~~~~~~~~~~Guest Book~~~~~~~~~~
~~Portland Cross-Pollination Project!~~
July 26, 2012
October 08, 2008
Back to Zimbabwe!
TLC Farm has been invited to explore joining the Berkana Exchange, a network of 12 Leadership Learning Centers around the world. In just three weeks, we will be sending TLC Farm volunteers and Cedar Moon residents Hope Medford and Jenny Leis to Zimbabwe to represent us in the annual Berkana Exchange gathering!
From the Berkana.org website:
A leadership learning center is a local initiative committed to strengthening a community's leadership capacity and self-reliance by working with the wisdom and wealth already present in its people, traditions and environment. We have found these learning centers in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Senegal, India, Brazil, Greece, Pakistan, US, Mexico and Canada. We know they are everywhere.
By connecting them to one another—and to people worldwide who want to support and learn from their experiments —enormous power for change emerges. All too often, organizations in the development sector complain that the learning is getting lost. Each initiative they support reinvents the wheel. They don't share what they know. The work of the Berkana Exchange is about discovering what happens when the learning does not get lost, when it moves openly and fluidly around the globe.
In the upcoming ten-day annual gathering, Oct. 12-21st at Kufunda Village, the learning center in Zimbabwe, we will be exploring such deep questions as:
* How does TLC Farm’s local work converge with global movements?
* How can we use this exchange to expand our knowledge and practices of cross-cultural permaculture design, natural building, youth and community education about sustainability, collective decision making and structures, etc.
* How can we learn from the other learning centers with how they engage with critical local issues, ripple their effects regionally and connect globally?
As part of the TLC Farm community, you could now be connected with the other 12 learning centers, located in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Greece, India, Mexico, Brasil, Pakistan, Canada and Senegal.
Are you interested in radical education? Check out Shikshantar in India. Exploring permaculture and appropriate technology in rural areas? Check out Kufunda Village in Zimbabwe. Interested in global development issues? Read about IDSP's work in Pakistan. How about creative bridges between generations and food systems? Check out Santropol Roulant in Montreal.
September 01, 2008
Reflections on the summer’s cross-pollination sessions
Here are some comments from “check outs” after a few of the summer’s experimental sessions.
- It feels great to take my past experience and make sense of it.
- This shed light on a lot of things I’ve been thinking about
- This gave me new tools for dealing with the drama in my (cooperative) house—we’ve had a lot of language barriers.
- This shed light on my worldview—opened new channels of thought.
- It’s good to meet others that I can really talk to!
- This is my ideal group because I’m so mixed in what I do. I connect with people who fight for things and not necessarily a singular thing. It’s like a non-group support group.
- I learn so much from hearing other people’s experiences.
- I see new possibilities for the future.
- We just had two hours of cross-pollination with a dozen different people and it was great!
- Thank you for this great learning experience!
- I’ve enjoying inquiring about what’s effective and how hard it is!
- If only we can support people who make links—it makes it more inviting.
- I’m really happy I came.
- I’m really happy I came, too, and need to think about all of these good ideas more. Next time I’m bringing friends.
- I really appreciate breaking CP down step by step.
- These are good building blocks, tools.
- It’s really exciting to hear about new efforts.
- This is important. We need to do it a lot more.
- I’m amazed at all of the great ideas that got shared.
- I heard a lot of deep questions that I hadn’t heard before.
- It’s really neat to think about the world this way.
- It’s really nice to connect and share.
- I have a lot to think about now!
Report back fom the Summer Cross-Pollination sessions
This summer, brush and I facilitated monthly “Experimental Cross-Pollination Sessions”. What an interesting time we all had!
The idea was to experiment with a) the format/facilitation process for exploring the “art and science of cross-pollination”, b) discovering and cultivating the ideas/work of cross-pollination and c) building a community of cross-pollinators.
Two of the sessions were formally facilitated, with large group brainstorms and small-group break-outs focused on specific questions. The other two sessions were built on listening to each other’s cross-pollination stories or project proposals, using these as a jumping off point to analyze cross-pollination.
Looking back at these four events, a few things stand out:
- First and foremost, the idea of cross-pollination is an unheard need, an unexplored idea, a critical component of today’s landscape of social change.
- People who identify as cross-pollinators are searching for a peer group! People deeply appreciated these gathering, finding a peer group to discuss these “in between” ideas in our ecosystem of social change.
- As with any lingo-ey term, cross-pollination evokes many things to many people. The commonality in people’s interpretations is: being an individual that links different groups. Yet there is a difference between “networking” and “cross-pollination”, as we see it. Cross-pollination’s key focus is in linking groups that don’t normally link, that might not see things the same way, and that in fact have critical differences in value or strategy.
- There are some great, specific questions and patterns to explore!!
The sessions were a summertime experiment, giving us a sense of the potential value of a more concerted project. The conclusion: yup, this is an idea to develop! And, I think the more informal, drop-in experimental sessions will continue to be interesting in both exploring ideas and calling together this growing peer group.
I am really excited (and honored) to continue to weave cross-pollination into our ecosystem of social change. It just feels like a deep, needed and ripe area to explore.
More details on the sessions:
More than 40 people attended in all, with about 12 at each session. We started each session with check-ins: Why are you here? What is CP to you? As you can imagine, we heard from a range of people, from academic professionals to carpenters, formal non-profit organizers to radical social movement activists, business people to social economists, teachers to the young, newly awakened generation who are growing up in this all-mixed-up world.
For formal exploration, we searched into the nitty gritty of: a) What kinds of things do you want to know about another group, as a cross-pollinator?; b) What are methods of linking?; c) What are the challenges of CP/possible solutions; d) How does cross-pollination change when working as an individual versus as a representative of a group?
In the story telling sessions we heard stories that range from visiting conservative family members in the mid-west to facilitating and linking between intentional communities to building a public educational gathering place to a handful of specific events that people found themselves being a cross-pollinator.
Throughout all of the conversations, besides the questions at hand, we collected a lists of: a) future topics to explore in depth; b) “sticky wickets”; tough situations; c) ideas for future CP gatherings or projects; d) people who want to continue the conversations!
Specific notes on each session are here:
First gathering: linking with other communities
Second gathering: learning from stories
Third gathering: challenges of cross-pollination and CP as an individual vs. group
Fourth gathering: learning from and reviewing CP project proposals
August 18, 2008
Experimental Cross-Pollination Session #4
The fourth CP session’s focus was inspired by the third session, in which two women said that they had CP-related projects that they are working on and wanted to share their proposals with the group and receive feedback. We thought this sounde
d like a good way to explore a different perspective of CP: applying the concepts to a specific project.
More soon....
August 14, 2008
Feeding Ourselves Sustainably: an exchange with four learning centers
Soon: report back from the mini-Berkana Exchange that I participated in, in Boston with four North American learning centers that all work with food and youth.
August 12, 2008
Alternative Economies… networks upon networks!
Projects, meetings and wild ideas seem to be spawning everywhere – all in the name of alternative economies. In my two home cities (Portland and Boston) there are newly forming networks of people and groups aligning around reworking our social fabric via economics. It’s exciting!
The basic idea is that there are many, many avenues for creating our social, political and economic systems that are based on human and environmental rights (as opposed to growth and profit), and that it’s time to align these efforts as well as take them to the next level.
Boston
While in Boston, I attended the second meeting of the BEAN/BASEN group (Boston Economic Alternatives Network/Boston Area Solidarity Economy Network). The meeting was energizing… an interesting mix of folks weaving together various threads of the new economy. The group, at the moment, includes an economy professor, a political economy professor, a global network organizer, a labor union activist, a community economic development student, two immigrants, and a few other interesting organizers (note: a handful of these folks founded the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network at the US Social Forum last year).
As a newly forming group, their strategy is to focus on one specific activity at a time so that they can accomplish it together, reflect, and then choose the next task until they get into their flow. Sounds like a good strategy. Their first collective activity is to host a visiting scholar for an evening discussion.
They also spent some time visioning about what they all meant by the practices of the solidarity economy. While on the one hand the list they generated (see below) contains a broad spectrum of big, daunting and fun ideas (begging the questions of where and how to start), the conversation led to a few interesting insights, including:
* Many of these ideas sound far off or far-fetched, but we are in a time of rapid transformation. Maybe our work is to simple be ready for when a crisis allows the doors to open for what may now sound like radical or unachievable ideas. We must be ready to implement these ideas when the time comes! (That certainly gives me motivation to work on the more wild ideas!)*
And: *Solidarity is a resource*
Get involved! Email orionk@gmail.com.
U.S. Solidarity Economy Network
TheUSSEN formed during the US Social Forum last year (the two women pictured hereat the far end of the table are some of the founders). In their words, they looked “beyond the traditional critiques of neoliberal capitalist economics to focus on an economic way forward. We decided to showcase the alternative economic values and institutions that have been proliferating in the U.S., and this ended up leading us to include as well the solidarity economy movements abroad which have begun to create networks of these alternatives.”
“The solidarity economy emphasizes our relationships to other people, and to our environment, and inserts solidaritous values into these relationships. Solidaritous values are cooperative, egalitarian, democratic, locally based, and sustainable. It strives for an economy based on human needs rather than an insatiable drive for profit. The ultimate aim of the solidarity economy is the breakdown of oppressive economic hierarchies of all types, the development of human potential, and the preservation of our communities and environment.”
Good stuff: U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (U.S. SEN, www.USSEN.org),
European Social Forum
In Boston, I also met with Pasqualino, an Italian man who has been in Boston for 28+ years working with labor union organizing. He is now organizing alternative economies events for the European Social Forum, which is coming up in Sep
tember. In hearing about the breadth and depth of the ESF solidarity economy events, I learned some interesting tidbits about Europe, like the fact that any company that works in more than one EU country must include workers in all decisions of the company. Cool!
Pasqualino also offered me the idea that a very essential moment in life is the condition of the worker when he/she gets paid. This transaction is the soul of the relationship between management, workers and the work. The question, then, is “how do you make this moment meaningful and just?”
Another interesting tidbit: 25% of liquidity in the United States are union pension funds.
Portland
It’s happening here too! A recent meeting brought together more than a dozen folks all working on different aspects of alternative economies. Together, they brainstormed, “what’s working well?” and “what’s missing?” in Portland. If you’d like the notes and/or invitations to future meetings, email me (jennyleis@riseup.net) or brush (brush@tryonfarm.org).
SO WHAT?
The point here is that the idea of forming networks that link many forms of the solidarity economy is HOT. And exciting. And moving.
Maybe it’s just the latest lingo, but the evolving language of ‘sustainability’ helps us frame, connect and understand what we are doing together. We humans tend to get either stuck or energized by the words we choose to describe large ideas and social movements. I think that using the language of economics is a really great way to link the current world with the world of our ideals. Yeah!
Click here to read the recent brainstorms of the Boston and Portland alternative economy meetings…
*****IN PORTLAND:*****
What's working well?
* LEED system. Cascadia Green Building Council. Making people conscious of green building.
* Community Way-- bringing unused capacity into the non-profit sector. Support charitable organization. Community Credits are sold to members at par to the dollar. Non-profits gain new innovative fundraising tool and consumers do not lose any buying power. Credits can be recirculated and sold between business. Bartering and fundraising tool.
* Community Prosper that will be up at the end of the month. Social networking for organization. Into beta testing phase.
* Worker cooperatives. People's Co-op. Red and Black. Frong Song Model in Cotati, California.
* Co-housing. Portland Collective Housing. Working on program to help people develop cohousing.
* PRA-- predominately activist groups, but some community groups. Mostly radical. Trying to start a free market. Food not bombs. Food not lawns. Getting people to plant gardens and do servings. Geared towards collectives. The biggest problem is maintaining communication. How can we make school and good programs feasible. Need other means to do the work. Creating associations that generate workable relationships.
* Free cycle and internet based exchange. Craig lists.
* City Repair.
* Pedalpolooza. Less Driver miles.
* Women in trades on NE Alberta.
* Connected to the unions. IWW. SEIU.
* Free boxes. Who gets to incorporate what into the economy? A lot of DIY. Cultural events.
* Farmers Markets.
* Community Gardens.
* Food stamps for rent.
* Mainstream business-- sustainable business network. Nike doing a lot of sustainability. Portland business community leader in sustainability.
* Alternative media and KBOO. PCAST. Independent Resource Center.
* Free Geek
* The rebuilding Center. Making waste streams useful.
* Questions? Intentional Communities? Co-housing? Basic idea is creating collective living situations.
