of the natural world and ensuring that ALL people have their basic needs met (which is a far cry from what we see today with billions living well below poverty level). The project is predicated upon people sharing their surplus time, money, talent, or other resources to spread the ideas, techniques, and benefits of permaculture.

The inspiration for the project came from a couple of different sources. In 2007, I discovered a program from the non-profit Heifer International where people can donate money for the purchase of livestock ranging from bees and bunnies to goats, cattle, water buffalo or even a camel. The livestock will then be given to a poor family in an impoverished area of the world. The animals are bred and the offspring are then given to another family in their area thus ensuring that the benefit is multiplied.

The Hollywood film entitled Pay it Forward also came to mind when thinking about the project. In that film, a small boy designs a way to change the world by paying acts of kindness or debts forward to three people instead of paying things back. In one scene a man who had heard of the idea gives his car away to a complete stranger in order to pay something forward. Imagine a world where kindness was multiplied by a factor of three!

More recently in a documentary from the BBC I heard of an Ethiopian farmer who had been taught perennial agriculture based on agroforestry as a response to the problems of drought and over grazing that plagued his area. The food forest was so successful and life transforming that the farmer then went on to teach 300 other people in the area the techniques thus transforming the local ecology, restoring it to more balance, and helping many people in the process.


My goals for Permaculture Paid Forward are big and far reaching. I want to train as many people in permaculture as possible, provide right livelihood for permaculturists who receive training and share the vision, and I'd love to see permaculture sites spring up around the world as a result of permaculture designers taking the knowledge to everywhere it is needed. Participants in the project would then be tasked with paying it forward in an equally meaningful way. There is more about the project in the interview.

Here is the link to the podcast with Scott Mann. It comes out garbled at times due to us doing the interview over the phone. Most of it is audible. Cut and paste the link. I've still yet to figure out the formatting.


www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2012/interview-dillon-cruz/


I also encourage you to check out Heifer International. It's a great way to give a gift to someone for the holiday of your choice.

www.heifer.org/