3 days prior to departure:  

As my departure date nears, I am greeted by the morning news, telling of a bomb blast near Calcutta, India where I will land in only four days. Images of the incident graphically reveal the madness of these actions, and beg the question, "why?" If only I could meet those who did this to inquire. 

Our civilization is facing terror, hatred, cruelty so inhumane many of us simple choose not to notice, as our environment teeters dangerously on the brink of no return, while millions of people around the world go to sleep at night with no food or clean water. Bombs blowing up on trains, killing innocent children, is a loud cry from of a world desperately out of balance. If you are one of those people who maintain a vision for balance, and basic sanity, where such cry's of desperation are no longer necessary, please join us here at the Edge OfThe World Viewer, and BraveNewEarth.com, where others like Willy Whitefeather, and dharma dog, are eager to spread the word of HOPE, and plant Seeds of Change. View these videos freely, and share them with others who want to stop the madness.

I depart Sunday, November 26th to connect-up with Rico early next week. Stay tuned to our journey here, where we will meet those rare folk who choose, rather than to focus on the cruelty, fear and terror, focus on simply doing good right here, right now. I look forward to meeting these earth stewards, and those voluntarily choosing this life of simplicity. I hope I will allow their service to humble me, to see the beauty amidst such darkness.

In prayer,

dharma dog

  hello dear friends, 

yesterday i returned to darjeeling from the course in mineral springs and first thing
tomorrow will be going to sikkim to do that course.  it is easy to say that i am busy, even
easier to say that i am having lots of fun.  the course at apote busty(apo-mango tree,  te-
place of, busty- village) was wonderful.  as i wrote before, it is wonderful to see food
production (mostly perennial) that is a complex of species that give food, fodder, medicine,
crafts material, fuel, building materials, tools, income, and an environment that is fulfilling to
live in.  when i introduced the idea of a food forest i simply pointed out the window (feeling
rather....well, duh).  what can one say when reality is right in front of us?   the people there
are not monetarily rich (very poor by economic standards), however, they are definetely
happy and living a good life.  so what does permaculture have to offer a place such as this?
this is a question i have been pondering since i first went to sikkim last year(this area, by the
way, is a level or two above the great ag. system we saw there).  for apote it could well be a
good tool to help design a way in which they can integrate into the encroaching influencies
of the developed world.  this use of the label  ' developing world' is loaded with the
implications that the dominate industrial model is the ideal all others should aspire to.  i
believe most of us could point to several, if not many, things that this model has fostered
that are not healthy, let alone sustainable.  the large challenge i see for many of these
communities is how to become part of this evolving world which each day is shrinking with
more and more connections happening that bring in all the influences without
considerations.  much has been said about the loss of bio-diversity.  we are also witnessing a
time of great and accelerating loss of cultural diversity.  what should be emphasised is that
there is a direct and curcial link between the two.  the erosion of bio-diversity is the loss of
cultural diveristy.  this truth works both ways though more subtly.  the question is, what
right do i have to tell a people that they should or should not do a thing, that they should not
watch tv, that they should preserve their stories, that they should not want a machine, that
they should be as they always were?  (aside from the immense contradiction of this coming
from one who benefits-and suffers- from these exact same things)   is that not another form
of colonialism?   here it is that, with a deepening understanding and no small amount of
honest humbleness, that permaculture can be a tool by which a community, a culture can
begin to navigate this tricky and dangerous process of becoming more connected to the
larger whole which is our global community.  how to preserve local language, tradition, arts,
ways of being while roads are made(soon to be paved), electrical lines are strung, tvs
purchased, tourist visiting, transnationals exploiting resources and cultural knowledge (and
than selling it back to them), and always the idea of development as necessary and good?  i
do not for a moment believe that i have the answer, or even any answer.  my hope is to offer
a process by which a community can better understand what they are developing into, a way
by which they may be able to access all that is involved and thus make choices based in
some semblance of our world reality.  if they are to survive with their culture intact and as a
vibrant engaged people it can only happen when they make the decisions that will shape
their world and guide them in this dangerous (inevitable?) path of 'development'.

for apote this is about creating appropriate, sustainable tourism (do not beleive that eco-
tourism is inherently sustainable).  of becoming a center (node/attractor for you pc'ers)
where sustainable agri and community design can be seen and learned.  the tourism will be
focused on this center with both foreigners, locals, and indians coming there.  these
foreigners than become the income flow that will support these others in there learning and
growing process.  and most importantly, that the community will be engaged in decision and
step that is to be taken.

to say that i am excited, and abit scared, to be apart of this process is an understatment.

tomorrow i go to sikkim.  i wonder what will be coming out of that.

with much peace and respect,   rico