* Directory.ic.org.
* Developing a census of these projects.
What's missing?
* Communication system. To maximize resources.
* Visualizing scale of activities.
* PAWC
* The financial system-- how we get money to buy houses. Separation from banking system. Have our own banks. A better way of getting the cash.
* Needing microfinance.
* Burden on cooperatives is too high. Bureaucracy involved is crushing. Extra set of hurdles because large legal system does not have an understanding.
* Need more people who understand the process-- having to relearn the process.
* Need a system of exchange that does not involved the banking system.
* Need for independent financial systems.
* Clarity on the issue-- what is this new model? Need some agreement.
* The whole idea of socialism-- it is imbedded in our system. If we can point how it already exists-- bringing back the commons. It has not reached popular culture. What are the main elements that we want to see in this new economy. Neighborhood Association has trouble with diversity-- ethnic families-- how to approach them. Sharing on how we plant our gardens. Start developing commonalities.
* Communication mediation-- Communication. People not working there when it is just a lack of communication.
* Links to healthcare, medical care, mental healthcare.
* Jobs that pay a living wage.
* Challenge that needs to be removed-- what are the "real" activities. Such a huge bar to get to another meeting outside of work-- past failed attempts disable new attempts.
* What about those who do not want a typical full-time job. Can they get paid with food. Balance-job complex-- participating in many multiple jobs.
* WE NEED MONEY!!!??? Direct interaction between individuals-- unused capacity of individuals.
* Debt Strikes-- risking foreclosure-- students?
* Engage the mainstream economy. There are mutual win situations.
* Cooperative Daycare.
* Radical Parenting Cooperative.
* Freeskhool-- NEED HELP!
* Local currency? PDX Currency is now Community Way.
* How to list services and trade services.
* A place to advertise-- I want my house painted and I'll do your computer work.
* Helping individuals connect with each other-- infrastructure that helps people find communities. Link with trainings, collective group of employers. A collective HR structure. Like WIkipedia but more for RSS Feeds. Radical legal collective-- supporting the interface between the capitalist legal system and alternative trade systems/economies. Need people with skills.
* Circle Group-- a lot of common patterns about how to work effectively around power structures, burnout-- building networks around what works and does not. Support infrastructure-- Air Force plane fueling other planes midair.
* Encouraging people to deal with the issues. Ignoring pending disasters.
* An alternative economy needs to include more than Portland-- Oregon-- Cascadia.
* Limiting corporate personhood-- supreme court decision analysis.
* Community supportive gardening.
Conversation topics
* What do people hold in common-- what do people share. Developing the Commons.
* Community Prosper-- build relationships for people to use the program. Social networking site work based on the number of people who participate. Open with a really big O.
* What's going to encourage people to network?
* Developing Worker Collectives-- networking cooperatives.
* Flex-jobs: flexible labor exchange (FLE).
* Study groups to conceptualize this new economy-- studying what people have in common. Developing the Commons.
*****IN BOSTON:*****
INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS AND INSTITUTIONS AND PRACTICES THAT WE ENVISION IN MIDDLE TERM IN BOSTON…
-- csa participation way up
-- community savings account – community ida; people put money into it, use for community ;; Michigan
-- people have lots more time; more focus on wellbeing, time spent with family , friends, hobbies, hanging out – less focus on efficiency, profit-making cogs; signals shift in cultural priorities and values; policies valuing family and childcare (exist in some scandanavian countries)
-- lots of intersecting democratic institutional connections; worker owned and operating business cooperativing with each other, local politicians, credit unions, etc. – democracy isn’t just voting once every four years, is way of life, way people engage with one another; schools are transformed or no schools, are in community, or if schooling, focus on how to learn skills of community, conflict resolution, how to be in community through dialogue, open to transform yourself constantly (vs. fixed idea of identity). People have spiritual and psychol wherewithal to transform themselves; explosion of new cultural forms; new integrated and previously unimagined forms – not just multicultural, many cultures, but many new global cultures, we are rooted here in boston but with deep and profound connections across the globe –
-- consumers being able to differentiate among goods not just based on price – solidarity economy seal; wikis to evaluate product according to values –
-- multiple community currencies supporting different kinds of values; guy who wanted to increase recycling in poor community – get scrip for recycling
-- community wealth ownership and community credit – and control over that – not controlled by banks
-- not cool to consume a lot – not bad to live simply
-- new forms of cooperative, collective housing; retrofitting,
-- cap income
-- many fewer cars – many roads taken back, transformed into parks—personal rapid transit (public transit)
-- boston as leader in adapting alternative energy sources, prototypes – using universities
-- productin – things made to last –
-- boston, resource wealthy, lots of water – how be open to immigration, people from all over the world being welcomed here – and us connecting to other cities around the world
-- how can immigrants integrate into the community without feeling “new” -- -- are here bec forced to be here. Understand what brought them here. Push for us foreign policy – that supports democratic leaders and real development – so people aren’t forced to emigrate
-- greater level of consciousness on part of public of choices that we’re making – effects of our economic choices – (the whole world has been affected by the US, are trying to copy us) – and see how our choices are affecting others
-- breaking down of division between lives and work – manifest passions in our work
-- more worker coops, consumer coops, solidarity coops; participatory budgeting;
-- actual bike lanes
-- people have understanding of what we get or make locally/regionally vs. internationally – understand feedback loops – as much locally grown food as possible; deep understanding of fair trade to get the rest
-- new myths – of spiritual connection to natural environment; re-indigenizing, help us understand out natural cycles; being connected to dynamics of this part of the earth; learning to listen; listening peoples – live in connection to selves and world around them
-- economy that values in terms of peopls’ work – artists and musicians and people working for justice can earn a living, including caring work
-- be conscious consumers – why are prices high for teff – because farmers are producing flowers rather than food
-- unified theory that brings all of these things together
-- work and relationships at work – power relationships, decision making, micro and macro level – new model which is horizontal, participatory, based on real knowledge,education, skills—creates quality products – abolish all managerial functions, transform property to collective property
-- there is a crisis with imminent problems that require imminent solutions – defend country through economic transformation and participation –
-- corporations can’t just maximize profit – not acceptable; corporate charters different.
-- note about crisis and transformation: if we’re entering a period of rapid transformation – crises – things can really change quickly; people get it that things aren’t working; it’s fertile ground for change – our organizing now can make us ready for these crises with real solutions
cohousing design
I recently wandered through Cornerstone Cohousing… a sweet little community tucked into a dense North Cambridge (Mass.) neighborhood, next to the main bike path and across the street from a park. Nice spot!
I just muse at how most of the newly built cohousing communities that I’ve been to (maybe 5-8) look almost the same! I w
onder why… maybe they’ve figured out the best possible design and just keep using it… maybe there’s a standard look and feel to what cohousers want... maybe there are just a few cohousing designers… or maybe that’s just what I’m seeing!July 17, 2008
Cross-Pollination Project experimental session #3
In this session we discussed the challenges (and solutions!) of cross-pollination, and then explored what it means to cross-pollinate as an individual versus as a representative of a group. Who am I and why am I here? (check ins) * treating group as amorphous blob instead of connecting to individuals Challenge: two people sharing a dorm room with a common value but different tastes in food, music, fashion, religion Solution: found agreement in disagreement Challenge: two charismatic leaders who can’t work together Solution: found support staff of both who could communicate. Leaders are invested in their posture and couldn’t change identity Solution: live in each other’s shoes for 30 days Challenge: group didn’t feel listened to so conflict happened. Group already defined its terms and the other person spoke before listening Solution: recognize the power to assert oneself and use authority to say that the terms need to be redefined to include everyone--- or, before the meeting, be part of setting the agenda! BUILD TRUST FIRST Challenge: five groups with different values needing to work on a challenging situation Solution: They needed to be heard individually before they met as a group—needed to vent. Solution: with research we learned that the conflict was artificial—it was a perceived difference but not a real one Challenge: want to bring a different, potentially threatening information to a group Solution: build from what is known and safe and then bring in a new idea. Bring it back to what is known and accepted Solution: APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY CHECK OUTS:
Click here for more!!!
* activism through networks versus being in a solid position
* book: alexander galloway: the exploit
* my friend told me i'm a cross-pollinator... i hang out with a lot of different groups and talk about a lot of different things
* involved with arts collective, inner city garden, work in mexico, circus--in portland now and asking what's happening and what could go better?
* food not bombs has three or four groups here who don't communicate
* community based barter system--trade not capital
* i've been doing CP for decades--not on the street but from the inside in a corporation-- saw the need to work in teams, cooperate, understand each other's languages is fundamental... things not on the surface are very important--communication
* as an academic and psychologist i asked what is the nature of multidisciplinary and the difference between agreement and understanding
* grew up in a conservative family, became a hippy, and find myself wanting to connect and share with conservatives... as a construction worked i can connect
* i want to connect people with a need to people with a skill or resource. support the flow of energy
* i connect with people in a neutral way--not sell anything but help people open up to each other
* i am here representing CNRG and portland peak oil and a community art project--a cross pollination project about systems flow
* i find myself in the spaces between groups, connecting them
* i'm a facilitator, mediator, power dynamics between individuals and groups
* i want to help different groups find points of linkage
* i work with consensus based groups and look at the underlying power structure and policy--working towards a new kind of social organization--democracy!Challenges in cross-pollination (group b’storm)
* internalized class values
* want to partner, similar values, but real differences in other ways, like in decision making structures and methods
* connecting grassroots with professional groups--very different mechanisms even if similar goals
* developing trust--not feeling understood or feeling alienated
* when an individual is not clear what their role is
* group believing that they have the same goal or same enemy but not
* this work not being supported or appreciated by groups oor people
* a group that's come together can be thrown off by a troublemaker-- and then how everyone deals with it
* do nothings who cause trouble to cover laziness
* fear of change--the challenge of holding onto the old way
* race, gender, class, sexual orientation, privilege of any sort, religion.... how large scale oppressions affect everyone differently
* when you have a bond with fighting a common enemy and then the enemy goes away
* when you accept other as self
* information overload leading to lockdown
* overcomplexification
* burn out! overwhelm with not getting there fast enough-- then the links you hold are lost
* not using technology and networks
* action oriented versus philosophical
* historical pain (organizational or personal) -- old stuff preventing current connections
* language
* TIME
* different frames of reality--different perceptions of the same thing
* missionaries and narrow mindedness
* EGO
* money--scarcity mentality
* lack of public space to meet--lack of common ground
* different cultures--food, music, gathering style, etc.
Wisdom from discussing challenging cross-pollination situations (debrief after small group discussions)
Cross pollination as: Individual ßà Group (full group brainstorm/discussion)
June 30, 2008
Second cross-pollination session
Wisdom from Cross-Pollination Stories
CP experimental session #2:
In this session we shared stories of cross-pollination and then reflected on those stories, asking ourselves questions like: what did the story reveal about CP? What about the context made it work well/not work well? Etc. It was a lively and deep discussion, enjoyed deeply by all.
Click here for more!!!
"S" shared a story about talking with an extended family member while visiting his farm in Iowa(?)… someone with very different politics and life view, but through the conversation was able to open and learn about a different point of view with farming, religion, etc. Deep stuff!
"K" shared about working with various intentional communities, and learning how to share stories and experiences from one to the other.
"B" shared about working with a volunteer community in the Cleveland Zoo.
I shared about going to a salon at someone’s house and bridging the world of green consumers to deep historical context of institutional oppressions around race, class, environment, countries, etc.
Some of our notes:
· finding a point of linkage to establish trust and rapport: start there (even if it seems tangential)
· having a base of some common knowledge allowed him to see that I shared a common interest—an opening, connection
· active listening: asking lots of questions
· used sci-fi (alternate reality) as safe common ground to explore new ideas—hypothetical and non-threatening
· personal confidence: I had done enough personal work so that I didn’t need to be heard or affirmed. I found ego satisfaction in my role as a listener (you don’t have to be enlightened or selfless)
· lack of judgment in listening
· valuing all the steps it takes in personal growth
· having fun with it
· go to their experience, see the work from their view before processing… I want to know their space
· everyone love to talk about themselves!!
· Reveal parts of yourself that link with them
· I use all of my skills at different times: agile applications
· Do work together (wash dishes, work on the farm, etc) so you don’t have just an intellectual, verbal, linear experience.
· What’s appropriate in each setting and space is different—adopt to the norms and show that you can follow the rules… when you recognize when the norms change you become a co-creator and show honor and respect
· At end exchanged seeds and salmon… when I saw that he’s a reader and had established trust I planted a new idea by sending the book, Omnivore’s Dilemma. He was ready to receive it then (and had hinted that he believed that his ag technique wasn’t great).
· Link created even without a gift—he could see that he could associate with a “lefty”
· Linking old/familiar ideas or experience to new ones—building from known
· Being a mirror
· Danger of evangelism when sharing new ideas—so let folks have their own reaction to your stories
· Using one’s own self stories as vehicle for connection
· Leave them asking for more
· Evangelists want to convert but CPs want people to stay in their own groups but feel connected to others
June 15, 2008
Slideshows in classes
I was honored to be invited to Peter Schoonmaker's "Myth of Sustainability” class at PSU. Before the class, Peter explained to me that all semester he had been depressing his students with the realities of our dire situation. His other guests, which included Portland powerhouses Dennis Wilde, Regina Hauser and Rex Burkholder, had all shared their work but had also said that they knew it wasn’t enough. As the guest for the last class of the year, I was invited to share other models: doing things ourselves, right here, right now.
I shared my stories of grassroots efforts from around the world and also right here in Portland (you guessed it: TLC Farm and City Repair!). I also wove in the connections between these grassroots efforts and the global influences that the students had also been learning about, like the world capital/economic system. As usual, it was quite fun as well as heavy to introduce ideas like the fact that non-profits aren’t necessarily going to “save us”—that we must embrace shifted outta-the-box lifestyle and perspectives if we are going to really have a changed story.
A few weeks before this class, I also had the honor of presenting this story to a "Global Civilization" class at the University of Oregon. This class was graduate level in the planning school, so I focused more on the built environment.
June 06, 2008
Possibilities and Pitfalls of coalitions
I attended the Coalition for a Livable Future’s annual Equity Summit. It was quite an interesting day with 300 of Portland’s incredibly engaged and thoughtful changemakers who came together to focus on regional equity.
Before I go onto the details, I want to share my (difficult) conclusion about the event. Note: I deeply, deeply respect and appreciate CLF’s work and role in this region, and I share the following as a larger picture reflection on coalitions in general. My basic conclusion is that a lot of amazing people came together for the day, but that their insights and skills were not effectively accessed. That, I think, is the often-unmet challenge of coalitions… it sounds great to all get together, but how do you build meaningful links of knowledge and action?
The goal of the Summit was to create the agenda for CLF’s work, and as such we broke up into issues areas in order to convene the leading thinkers/do-ers on each subject. I went to the Affordable Housing group, since I don’t know much about the housing scene and thought this would be a good way to hear what’s up!
While it was exciting to sit in a circle with 40 people engaged in many aspects of housing (and key institutions/ organizations), the format did not allow for deep conversation. In the first hour-long session we brainstormed ideas, and in the second session we voted on them. What was missing was the space to delve into the ideas, find out the current context, flesh out what has already been tried, what has worked or not worked, and build from woven-together knowledge. In other words, collective knowledge did not get accessed, and instead, we all simply voted without necessarily understanding the ideas. 
Then, we presented to the whole summit our three highest-ranked ideas as our proposal for CLF's agenda on housing.
I admire the intent of the day, and do think it is absolutely necessary to connect all of these key people in creating our regional priorities. I also recognize that it is a feat to bring together all of those busy people for a whole day, and that asking for more time wouldn’t be feasible… but, I wonder what other formats might be used. Or, maybe more people should get involved in the ongoing committees of CLF and engage more deeply…. hmmm, more questions.
One moment I very much appreciated: when the whole room was invited to stretch out into each cardinal direction, honoring the reaches of the places and concepts that we were weaving together (see photo on left, people reaching East).
June 05, 2008
Truly a Convergence
The 8th annual Village Building Convergence just ended, and it truly was an inspiring convergence of people, ideas and action!
more reflections and photos soon!
May 28, 2008
Two of my favorite VBC presenters: Paul Cienfuegos and Starhawk
Thank you to our elders for bringing us perspective!
Wow, Paul blew my socks off. He stood up, read a speech, and took the room on an enlightening journey of the history of social movements, and on the deep realities of corporate personhood.
He started by telling us about the organic food movement, how it started with activists in the 1970s who were “too small to matter” and is now the only growth sector in the food industry. He explained how the movement sewed the seeds for their own destruction by not keeping control of who is in charge. Now, corporations get to define the story.
Paul’s points are that: 1) we don’t take ourselves (in social movements) seriously enough, and understand the intersections with corporate capitalism, and 2) we don’t know our history.
On the first note, Paul pointed out that many of us think that we are on the fringe, hopeless in reaching the “apathetic Americans”. Many activists feel like our candidates don’t get on ballots, our letters don’t get heard, our input is not heard. He explains that these feelings are rational because the system is broken.
But, people care deeply about what they have basic authority over.
That’s where the “Rights of Corporations” comes in: corporate personhood. Paul asserts that if we understood the significance of corporate personhood, than our strategies and tactics for change would be different. He pointed out that in doing things like:
--writing a letter to a corporate leader
--going to a public hearing
--demonstrating at stores
--boycotting
--sueing
--buying stock and going to stockholders meetings
are all assuming that corporations have legitimate power and are NOT the subordinate legal entity that they were first intended to be! If we take for granted that corporations have personhood power, than we will not understand what we can reverse.
Paul went into the fascinating history of the slow and steady gain of corporate power through building their “rights” over people and the government. That is why logging companies write forest management acts and weapons corporations write foreign policy.
Paul points out that we must dismantle their rights. In his home county, they have removed the personhood rights of corporations and do not allow chains or donations by corporations. And it’s catching on: two hundred townships in Pennsylvania have passed similar laws, and Nebraska and South Dakota have similar state constitutional amendments.
So, what’s stopping us? Paul says: we’re acting like we’re radicals, on the fringe, while most Americans want healthy environments, social systems, peace, etc. He thinks that we’re so used to being activists and rebels that we don’t see ourselves as the majority. What if we acted like we are the majority?!?!
Paul’s speech gave me, and the other 250 people in the room, chills. He got a spirited standing O. ;-)
Ten minutes later Starhawk took the stage and wove us into other layers of the deeper realities of our existence. “We do not have the luxury of being realistic,” she said.
What rang most for me about Star’s talk was her illumination about the sheer difficulty of getting along with each other in our non-hierarchical, non-patriarchal groups. We don’t have many models of collectives, and she offered us some insight about this using the four cardinal directions.
She spoke about POWER: power over, power within and power with. She noted that unearned power is privilege. The “power with” part is tricky: people gain power in many forms, and in a group of equals this power determines how much you get listened to and therefore directs the path of the group. Vision can guide a group but must be invested in with love and trust.
Trust in each other and accountability mechanisms are essential. We need sound and safe ways for giving each other feedback and constructive critique. It’s a sign of respect, she pointed out, that your work gets critiqued because it reveals its value and the intention to improve it. She explained that critique must be specific, thoughtful and timely.
Star ended by reminding us that we must invite in the help of our allies; asking for help keeps us humble. And, when we open up to the wisdom of “invisible allies” like algae or fungus (and faeries—she’s a witch, you know!), we become witness to transformation of something ordinary into something miraculous! Now, that’s inspiration!!
May 25, 2008
Alchemy: music, images, words, intention
Last night, I met the incredible women of the Goddess Alchemy Project, who performed at the Village Building Convergence. I'm writing this here because they are beautifully weaving together some foundational elements of motivating people for social change today. First of all, they are four women who are strongly grounded in the power of the feminine, and the space that they create in their show is an inviting engagement of the crowd as a community. I loved that they announced their last song as the closing ceremony--a reflection of the sacred space that they had just created with us.
These women speak truth about today's social justice and ecological issues--things that need to be said loud and clear to all of us. They speak it powerfully, with hip hop and spoken word woven into lyrical flows. And, they add to the synesthesic experience by showing images of really intense aspects of today's reality -- brutal fighting, oppression, etc.
These tell-it-like-it-is statements in the context of their supportive, grateful and motivating-to-action embrace of the crowd was such a sweet combination of forces! I really appreciate their work in this world--a model for cross-pollination!
Linking Learning Centers
Wow, there are a lot of ambitious and inspired groups of people creating demonstration and education centers in this world!
Yesterday, we at TLC Farm connected with a similar eco-village education center in Vancouver, B.C., (photo on left) called O.U.R. Ecovillage. Brandee, one of the co-creators, was in Portland for the Village Building Convergence, and her first stop was TLC Farm.
During her keynote presentation that night, Brandee explained how they worked with their local government to create a whole new zone--an eco-village zone-- so that they could build sustainably. Of course, it's absurd to have to fight so hard to "be allowed" to do what we all know is the best thing for the earth and local community, but their story is inspiring. And for TLC Farm, where we are currently working on our ReCode Portland project, it was very valuable to hear about their process and success.
Meeting Brandee helped answer a hanging question of mine: how can all of these learning centers form meaningful and useful relationships with each other? We have so much to learn, and have such an opportunity to build momentum together... but how would that really look? One answer is to simply visit each other and see what happens from there... building personal connections so that we can call upon each other and feel a sense of being part of a larger movement or system.
In a similar manner, TLC Farm is currently exploring being part of the Berkana Exchange, a global network of learning centers. Meg Wheatley, one of the founders of Berkana, has some great drawings to show how "trans-local learning" can happen in this exchange. While, each learning center is focused on their own region, radiating out new ways of living, there are common experiences that connect us all. 
These common strategies are grouped into "Communities of Practice", such as Local Economies and Permaculture Gardening, and give focus to the exchange.
I told Brandee about our Oregon regional network of learning centers (TLC Farm, Aprovecho, Lost Valley and a few others), and how we are also starting to find ways to connect to a whole host of California learning centers (like OAEC). Maybe we'll have a Cascadia Learning Communities Convergence sometime... or weave together with exchange programs... or something!
What exciting opportunities!
May 22, 2008
First Portland Cross-Pollination Gathering!
As a warm up to the Portland Cross-Pollination Project, brush and I facilitated an experimental evening of cross-pollination. Together with a dozen other interesting changemakers, we brainstormed, shared and linked ideas.
Clearly, there is an emerging group of people who are aware of their roles as links between communities, and it feels great to find a "peer group" with whom to explore some of the challenges and opportunities with still-unrecognized role in social change organizing.
After introductions, we began by brainstorming what kinds of things we would want to know about another community or group, in the context of looking for meaningful ways to link. The group quickly formed an initial list (see left), bringing out some sometimes subtle aspects of a group, like a group's flexibility and interest in reaching out to other groups, who a group already connects with or explicitly doesn't , their stage in the typical organizational life cycle flow, their intra or inter organizational challenges, and how much they value supporting people's personal maturity and growth process as a part of the larger fabric of social change.
Then, in groups of three, we each shared about a community that we are connected to in terms of these brainstormed areas. People then reported back to the full group about their experiences, and brought out some interesting questions, like the balance of what to hear about first, or mostly: a person's individual role and interest in the organization versus the organization's mission, structure, strategies, etc.
Then, we brainstormed "ways to link communities" (right), and then went back to the groups of three to play with the possible links between each other's groups. This session also brought out some intriguing challenges (opportunities!) of linking, such as the desire to simply exchange emails and start sending each other information versus a feeling of information overload and desire to find other meaningful connections.
It was an energetic evening, and as we reflected on the process and discussed next steps, it was clear that there are a lot of very juicy areas to be explored with this idea of cross-pollination. It seems like a lot of people have common experiences and desire for deepening the art and science of this role, and I am excited to see the Portland Cross-Pollination Project develop!!
Click here for the notes!!!
Agenda: first cross-pollination gathering!
intros: why are you here? why are yousmal interested in CP? What does CP mean to you?
intro to CP
brainstorm: what would you want to know about another community?
small groups: share about a community you are part of in the context of the brainstorm.
full group: report back
brainstorm: ways of linking communities
small groups: link 2 communities
full group: report back
wrap up: check outs, next steps, homework!
Why are you here? what is CP to you?
* independant activist for justice/peace--different areas
* responsible citizen w/small groups
* grps interchange ideas from different angles
* public awareness of communities, where are, what can do
* GMO, OG farming, vegan/veg, env. convservation--but many are fragmented. how can we not be fragmented?
* part of many groups--see those connections
* social/economic justice at center of many mvmts.
* living in intentional community showed how to get past fragmentation
* build community person-to-person
* tried to get involved (gardening, sus. community, FNB, city repair, artists) but nothing has gelled
* social reclamation/reconstructon--human ecology
* so many ideas for learning about each other!
* cp is not networking...its different somehow
* my friend things of me as a CP! wow!
* curiosity is my motto
* maybe i don't need to do it all but can connect them all
* i see how one group knows what another needs
* i'm an activist in alot of ways...i see the fragmentation. no-one knows how to work together
* been part of large convergences where many communities had many styles/strategies--saw ways to move through blocks. ecosystem of change--not centralized
* involved in many community projects--see how many follow the same patterns. value is in linking
In terms of looking to link or cross-pollinate, what do you want to know about another community?
* decision-making structure
* values
* vision
* personal involvement
* reputation
* personal maturing (done their own work)
* anything new, novel, interesting, different?
* what are they doing well with and what struggling with
* do they hold trainings/teachings/ways to share what they do/know
* how people plugi n
* what grps they work with--cooperate/compete with different groups, connections and who NOT work with (enemies)
* their resources and needs
* funding sources
* skeletons...?
* how important is integrity...financial based decisions or ethics/values
* flexability to reach out/openness to connections/attitude
* demographics
* how connected to larger movement or not
* see in historical context (institutional oppressions, power analysis over time)
* how measure and monitor success and adherence to mission
* history of group...where in organizational cycle
* learning strategy
* relationship to leadership/power/privelage
* ideology
Sharing about our communities (reflections after small group discussions)
* re: values and vision...we had common threads
* commonality of how to maintain "radical" politics when being pulled in different directions--radical vs. pragmatists
* w/short time to share, we tried to go through each of our brainstorm list--can we have a prioritized list??
* ...or, list is complete and each is important!
* hard to not start w/my own story/role--what is more valuable?
* development phases/growth of orgs...
* the factual nitty gritty frame could hold the other nuances, gives a context
* organize list into categories/template--niches for group
* didn't hear personal skills..relationship of person to group
* --not list of your groups but what you bring to them
* are we linking with a person or a community/group?
* orgs morph over time...people move on
Brainstorm: ways of linking communities, as individuals
* representatives/official liasons
* cnrg--online info clearinghouse
* live vicariously through other people
* google calendar--schedule what's happening and see who went to what
* community event--many groups share
* events that appeal to specific aspects of groups
* events--multi-mode/stack functions
* one community train/mentor/skillshare another, help other community grow
* be members of many communities--unofficial liasons
* orientations/workshops
* go help each other--clean office, paint house
* retreats--address core challenges--deeper work
* parties-social-friends w/consciousness of CP relationship
* asset mapping...online google doc
* link groups through health or other activity-food, childcare
* direct resources--barter, alternative economy or purchasing
* specific short term projects
* get groups together for rally and recruitment event
* common website--vision exchange?
Reflections about linking (after small group discussions)
* idea: using sunday walk to bring recy. groups and kids and bike shops together
* exchanging emails...uh oh...one more email of a group i don't really know vs. concrete link--visit each other
* meeting needs with capabilities/resources
* discovered how much legwork to organized/hold events. cost benefit analysis
* geographic distance but spreading word through sympathetic people. resources within IC's to help groups w/consciousness
* what will be a challenge w/potential culture clash
* time!!! will cp save us time? help refine info and connections...
* what is cp and what can it do for me?
* why do i want to put the energy into this?
* shifting to a bigger picture
* people who have ideas w/o attachment=cp
* "i know someone in my org who would want to be on mailing list of your org, but i don't."
Ideas for Next Steps
* potluck-informal
* reading list
* info table at events--farmers markets
* survey of orgs: would this be useful?
* vision exchange domain
* blog the process
* cross-city cross-pollination
* website/discussion forum
* identifying culture as cp within community
Questions:
email overload
information management
Pond of future conversations
* why CP?
* more aspects of linking
* linking w/communities you are not directly part of vs. not
* personal experience of cp
* challenges with linking
* "permanent" structures for CP
* more on gifts/limitations of our own work/group
* other forms of cp
* how orgs morph over time
* personal link-grp
* what i can get out of cp
May 21, 2008
Eugene slideshows
I shared two slideshows in Eugene... the first at a U of O "History of Global Civilization" class in the Department of Planning and Policy. The professor just happened to be my college thesis adviser and Green Cities professor (in '99-'00 out east), Rob Young. It was a great full circle experience to share how my path has evolved since Green Cities!
The second show was at Maitraya Ecovillage in their strawbale meeting space -- a great spot for an intimate and thoughtful conversation.
May 12, 2008
"That's the question..."
Yup, that's the question: how and when does "the community" get involved in guiding policy and directing basic services of our society?
A friend recently attended a City sponsored event about support for immigrants and refugees. It was held at the King Elementary School in hopes that "the community" in the area would show up. Few did. It was attended by the usual suspects of grassroots or non-profit organizations, where many times a few "community members" basically get tokenized as the representatives.
My friend told me this story while we were at a more on-the-ground community center... where people actually hang out together, and where a City sponsored round table to talk about budgets is an "out there" idea that sounds pretty intimidating and boring. So my friend is a link... but he cannot do this work alone. So that's the question: how do we mobilize and get mobilized?
Yup, that's the question.....
Olin study group - finding similar stories as activists
Tonight I met a group of people who were asking very similar questions as I have been:
* What does it mean to be an activist driven by direct suffering vs. driven by ideas?
* Activists are fragmented; everyone has their own agenda. What do we do about this?
* Many activists jump from issue to issue, depending what's hot. The benefit: deal with current crisis. Cost: don't always get deeper into roots and longer term solutions. Is this shortsighted? Would it be a radical act to plant roots and stay focused on one place? (Note: Brad Lancaster in Tucson is my hero because he did just that)
* Do we need place-based communities as well as issue-based communities?
* The Zapatistas said that you have to take risks to make deep change. They planned for ten years before they came out of the woods and declared their path towards an autonomous state. What does it mean to us in Portland or the U.S. to take a risk? What does it look like to get out of our comfort zone?
* We discussed "lifestylists", folks who work for social change through gardening, biking, eating vegan, etc. And we discussed the "intellectual activists", who sit around and study and debate all the time. And then there are the non-intellectual activists, who just want to go go go. And the burnt out activists, who "just want to live their life" and not go to meetings all the time. What's the balance?
* How do we find the time or interest in studying history? Other cultures have passed down history through songs, stories, lessons, etc. Today, we have Hollywood or CNN as the story tellers...
* If movement building tends to happen during times of crisis, and in those times we are not necessarily thinking the most clearly or long-termly, how do we motivate people to organize otherwise?
The group I attended was the monthly social movement study group called Olin. Their homework for this session was to read "Beyond Resistance: EVERYTHING! An Interview with Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos", of the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico. Many interesting lessons can be drawn from the Zapatistas:
* Listening tour: show up and ask groups/people what they are doing. Learn and apply lessons from there. (see my blog entry from when I attended a Listening Tour event).
* "Encounters" or gatherings as a tool... create the space for interactions!
* Observation: an event with free food and music brings one type of crowd; an event with explicit political agenda brings another... both are hosted by the same group. How do we create events where multiple crowds are all attracted? Is one event more "activisty" than another? Many activist groups/social movements organize around community activities like food and other basic needs... the Black Panthers and the Zapatistas... are we "too busy having meetings" to build a foundation of community?
* Building "counter institutions" is essential: create the locally-powered alternative foundations for society.
I really enjoyed meeting another group of people who were not only experiencing similar things as me, but who were also articulating the experiences by asking questions and admitting that we don't know the answers. It seems like that's a good start.
And on that note, next month's homework reading may be: "Learning How To Ask" by Charles Briggs -- a recommended reading about the ins and outs of a good interview.
A meeting of pollinators
I was invited to an intriguing meeting about the idea of creating a "civil society summit" in Portland, inspired by the over 500 Portland listings in Wiser Earth.
It turned out that the meeting was attended by a handful of network- systems thinker type folks, and we ended up spending the evening discussing some of the layers of working to link groups and draw out the wisdom from each person... from a personal, individual point of view
to Oregon's plans for reaching its sustainability benchmarks to global youth empowerment organizing.
The conversation was so fun that it continued downstairs over a beer...
...details soon!
May 09, 2008
~~~~Portland Cross-Pollination Project~~~~
Weaving a web of changemaking
Request for Cross-Pollinators
Are you…
…committed to increasing coordination and cooperation across difference?
Would you...
…exchange wisdoms and practices without pressure to agree?
…participate in a support structure to build skills with others?
…help the work of “weaving” be recognized and encouraged?
Cross-pollinators…
…create space for open collaboration without pressure for unity;
…translate specific tools, ideas, resources, and strategies;
…frame perspectives within an emerging social-ecosystem;
…discover solutions & engage conflicts through mutual understanding and leveraging personal trust;
This is a call out for cross-pollinators who see themselves in an active role of overlap between multiple issues, identities, or ideologies. In a year-long experience we will facilitate a dynamic, focused exploration into the art and science of cross-pollination.
We will discover points of linkage and practice effective communication across diverse communities and approaches, first within the group and then expanding citywide. Together, we will enact the connections that we desperately need for successful, broad scale social justice and ecological restoration.
This cross-pollination project has been developed through a weave of conversations among some of Portland's most experienced grassroots organizers. The project is built to complement our existing work, stoke our passions, and invigorate our practices.
Want to try this out? Or, can you help advise the group?
We are meeting with interested applicants now!
Contact us!
Jenny Leis: 503-548-8459; jennyleis@riseup.net
************************************************************
Summer cross-pollination events
The year’s pilot program will begin in September. We will be building up into the year by offering a summertime series of public practice sessions, events and educational opportunities about cross-pollination.
** Cross-Pollination Sessions **
* May 22 (7-9 pm @ Red and Black Café), June 19, July 17, August 14*
In these sessions we will experiment with cross-pollination activities. You may participate by coming prepared to share a 2-minute explanation of one or more social change groups or activities that you are part of, and be ready to practice finding points of linkage with others. These activities will be playful and creative, each session building upon the previous.
** Cross-Pollination Slideshows **
* Wednesday, May 21st, 7:30pm, Maitreya Eco-Village, 1647 W. Broadway, EUGENE *
* Friday, May 23rd, 7pm, Village Building Convergence opening night, 722 E Burnside, PORTLAND *
* more slideshows will be announced continuously on http://journeydejenny.blogspot.com *
Join Jenny Leis in an evening of celebrating grassroots activism around the world. Be inspired with stories from her year’s journey as a traveling cross-pollinator!
************************************************************
More info on the Portland Cross-Pollination Project!
What is cross-pollination?
Simply, it is the skill and practice of helping communities work together and learn from each other, especially when they differ importantly over values, vision, identity, ideology, strategy, language, experience, position, etc. It's a grassroots attitude, focused on building many local connections between groups rather than relying on large, distant "coalitions" in which only overworked leaders participate meaningfully. Cross-pollinators build personal relationships with people within the communities involved, often participating in their lives and work, at least for a time. They help communities recognize the benefits of collaborating, work through the misunderstandings of culture clash, and support the emergence of new liaisons. They are skilled at the tools of diplomacy, active listening, and affirming what it is that makes each (sub)culture unique.
Why is cross-pollination important?
We live in a world of niche markets, hybrid identities, and organizational silos, rather than a uniform "mainstream". This means that people power today does not lie in "mass organizations" or getting everyone to agree on a single platform, leader, or organization. Instead, people power lies in the capacity of many different, small, local communities to be linked together in ways that allow positive changes to grow exponentially -- without undermining the fundamental autonomy of each group. Cross-pollinating is the experimental, practical work of facilitating those linkages.
How will this year-long project be useful?
Many of us are de facto cross-pollinators, at least to some extent. Some of us have recognized this role, given it a name (or, many names!), and work to get better at it. Two of us have chosen to convene a sifted circle of self-described cross-pollinators in order to explore the emerging theory and practice of cross-pollinating. Over a year’s time, we will learn new models and skills from each other, supplemented by written works and possible workshops, and continuously reflect on the results with a group of advisers. We will extend the cross-pollination to the broader Portland community through specific projects, clear communications and documentation. The result will be new understanding, experience and respect for the work of cultivating critical linkages among many kinds of communities, enabling the diverse people powered networks of Portland to emerge.
Sound exciting? Apply now to be part of the pilot project! Email or call Jenny at jennyleis@riseup.net or 503-548-8459 for more information.
April 22, 2008
Earth Day 2008
Last year on Earth Day I was in the largest slum in Africa (see here)... this year it was great to be back in Portland and see how Portland's magnificently creative sustainability culture has evolved... and it has! It was amazing to
see the new ideas for getting people to sustainablize their transportation, food, health, education, etc. One neat thing was seeing so many friends who had created new organizations, or had taken pet projects to whole new levels. We certainly have critical mass of changemakers in this town!
April 18, 2008
Darryl Hannah at TLC Farm?
Last week TLC Farm met a long-distance community member (and, well, Hollywood star): Darryl Hannah. Turns out she had read about our outdoor kindergarten in the Wall Street Journal and happened to be in Portland that day...
...the fun part was realizing that she is already knows all about permaculture, natural building, and many other aspects of the Farm (but not chicken tractors, which Brenna is explaining in the photo on the right). She was psyched to learn about TLC Farm's approach to integrated sustainability, and said that she wanted to return this summer with her camera crew.
She is a cross-pollinator! Check out the "show" on her website: dhlovelife.com. So, it looks like we might be a new segment! How fun!
April 05, 2008
(1) I am living the integrated socio-ecosystem
There are six posts in this thread of personal reflections.
I am living the integrated socio-ecosystem, and if more people do this, it gets easier.
[soon, link to overview of socio-ecosystem]
(2) Baby Steps
Part of this experiment I call my life is to step as fully as I can into the web so that others may as well. That’s the whole point: if we each took these steps than the infrastructure would grow to match our needs, and we would actually have the systems that we want to be embodying. All we have to do is choose that we are ready and then step into it.
Click here for more!!!
We may not be able to step directly into the socio-economic-ecosystem of our visions (and we may not even know what that looks like!), but if we take the baby steps that we know are “right”, than we begin to create the path. “We make the road by walking”, right?
(3) My step: exchange
I am taking another type of step into the interdependence of our socio-economo-ecosystem: the gift economy. The best part about this alternate economy is that it is not necessarily about direct exchange. It’s about one thing leading to another and playing with the integration of many aspects of our daily and larger picture lives.
For example, when I sent out my Community Supported Activist (CSA) announcement, one of the responses that came back was from a friend offering his cabin as a retreat space. (This is where I now sit to write these thoughts.) But, it’s not as straightforward as going to a cabin for a writing getaway—it’s a chance to live in his rural permacultural setup, to experience what he has learned about creating sustainable infrastructure, to gain insight into the real life details of his neighbor’s logging expeditions and to cross-pollinate ideas with another changemaker in a variety of settings. I still get my peace and quiet to write, but instead of paying for a cabin somewhere, I get to integrate this aspect of my life (the need to get away) with the whole picture of my life (weaving tighter the interdependence of people). And, he gets my stories and ideas, yummy meals, and the things I can do around his property to help. There are a lot of levels of exchange.
(4) One way to break out of isolation
Since announcing my CSA (Community Supported Activism), I have received a few comments in the realm of “wow, it’s great that you feel comfortable asking for what you need.” These comments suggest to me that we are generally taught to be as independent as possible, and that asking for things from others is a often understood as a sign of weakness, laziness or unaccomplishability. Yet if the goal is to integrate and operate more in community and as a living collaborative culture, than we have to create more ways to exchange. To ask for things (whether it be for help, an idea or material) is one way to consciously step out of the culture of separation and into the culture of sharing, integrating. Yes, it can be awkward, but if we make it ok to ask, and to respond with ANY answer without “baggage”, then we are well on our way to sustainability.
(5) Cells of an organism
Sometimes, people suggest that I ask too often for help from other people. And in these moments I feel embarrassed or out of line, and try to reflect on how I can keep the balance of putting myself out there just enough to help spark the deepening experience of interconnection. I apologize if any of my requests feel distasteful.
But I’d like to explain how I see my requests of people. Every time I invite someone to help me in some way, I see it as an opportunity to be part this experiment of integrated community sustainability.
Click here for more!!!
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If I see myself as a piece of this larger puzzle, than you helping me is being part of that puzzle. And, by inviting you in, I become part of your story, also a piece of the larger puzzle. And then, when you invite me to assist you in some way, you are inviting me to experience your piece of the world. And when we work together, we discover things together. We create shared knowledge and find innovative solutions. We add value, beyond the direct service, to our co-existence.
I fully anticipate that as I am asking people for support or involvement, I will be reciprocal. All sorts of people ask me for things—sometimes it’s material, but often, since many people know my skills, it’s about an idea, a connection, a project, etc. That’s why I love community organizing—it’s about connecting people for collectivity and grassroots action, and recognizing that the path is often seemingly unclear. Yet, we trust. We believe that each conversation, each moment’s gift or action, adds up. Trust is the “messiness”, and the propellant, of the socio-eco-system.
Trust is a very important aspect of living an interdependent life. I have to trust the web that I am stepping into, and the many components of that web have to trust me. Sometimes I think of myself as cell of an organism, and that the other people who I know (like you) are also cells of that same entity; therefore I trust that we will each want to sustain the health of the whole. Sometimes you just have to believe this, and start acting like it, before it necessarily manifests, but by doing so, by naming it and taking those baby steps, you help to make it real.
(6) Slowly growing an alternate economy
The economic aspect of the Community Supported Activist programs is only one piece of what keeps me “afloat”. Living in Cedar Moon, the intentional community at TLC Farm, is a fabulous example of the power of trusting the interdependent web. My rent is inexpensive because I live in a small space and share amenities with others. My food costs are cheap because we buy in bulk and prepare our own (otherwise costly) value added foods, like granola, hummus, milks, hot sauce, etc. And we operate as a collective, which saves time, money and energy—a few people do the food buying, a few make the “prepared” foods and we each cook dinner or clean up only once a week but get great homemade food daily. Even part of my health care is provided by integrating myself into a community: because many of the people around me are also searching for healthier lives, and we have collectively learned a whole lot about natural medicine and the ability to heal/prevent illnesses with foods and herbs. Transportation costs are low because I bike (and have friends to trade with for fixing it). I have almost no entertainment costs because I enjoy the talents and company of my friends--musicians, filmmakers, artists, philosophers, event creators, nature lovers etc. And when I travel, I know how to take local buses (and enjoy them), how to find cheap or free accommodations (or work trade), and successfully carry my own food or make do with local supermarkets.
In Portland, we have many communities of people who are walking similarly integrated lifestyles, and therefore have the people power to enact a more wholesome economy as a whole. This economy has been emerging slowly for decades, and I believe that we are at a point of critical mass: it’s time now to take the next steps.
April 04, 2008
This is how the world seems to work…
The other night I followed a whim and went to a benefit event for a women’s health clinic in Guatemala. It was held at New Borne Tribe, which is usually a Rasta type shop and music hall. I thought the cross-pollination there would be interesting.
So, indeed it was an interesting evening, but I want to observe one thing: this was hosted (and mainly attended by) yet another sparky group of young women who went to another country, connected with a group there, and now is working to send them resources. I saw myself in these women (which is why I took this photo of one of the organizers photoing her own table—I do that!), but somehow I was triggered by this: look at all of these “random” little fundraiser events that people are always trying to put on, raising maybe a few hundred dollars if we can. 
(Those of us at TLC Farm did this, too, with our benefit to raise transportation money so that we could connect with the global network of the Berkana Exchange.)
I don’t know whether to see these as beautiful acts of education and grassroots fundraising, or whether they feel like so much energy with relatively little gain. (you can see I’m in a cynical mood) There’s something that just feels draining about all of these inspired young Americans (myself definitely included) trying so hard to get people to care about the people or places that they’ve been (and where there are serious problems, often caused by the U.S.). Somehow my mind wants to “do something” with this energy… so many of us doing the same kind of thing, all in our own bubbles… Or maybe this is exactly what grassroots fundraising looks like and I should be celebrating all of the creative and loving efforts…
It’s also interesting to think about these events as another type of remittance from the U.S. to other countries, which I think is the number one source of income for many people around the world.
Another lesson in: “this is how the world works” (currently). I’d love to hear comments about this…
April 03, 2008
(A) The next steps: a new economy
If we take the principles of the integrated socio-economic-ecosystem for the individual (see post called “I am living the integrated ecosystem”) and apply them to organizations, than we can observe similar patterns and possibilities. If each organization that is “making the world better” has a basic set of foundational needs outside of their core mission, what if we seek to align those basic needs from multiple groups?
Click here for more!!!
I met a very inspiring woman in Denver who drew me a map of one such example. You can read her description of this here. It’s really quite fun when you start seeing how one group can offer support to another, and then how much more efficient the whole system is.
(B) Cultivating resources
When we step back and witness the growing number people who want to participate in something meaningful, we see the opportunity. There are vast numbers of people who would participate in changemaking activities if they had the access and invitation.
And yet there seems to be a strongly felt but often unspoken challenge among organizations of how to successfully involve the people who want to get involved.
Many people want active meaningful engagement with a group “doing good”, beyond simply writing a check. But, unless a group is producing an event or specific campaign, it is often very difficult to find tasks, roles and proper support to maintain happy participants.
Now, before we move on, it is important to recognize the power of naming and framing things: if people are called “volunteers” than it feels like they are generally on the periphery of a group, and may be asked to be brunt labor or do more remedial tasks. But if we call them “participants”, than it’s more of a co-created experience. And that’s what this integrated socio-economic-ecosystem is all about: weaving our work and lives in many direct as well as intangible ways.
So, the challenge/opportunity of integrating co-participants is an important one to recognize. And, once we do so we can identify many common patterns: the time and effort that it takes to offer support and mentorship to participants; the need for redundancy in systems; leadership dynamics; burn out; affirmation, etc. With all the groups out there discovering the ins and outs of meaningful integration and participation, why not learn each other’s best practices and share the “tricks of the trade”?
I know of one group of people focusing on these questions, and they are beginning to serve as one of the above-mentioned collectives. They are in essence a “human resources” collective, and have been meeting weekly for six months to develop a framework to assist activist-oriented groups with these types of challenges. This group is manifesting the new economy by functioning as an “outsourced” HR support mechanism. Check it out!
(C) Collectives of collectives
What if we had legal collectives? Housing collectives? Technology? Aesthetics (art)? Health? Food forest? Political? The more we step together into our skills and find ways to interdependently offer them to one another, the more we will find ourselves living the web.
“I have the answer. I know what needs to happen.”
That’s the thing. So many people think that they know the answer to what we need. When we each see the world through the lens of issue of choice or our own personal life experiences, we tend to see how everything fits in those frames. We are each the star of our own movie. But then how can we learn from each other’s frame, or understand how “your issue” is actually “my issue” too?
We are all participants
So, let’s look at how we are all actually already participants in many of the problems and solutions of a socially just, ecologically sustainable world. I am a participant in slavery because I eat refined sugar (sometimes). I am a participant in racial profiling because I am not regularly calling out the institutional and subversive ways that white people are privileged. I am a participant in the oppression of the Tibetan people because I still use gadgets made in China, as much as I try to avoid them. I am a participant in clearcutting because I use toilet paper, or allow others to use virgin paper on my behalf, like at a bank or businesses.
And, I am a participant in supporting my local socio-economy because my food comes from farmer’s markets or local co-op. I am a participant in discovering healthy methods of group decision-making because I live in a 22-person intentional community. I am a participant in growing the pedestrian, public and bicycle transportation infrastructure because I mostly walk, bike or bus. I am a participant in the “caring and sharing” economy because I participate in a shared car collective.
We are already participants in many pieces of this world. And the groups working to end injustices or protect/regenerate the environment want us to recognize this. But it’s still too much for each person to actively right all of the wrongs that we participate in, which is why we need the infrastructure and systems that allow the vast array of changemaking avenues to become more connected, efficient, collectively impactful. That’s why we need to cultivate the conversations and identify the patterns that many of us experience. That’s why we need to recognize that we are indeed all components of an emerging ecosystem of change, a massive “movement of movements”.
The national movements to cross-pollinate
The idea of cross-pollination is similar to many ideas of community connection and learning among many fascinating and creative projects across the country.
Essences of cross-pollination can be found in descriptions eloquently portrayed in so many books and well-known speakers. I continuously discover new groups and websites for study circles or cross-cultural exchange. And in my own life, I see cross-pollination as the building block for The City Repair Project’s Intersection Repair and other neighborhood organizing activities.
This brings up two questions: 1) Am I trying to foment “yet another” project, website and listserv instead of inhabiting those what we already have? And, 2) How can we all learn from each other and explore coordinated action?
Click here for some answers!!
Some answers:
1) I am weary of anyone creating “yet another” website, listserv or meeting. I wonder why it’s so much more attractive to start something new rather than embody and evolve the structures already created. For example, at the end of a slideshow someone may suggest making a website or e-list so that everyone in the room can keep in touch. I like to point out that everyone got there through “the network”, so let’s continue to embody the network and trust that our efforts will connect.
At the same time, I am very conscious that I have my own Journey de Jenny website, listserve and project. Sometimes I wonder if these things are the very “new institutions” that I am seeking to avoid, and that with my lens of “cross-pollination”, “non-profit industrial complex” and “movement of movements”, I can make everything that I witness fit into these moulds. Am I doing exactly what I discourage in others? Or am I doing exactly what I witness in others—the need to make sense of the world within one’s own language?
I tend to see these things as my personal vehicles to directly connect with and among the people and groups that I am personally familiar with. My goal is to be a channel of links as they make sense, not to bring everyone together under one umbrella. And with the Cross Pollination Project, I seek to create a mechanism for social action among existing entities, not a new organization.
I invite any comments or perspective on this.
2) In the past few months of publicizing these cross-pollination ideas, I have met or been connected with many, many cross-pollinator type people across the country. While it’s always exciting to find “peers”, I am also wondering what to do with these connections, how to take them beyond swapping life stories. I ask, what does it mean that many of us are getting on such similar wavelengths about social change systems and possibilities today?
Reflections on my slideshows
Wow, what fun it’s been to share my stories and reflections from my journey last year. It seems like most people who have attended a slideshow have been quite interested in my stories and intrigued with my recognition of the flaws of activism and ideas for cross-pollination.
The fun part for me is that each slideshow is an experiment in sharing these ideas, and each time the experiment gets refined (I’ve done seven of them recently). Now, I am seeing some of the emerging patterns as well as a few next steps:
*An idea that usually intrigues: that non-profits are not necessarily the vehicles for widespread social change, and that aid institutions and many international NGOs may be creating many more problems than they solve. (read my other blog entries or come to a show for the explanation!)
*Everyone loves a good story! And when that story is packed with lessons for effective organizing or tools and ideas for specific circumstances, it’s worth it to listen! I am so happy to be a channel for great stories from groups near and far. For a listing of story options in my shows, click here.
*The desire for coordinated efforts is strongly felt. We all seek efficiency, so it’s good to hear about efforts for coordination, like the World Social Forum or the cross-pollination project.
*The deeper historical and political context is not generally active in people’s daily thoughts, so the subject is more difficult to bring up and it generally takes longer to soak in. In some of my slideshows, I share my perspective on some of the overarching and root forces that have shaped our current systems today. These include colonialization, multinational corporate/government conglomerations and the power dynamics between the global “North” and “South”. I explain how these forces shaped Africa (since my show is about my trip there), and how they have also shaped our lives here (we in working/middle/upper class North America are both the colonizers and the colonized). Some people take these ideas to be sweeping generalizations, others hear them as deep context beyond immediate grasp, but I do think these are critical factors to take into serious consideration when we try to confront injustice today (whether on people or the planet).
*A movement? It was at the World Social Forum and then in South Africa that I finally experienced what a “social movement” could really feel like. And I think it really is a feeling, the feeling that you experience when you are part of a group of people that you may or may not know, whose numbers or boundaries are beyond specific measure, and who are standing up in public space for what they believe in. Maybe the issue is specific, maybe it’s general, but it’s something that affects and is being addressed by many people. Maybe efforts are being coordinated, but social movements are not generally led by any one organization, like a non-profit or NGO.
So, I challenge the group: do we have any social movements in Portland? What would it look like? What would it be about?
For me, it feels exciting to think about the energy that is generated by an effort beyond boundaries – this is where real and broadspread change takes place! The public sphere is where our societal norms get formed and firmed.
*Next steps. Yay! People want to know what we do now! After I share one of my personal next steps with the Cross Pollination Project in Portland, people often have ideas for other ways to create channels of cross-issue and cross-sector learning and action. One idea that comes up at almost every show is a monthly gathering in which groups can each share (in 3 minutes) their purpose, strategy and needs, and then have time for networking. Another idea is to have a hub, a place where people can go to for information on who is doing what and how to plug in. People have suggested a website, a hotline, or even an office space for networking. This would be great for newcomers to Portland, newcomers to social change, or folks wanting to coordinate among efforts.
I have also thought about some of these ideas, and I have my antennae out scanning for the people, place and technology that feels like it could create something successfully, (truly connecting some of disconnected pieces of Portland’s culture of change).
On the other hand, right now I am hesitating to institute any of them on my own because I am so weary of creating “yet another” website, listserv or meeting. I wonder why it’s so much more attractive to start something new rather than embody and evolve the structures already created. I like to point out that everyone in the room got there through “the network”, so let’s trust that our information and efforts will continue to connect. While I do advocate for creating new links between groups and ideas, I encourage more “random”, on-the-ground, direct and personal sharing, rather than new institutions or hierarchically organized settings.
I am very conscious that I have my own Journey de Jenny website, listserve and project. Sometimes I wonder if these things are the very “new institutions” that I am seeking to avoid, but I tend to see them as my personal vehicles to directly connect with and among the people and groups that I am personally familiar with. My goal is to be a channel of links as they make sense, not to bring everyone together under one umbrella. I invite any comments or perspective on this.
And on that note, another next step that has occurred to me is to expand the experience of my slideshow into more of a guided conversation or workshop for changemakers. Each of the sections of the slideshow are filled with juicy bits to ponder, and I think the effectiveness and fun will occur more when we take the time for discussion and personal application of the ideas to each of our work.
If you’re wondering more about what I actually say in each show, I have various groupings of ideas that I pick and choose from to adapt to each situation. Click here for subjects and here for stories!
IF YOU HAVE ATTENDED A SHOW, PLEASE POST A COMMENT!!!! Any and all feedback is highly encouraged!! Thank you!
Beginnings of the Cross Pollination Project in Portland
Click here for the introduction to the Cross Pollination Project.
Here is some of the recurring feedback that I’ve heard about the Cross Pollination Project (CPP) as I’ve interviewed key organizers across Portland:
*Getting one’s issue heard by “others” is very important. This is the essence of the project, and it seems to be ringing true for many people: we are all so caught up in our own issue silo, and it feels hard to get out or reach out. Finding a mechanism for more information exchange (and strategic coordination) is key. The CPP may be one such method.
*Building new leadership is critical. The leaders, staff or key volunteers of an organization are often overworked, and it is sometimes hard to cultivate more people to take leadership roles. The CPP works with people who are involved in some kind of social change group but are not super stressed out and at the “top of the ranks”. By representing their group/issue and filling a new role of being a link between their group’s work and others’, they will hopefully feel more deeply connected to their own work and social change as a whole. They will develop skills for effective communication and coordination, thus increasing their capacity for action—leadership development!
*Non-profit industrial complex (NPIC) and the desire for movement outside of bounded groups. This NPIC stuff is real. For example, in Portland, I have heard multiple stories of the few “organizations of color” feeling more competitive than collaborative in their fight for injustice because of their scramble for the few grants and other resources designated for groups of color. They tend to be forced to each fill a niche and struggle for attention from the institutions and mainstream (white) society that has the access to power or resources. Yet whether the work is about police racial profiling, equal access to education or immigrant rights, coordination would benefit all. Read **here** for more nuances of the NPIC. Again, it feels like the CPP could help bridge some of these perceived boundaries by finding ways to explore root connections and build grassroots empowerment and resource sharing outside of current moulds.
April 02, 2008
Slideshow subjects
details coming soon!
*Layers and Players*
*World Social Forum as an attempt to build a global movement*
*Context of colonialism, international gov’t/business conglomerations, and the world of “aid”*
*Stories!!*
Menu of stories for my slideshows
This list was created for my "Choose Your Own Adventure: Ideas for Organizers!" slideshow
...more stories will be added soon!
Click here for the list of stories, along with questions for ponderment ;-)
Shack Dwellers International
SDI is an incredible network of people who live in informal settlements (shanty towns/slums) and who have developed ten tools to grow their own empowerment, prevent evictions and build safe housing. The principles and modus operandi are quite applicable in other settings and issue areas!! I visited SDI groups in Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Kenya. Discussion/analysis topics include:
- A model for decision making and grassroots power building from the bottom up, from local to global scales
- Community exchanges as training tools
- Collective decision making and accountability
- How the poorest people of the world can petition city councils and win
Malawian land eating habits and personal empowerment has been virtually destroyed by the 30-year reign of a dictator. Two former Peace Corps volunteers stayed in Malawi after their terms and sparked a permaculture revolution in order to retrain people in living/eating healthy. Through a program in the Ministry of Education, a small group of people is now bringing permaculture to elementary schools and their surrounding neighborhoods. Discussion topics include:
- Role of Americans in other countries
- New age technologies meeting traditional knowledge
- Cool organizing idea for leveraging experience between neighbors and schools, and building a country-wide permaculture movement
During the same six days of the World Social Forum, I witnessed an illegal bulldozing of an informal settlement behind my backpackers hostel. Meanwhile, land, illegal evictions, corruption and property rights were very present topic areas at the WSF. I had a very interesting experience trying to rally support at the WSF for the desperate now-homeless people, bringing me deep into many nuances of:
· Balance between supporting people in need during a crisis situation, addressing the root causes and being too busy with other issues
· Roles of people with privilege
· Entitlement versus empowerment in a crisis setting (give a fish/teach a fish)
· Land/housing rights issues
Since 1994, the Zapatistas have been an inspiring example of localized and indigenous-based economies and social systems, based in Chiapas in southeastern Mexico. Two years ago they launched a “listening tour” and traveled to every corner of Mexico holding events in which indigenous people were invited to voice their concerns and dreams. The Zapatistas built grassroots solidarity through weaving together these stories. I was lucky enough to meet them at their event them near the border of Arizona. Discussion topics could include:
· Listening tour as model
· Focalizers and speaker-role (Marcos) as shadows of the community voice (complete with masks)
· Indigenous rights and support organizations
I spent time with three different communities in South Africa’s townships, each with an interesting model for empowering their community members and bringing food and/or ecological housing into their dense tin-shack settlements.
Apartheid South Africa ended only 13 years ago—South Africans understand the power of social movements. I got a sense of some of these movements and the many layers of their techniques, from protests to intellectual debate to organizing around land, politics, labor or education. Snippets include: Social Movements Indaba (“United”), the Anti-Eviction Campaign and their work protecting Zillarain informal settlement, Khanya College (NGO serving social movements) and their Winter School on Popular Education, Community House/ILRIG, the Mzamba community trying to reclaim their apartheid stolen land and having lunch with Mac Maharaj, former ANC leader of the underground resistance.
Discussion topics could include:
· What is a social movement?
· Formal versus informal groups and organizing strategies
· Popular education
· Mass organizing and power dynamics
In Tucson, Arizona, I met one of my personal heroes: Brad Lancaster. Brad is a sweet, humble educator who ripples inspiration and consciousness in myriad ways. His house is a living transformation of desert to permaculture eden, and serves as a connector place for activists around the city. With a group called “Desert Harvesters”, Brad and neighbors host an annual mesquite pancake breakfast, introducing people to a delicious, healthy and abundant local food.
Bulungula Village is on the southern tip of South Africa, about 8 hours of rough travel to the nearest town. A few years ago, two white South Africans, in partnership with the village, opened a backpackers hostel that now brings international visitors to this once-isolated area. The hostel owners are very conscious of their influences and many of the villagers are quite happy to have sources of new ideas and income… the hostel uses composting toilets, solar energy, energy efficient stoves/ovens, and is bringing these ideas to the village. This story opens up many of the questions of “development.”
Along with Deb Delman of the Pangaea Project, I spent three weeks studying housing and homelessness issues and solutions across South Africa. We met with government officials and learned about their (ineffective) programs, visited a handful of social service agencies, met with the Big Issue (local homeless-run newspaper), heard about innovative cheap housing from eco-developers, connected with an inspiring homeless-youth empowerment program, took to the streets with the Anti-Eviction Campaign protest against water privatization, heard stories from groups of women fighting for their 10x10 shacks, and visited with some innovators building an eco-village within a shanty-town.
Some context for these next few stories. In Zimbabwe, the current dictator, Mugabe, is systematically destroying life, land, families, and community power. The country is virtually cut off from the international economy and aid organizations, which means it has the challenge/opportunity of maintaining their own systems and building local sustainability. But, since no free speech or public gatherings are allowed, groups need to be creative in their methods of education and empowerment.
This learning center serves as a living demonstration of permaculture gardening, energy saving technologies, holistic health, community education and more. About 30 people live in the demonstration center, and they work directly with five rural villages over 3-5 years or more in order to bridge/merge knowledge from the new methods of living at Kufunda to traditional ways that have often been forgotten during the colonial years.
Discussion topics include:
- blending “new age” techniques with traditional knowledge
- a model for retrofitting communities, one at a time (similar to Transition Towns in England)
- the role of white/western influence in Africa… entitlement, empowerment and balancing the resources
The Uhuru Network is made up of four collectives, each with a focus on a specific type of popular education: Knowledge, Permaculture, Arts and Independent Media. They work out of a house in a politicized high density ghetto, serving as a hub of creative grassroots energy. Topics include:
· very creative methods of “edutainment” in each collective!
· Network model / collective model of organizing
More creative organizing under a dictatorship:
- NCA is possibly the most powerful organizing force outside of the reigning government. They are currently leading the effort to create a People’s Constitution.
- Bulawayo Agenda is a forum for community leadership development.
- Radio Dialogue is a community radio station that is not allowed to broadcast on the air—they have found many other creative methods for underground independent media!
March 29, 2008
Pachamama Alliance
In recent months, I've been told my three different people to check out the Pachamama Alliance. "You will be totally inspired!" they all told me. So, when a friend invited me to a Pachamama event called the "Awakening the Dreamer" symposium, I had to check it out.
In their own words:
The day was how they described... the video segments depicting the state of the world were well done. For example, it was good to see that in the "social justice" segment they keyed in on institutional racism, among other things, not just focusing on education, health, etc. as many groups seem to do.
The event seemed felt to me like a great introduction to a lot of these issues, and seemed to be focused on letting people really experience their feelings (anger, grief, sadness, resolution, inspiration, etc.). My personal desire was to delve more deeply into the action side of what we do with this knowledge, but when I asked one of the organizers about this, he said that they wanted to give people plenty of time to incorporate the information before pushing into next steps... he said there would be further forums for this.
These Pachamama sponsored events seem to be spreading across the country, and I very much appreciate the niche that they fill: deep introduction to the messes of the world and how we got there, geared to boomer-age, spiritually-inclined, open-hearted people. The opportunity then, as I see it, is to make intergenerational connections and to find avenues for action and further discovery after this initial introductory event.
It was great to experience another groups' method of cross-pollination, education and nationwide community building!
In their own words:
The Symposium explores the link between three of humanity's most critical concerns: environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment. Using video clips from some of the world's most respected thinkers, along with inspiring short films, leading edge information and dynamic group interactions, the Symposium allows participants to gain a new insight into the very nature of our time and the opportunity we have to shape and impact the direction of our world with our everyday choices and actions.Upon arrival I quickly noticed that I was one of three or four "younger" people in a room of about 100. The average age was probably 50... and I was excited to get to spend the day connecting with some of my elders.
The day was how they described... the video segments depicting the state of the world were well done. For example, it was good to see that in the "social justice" segment they keyed in on institutional racism, among other things, not just focusing on education, health, etc. as many groups seem to do.
The event seemed felt to me like a great introduction to a lot of these issues, and seemed to be focused on letting people really experience their feelings (anger, grief, sadness, resolution, inspiration, etc.). My personal desire was to delve more deeply into the action side of what we do with this knowledge, but when I asked one of the organizers about this, he said that they wanted to give people plenty of time to incorporate the information before pushing into next steps... he said there would be further forums for this.
These Pachamama sponsored events seem to be spreading across the country, and I very much appreciate the niche that they fill: deep introduction to the messes of the world and how we got there, geared to boomer-age, spiritually-inclined, open-hearted people. The opportunity then, as I see it, is to make intergenerational connections and to find avenues for action and further discovery after this initial introductory event.
It was great to experience another groups' method of cross-pollination, education and nationwide community building!
Green Living Expo
Alright, I'm going to start with my cynicism: "green SUVs"?!? I just don't buy it. But that's the point... half of the Green Living Expo felt like it was about satisfying consumer culture's desire to feel a little better about itself by replacing our current toys with "green" versions. I mean, I agree this could be considered a step in the right direction, but I have to say that I am craving the 
nationwide discussion on green living to get to the deepest piece of it all: rethinking the foundations on which current culture is built: the attitude of consumption, deserved luxury, "freedom of choice".
Another phenomenally ironic booth at the Green Living Expo: a development company in Costa Rica advertising its wild, green, "yet to be developed" land. Live in a luxury "green" home!
But how can it be “green living” if the people who can afford to live in Costa Rica colonize virgin rainforest, displace locals, commute to the U.S. (presumably to work or visit family & friends), raise prices in the area, and generally bring “American luxury” into gated communities in other countries? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
So, the other half of the expo was much more inspiring to me… and oh, wow, many of these folks happen to be my friends! On the right you can see Noel and his beautiful earthen plasters, 
and on the left is Sukita with her earthen floors… and Robyn, the beautiful light of the Sustainable Business Alliance. I love my friends!
March 12, 2008
Community Supported Activism
I am announcing myself as a Community Supported Activist (CSA) and I ask for your support with this innovative opportunity.
What is a Community Supported Activist?
The work I do strengthens the relationships between people, and my livelihood also stems from these intersections. My work is balanced between on-the-ground organizing and weaving between local and regional to global grassroots efforts. This job of cross-pollination does not exist in any formal setting, and within the world of specialization and information overload, it can increase the effectiveness of social change efforts by bringing together people and ideas across issues.
Because I am of service to my community, I am asking my community—that’s YOU—to help support me as I respond to this call of developing the emerging field of cross-pollination. The vast majority of the wealth and value in my life is the energy and creativity that I exchange with dozens of collaborators; nonetheless, I still need about $700 a month.
That means for less than $10,000 a year the world gets a fully dedicated, more-than-fulltime organizer and weaver of changemakers here and afar. If you think the kind of work I do is worthwhile, please support me as your Community Supported Activist.
Try it out: give to this idea and see what happens. If you have the resources, please consider sharing $100-250. If that’s a stretch, give $25, or donate $10 a month – every gift helps! If you are not satisfied in a few months, I’ll return your contribution! You can:
•send me a check: Jenny Leis, 11640 SW Boones Ferry Road, Portland, OR 97219;
•donate through Paypal (click the link on my blog: http://journeydejenny.blogspot.com);
•contribute at a slideshow or meeting around town; or
•give a tax-deductible donation (ask me how).
Thank you to Allen Hancock for kick-starting this program with a $500 donation for my first month! Allen and many others have encouraged me to “put myself out there” as a Community Supported Activist, affirming my unique work.
What am I doing?
* 40% -- Cross-Pollination Project
I am coordinating a year-long pilot program to train 24 cross-pollinators in Portland, thus leveraging my efforts and bringing the experience of cross-pollination to the hundreds of changemakers that we come into contact with. The cross-pollinators will strengthen communication and understanding among groups that may not be aligned in mission, value or language, and do so without the need of creating a new organization.
* 25% -- The City Repair Project
As interim Board President and Placemaking Program Coordinator, I am cultivating the next evolution of City Repair by re-engaging the broader community, deepening our educational workshops, and building capacity for technical assistance support for neighborhoods. (The City Repair Project facilitates neighborhoods and communities to build from the intersections of their lives to create community gathering places and collectively address key local concerns and hopes. www.cityrepair.org)
* 25% -- Tryon Life Community Farm
I continue to serve as Outreach and Development Coordinator for TLC Farm’s unique programs, and also weave TLC Farm’s cross-pollinating work across the region and at the Farm. (TLC Farm is a seven-acre urban sustainability education center and intentional community that integrates ecological, social, cultural, economic and spiritual sustainability. www.tryonfarm.org)
* 10% -- National cross-pollination and connection to global social change efforts
I am planting seeds to facilitate exchanges between cross-pollinators in Portland and other cities. I am also deepening the key connections I made while traveling in Africa, including bringing TLC Farm into a network of 13 other “learning centers” worldwide as part of the Berkana Exchange (www.berkana.org).
By supporting me, you are increasing the capacity for many inspired individuals and established groups to be more effective in making change in Portland and beyond. You are also investing in the re-birth of The City Repair Project and deepening TLC Farm’s unique offerings.
Accountability
I am eager to meet or chat with you or anyone who has ideas, critique, or guidance as I chart new territory. I will maintain communication with supporters about my work through my blog, monthly email updates, regular slideshows and a bi-annual report. Any other ideas? Let me know what would help you stay informed and connected to my work!
Why I am making this step to invite financial support from my community?
1) No such jobs exist as a regular non-profit staff member.
Most organizations have not yet formed a position for a full time cross-issue, cross-sector connector (some may have a community liaison, networking or outreach position but usually within one particular issue area). The compartmentalization of the workforce today means that most non-profits or similar groups tend to focus on one niche instead of being able to address broader patterns that link many different aspects of changemaking today. By carving this new path, I am laying the foundation for similar opportunities for more people.
2) My work keeps me accountable to a broad network of communities and therefore is stronger if funded by many, not just one.
Receiving support from a grassroots base provides agility and community accountability. During my travels last year, for example, I often received more respect and access to a broader range of people because I was not funded by an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) or motivated by a degree program. Because people knew I didn’t have an agenda, I was able to be present and adaptive to each situation – building collective awareness and action into a greater whole.
3) The CSA is a living example of an integrated, sustainable culture.
Instead of relying on funders that may be distant and mired in bureaucracy, receiving support directly from the people I serve nurtures local decision-making. This approach, I have been told countless times, inspires others with a breath of fresh air.
4) The CSA results in direct and immediate action.
By working with multiple organizations without the restraints of organizational overhead, I am able to focus all of my energy on the essential work of social change.
5) Seeds grow a forest.
My work this year as a cross-pollinator in Portland is an experiment that I plan on growing into a long-term endeavor. I foresee my funding sources broadening as this idea grows––including grant funding and consulting. And, I hope that my model of fundraising inspires others to invest directly in the next generation of local activists.
6) I am being asked to take the “cross-pollination” idea to its next phase.
I am responding to the feedback I’ve received over the last year to continue this work of cross-pollination, and offer my talents to revitalize City Repair and develop TLC Farm.
Thank you for investing in me as a Community Supported Activist!
in community,
Jenny
503-548-8459
P.S. Please consider contributing soon – these projects are growing now! Send a check, donate on Paypal, or meet me at an event or meeting!
Learnings during my slideshows
Hi friends,
It's been fun starting to share a lot of slideshows to various audiences, and through the process it's been fascinating to gain new insight into my experience while traveling and hear the reflections of others about my stories.
And, the conversations afterwards, and connections made, have been great. It's always interesting to call together a group of people to reflect on each of our experiences working for social change...
Details coming soon!!
in community,
Jenny
March 01, 2008
Slideshows (updated 6/23/08)
November, 2007 @ Lewis and Clark College Graduate School of Psychology
February 4, 2008 in Boulder
This show included my trip to Africa as well as stories from Portland, including TLC Farm and City Repair.Tuesday, March 4th, 7-9 pm @ Red and Black Café (SE 12th/Oak)
Sunday, March 9th, 7-9 pm @ People’s Food Co-op (SE 21st/Tibbetts)
Tales from a traveling organizer
Traveling for a year among grassroots social change efforts from Portland to Tucson and Boston, and then through East and Southern Africa after the 2006 World Social Forum in Nairobi, Jenny actively embodied the yet-to-be-formally-recognized role of “cross-pollinator” (people who create critical links between changemaking community efforts).
Come hear stories of successful, creative organizing models, and witness the complexity among the existing social change efforts today. Recognizing ourselves as an emerging ecosystem with momentum built by the interactions among the individual components, we can discover coherence within the chaos.
Tuesday, March 11th, 7-9 pm @ Red and Black Café
Ideas for Organizers: diving deep into grassroots social change and cross-movement building
This slideshow is for activists who recognize that the emerging dance of humanity’s work grows strong when it is agile, root-focused and non-hierarchical. Through “cross-pollination” we can directly connect organizations, movements or communities to each other without having to formally align in mission, value or language. Overflowing with inspiring stories, reality checks and ideas for spicing up our social change work, Jenny will offer a make-your-own adventure slideshow.
Tuesday, March 25th, 7-9 pm @ Red and Black Café
Tools for the Trades: Appropriate Technology, Permaculture, Natural Building, Popular Education!
In her travels, Jenny met countless innovators who are discovering creative solutions to vital human challenges, blending age-old wisdom with contemporary circumstances. Of course, appropriate technologies are only as useful as the community’s embrace of them, so each story will be intertwined with the cultural practicalities of encouraging changes in behavior. The details are intriguing, and the global movement towards sustainability exciting!
Wednesday, March 26th
Portland Peak Oil meeting -- POSTPONED (illness)
Wednesday, March 26th, 7-9pm (St. Francis Church, between SE 11/12th and Pine)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 5-6 pm @ Lewis and Clark College Earth Day
Monday, May 5, 2008, 7-8 pm @ Pacific University
Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 2-3 pm @ University of Oregon Planning and Policy Program
This show was for a class on Global Civilization, and the professor, Rob Young, just happened to be my thesis adviser and Green Cities professor back at Cornell in '99-'00! How fun!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 7:30-9 pm in Eugene
This show was in a strawbale building at Maitraya Ecovillage.
Friday, May 23, 2008, 8-9 pm @Village Building Convergence opening night!
My biggest crowd yet -- 150-200 people? Great energy!June, 2008 @ PSU "Myth of Sustainability" class
Invited by Peter Schoonmaker to provide a look at "how we can do things differently."June, 2008 @ a salon (house party) about "what we can do"
February 10, 2008
Meeting another cross-pollinator -- in Denver!
Rebecca Saltman is inspiring! She carries around thousands of business cards so that when she meets someone who should know someone else, she will pass along the appropriate card(s) -- as direct an introduction as you can get on the fly!
Through her years of cross-pollinating, she has also grown a similar perspective as I have about the inefficiencies within today's current non-profit structure. Recognizing that way too much time tends to be spent on infrastructure and support mechanisms instead of the actual work and the mission of the group, she has devised a creative idea to essentially outsource the non-mission related work and connect groups together for collective resource exchange. It's a very interesting model... one that I am actively overlaying into some of my ideas for Portland.
February 09, 2008
Evolutions of grassroots organizing: a critical look at the non-profit model
One major theme that has been coming up among organizers near and far is the failure of the current mainstream model for social change, the non-profit. While I was in Africa, I got to experience firsthand what a “social movement” could look and feel like, as well as the important distinction between a “community based organization” (CBO) and “non-governmental organization” (NGO, though in the U.S. we usually just refer to these groups as “not-for-profit organizations”).
When I came back from Africa, I encountered a book that had just been published, called “The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex”. Within its essays I came to understand a perspective and history that framed my observations from my year of traveling.
The essence of the “Nonprofit Industrial Complex” (NPIC) is that the non-profit sector has evolved to essentially mimic the structure and function of the dominant business world: non-profits have been carefully compartmentalized into niches and organized by a hierarchy controlled by funders. In other words, community organizing efforts are isolated from each other and run by a small number of over-worked staff or volunteers who are at the mercy of funders, instead of being energized by a broad community effort able to reflect and act within the real complexity and integration needed to truly confront issues today.
Why has this happened? I think there are three main reasons for how we (the “do-gooders”) got so caught up in this rat race:
- Funding sources
- Over-stimulation and apathy
- Lack of models or experience for good communication/coordination across cultures, issue areas, history or sectors.
The failure of this current form of “do-gooder” energy (non-profit organizing) is yet another compelling reason to focus the current conversation of organizing to seek new forms of relating and working.
Back to the Blog!
Hello friends,
Thanks for being patient while I shift back to life in Portland and realign the scope and focus of my work! I am very excited to continue the discussions and explorations of cross-pollination, and am amazed at the plethora of people and actions that I have already found to be in sync with these ideas.
This blog will continue to be a reporting back and reflecting mechanism for our collective journey of grassroots social change, as witnessed through my projects, meetings and other observations.
Please add comments and let me know if you want to be a “guest blogger” here… eventually I think the format of this blog needs to be more open to community participation. (If you have techy/webby skills that you want to share with me, I’d love to create a better site!)
July 26, 2007
..............Watch my videos!..............
CLICK THE LOWER LEFT PLAY BUTTON, not the one in the middle of the image. That way you can watch the video in my blog and not get sent to the youtube website. Scroll down and enjoy!
July 08, 2007
Khanya College Winter School
Khanya College is a non-profit organization focused on "Education for Liberation"-- addressing the needs of historically oppressed communities. They offer a variety of support mechanisms, including workshops, advocacy, research and 
publications, for community based organizations, trade unions, NGOs and social movements. I met them first at the World Social Forum, and then again here at their annual Winter School.
Winter School is a week-long training for activists engaged in social movements and mass organizations. This year's theme was "Popular Education," so it was a
particularly lively week. I wasn't able to attend the School since I am not an Southern African activist, but I did get to join the group for a few events. I went there first with my Zimbabwean friends and then reunited with others whom I had met across South Africa and at the World Social Forum, so I was able to jump in and out of some activities...
I was there for the first morning when each person stood up and shared about their work. It was very, very exciting to have a room of 130 seemingly interesting people transform into a community of 130 changemakers united in their solidarity, fueled by each person's piece of the story. You could tell it would be a very vibrant week.
At the end of the week, I attended their open mic night, where groups shared their artistic talents... or just got everyone up dancing and chanting! It was great.
A few days later, I visited the Khanya College building. They actually own a whole building in downtown Joburg, and provide office, meeting and event space for other NGOs and social movements. I love it! It was also
nice to sit down with some of the Khanya staff to hear their perspective on social movements today, and what effective solidarity could look like globally. We came to the conclusion that one invaluable tool is simple to visit each other--community exchanges to directly learn and connect.
As to social movements in South Africa today, they confirmed what I had observed: since the apartheid ended, social movements have lost their point of focus... and now since the issues are more insidiously intertwined and the "enemy" is neither obvious nor straightforward, people's energies are scattered or worn down. Momentum is low right now. And the younger generation who wants to get out and change the world is still looking to their elders' tactics and strategies, which may not be applicable anymore. It's not just about getting out on the streets and "toyi toying" (marching/chanting). So Khanya College is actively exploring new methods for engaging effective mass mobilizations today. It's a neat place. ;-)
July 05, 2007
Insane economics!
Even without any economics training, it is pretty obvious that a government can't just waltz into a store and tell the owner to slash the prices by 50% and then expect business to continue as usual.
But that's what the Zimbabwean government did last week.
The photo on the left is a line of people waiting to buy the reduced items... in other stores people shoved and shouted to grab all the items they could! The police had to be called in.
OK, and if that's not crazy enough, the government told producers that they would subsidize the basic commodities... how? Simply by printing more money!!!!
Again, without any deep understanding of economics, one would probably understand that you can't just go and print money any time you want it!
And the government blames hyperinflation on WHOM?!?
So, a few consequences:
* items simply disappear from the shelves... why should a shop owner want to sell something below cost? When I left Zim, there was no bread to be found in stores... just some out on the street in the black market.
* police forces are needed to randomly check on stores to make sure they comply with the price cuts, and then they arrest the store owners. Meanwhile, the stores get ransacked by hungry shoppers who hear about the enforced price cuts.
* and the cycle continues, fueling the black market, adding to inflation and fueling the general chaos in Zim.
And Mugabe thought this would earn him point from the general populous. Nice try.
* items simply disappear from the shelves... why should a shop owner want to sell something below cost? When I left Zim, there was no bread to be found in stores... just some out on the street in the black market.
* police forces are needed to randomly check on stores to make sure they comply with the price cuts, and then they arrest the store owners. Meanwhile, the stores get ransacked by hungry shoppers who hear about the enforced price cuts.
* and the cycle continues, fueling the black market, adding to inflation and fueling the general chaos in Zim.
And Mugabe thought this would earn him point from the general populous. Nice try.
June 30, 2007
Permaculture cross-pollination: Kufunda Village and the Uhuru Network
A very exciting day: the Permaculture Kollektive of the Uhuru Network visiting the Permaculture Team at Kufunda Village. We also enjoyed connecting with another group of urban youth who were exploring permaculture as a method of urban waste reduction.
The three groups spent a lively day together, in sharing circles and an "open space forum," where people split up by interest groups.
Here you can see Melanie (from Kufunda) teaching the group about the Herb Lab and how they are growing and processing a variety of herbs for traditional medicines and support for people with HIV/AIDS.
This group is discussing some of the basics of permaculture: sheet mulching and guilding.
There were a lot of little tips and ideas that Kufunda is demonstrating well, and the urban groups were excited to consider how to apply them to the city.
We had a yummy lunch packed with veggies! This was one of the first times that men populated the Kufunda kitchen.
At the closing circle, people expressed their appreciation for the day spent together and asked if they could come back for more cross-pollination. The possibilities a
re endless!Sometimes I forget the power of simply sitting in a circle and giving space to each person to share 
from their heart. This was a very wise group of motivated young people! It was quite exciting to hear people insights from the day.
This was also a really nice to end my time in Zimbabwe--connecting the two groups that I spent most of my time with. I hope that the relationship continues!
from their heart. This was a very wise group of motivated young people! It was quite exciting to hear people insights from the day.This was also a really nice to end my time in Zimbabwe--connecting the two groups that I spent most of my time with. I hope that the relationship continues!
June 29, 2007
The Book Cafe: coolest spot in town
I couldn't believe the things I heard at the Book Cafe poetry slam. In a country where it is illegal to have a public meeting or independent media, people where standing up and speaking out loud about resisting oppression. Of course, 
there were government agents in the crowd, but somehow the Book Cafe remains an oasis, truly. Like the Red and Black Cafe in Portland, Oregon, it became my home base when I went downtown.
Besides the monthly poetry slam, they also host weekly mbira sessions on Friday nights (completely blew me away), comedy nights on Thursday (the jester can tell the king the truth, right?) and various other gatherings. And, yes, there is a small (interesting) book shop attached to it.
This photo was my last morning in Harare, where I sat in the cafe for an hour before it opened (nothing happens on time!). Cheers to the Book Cafe!!!!June 28, 2007
9000% inflation?!?!
Can you imagine the money in your pocket today being worth 10% less tomorrow? That's Zimbabwe.
I am not exaggerating—check it out:
two weeks ago US$1 = Z$60,000
five days later US$1 = Z$90,000
four days later US$1 = Z$110,000.
a few days later US$1 = Z$160,000.
That means, in about THE ZIM DOLLAR IS LOSING HALF ITS VALUE EACH WEEK (or something like that).
There are so many problems that stem from this inflation, on personal and professional levels. Beyond the obvious devastating loss of personal savings, there are so many complications… Prices change literally multiple times a day – but salaries don’t. No one will accept checks, since it takes days for them to clear (and that means losing money). People are not allowed to take more than $1.5 million out of the bank at one time – that’s less than $10!! You should see the ATM lines, block long, all the time. (b
oth photos here are of the lines... shots taken quickly because I didn't want to be seen with a camera). And the largest note in print is $100,000, about 70 cents—so people carry literally stacks of bills. It’s really wild, really horrible. You get the point.
Now the crazy thing is that with the hyperhyper inflation happening now, they already had to print brand new bills worth (the new) $100,000... but these are already w
orth only about US$.75, which means people are still carrying STACKS around with them. The stack pictured here was food shopping money for one community meal at Kufunda.
I should also mention that the OFFICIAL exchange rate is US$1 = Z$250, while the black market rate (which everyone uses) is now US$1 = Z$160,000. If I paid the official rate for an average bus ride, it would cost US$120.
And what is causing this? I haven't completely figured this one out (no one has), but it probably has something to do with the fact that the government keeps printing money with no backup. There's also a some relationship to the price of fuel, imports and foreign exchange... but mostly it all relates to a few (personal) policies of key people in this country. Umm, do some internet browsing to learn more about Zimbabwe politics today.
One more point: less than a year ago, the government decided that it was time to DROP THREE ZEROs from the dollar bills. This meant that the $10,000 bill in your hand was then replaced with a $10 bill. Yes, the government reprinted a whole new set of money to tyr to hide (or something) the hyper inflation. Old dollar bills now make good compost.
June 23, 2007
Mbira
Mbira is the music of our DNA. Its spiraling patterns, repetitive phrases and heart rhythms draw us into a trance-like oneness with the universe. Five to seven people each creating their own rhythm or storyline and weaving it together invite each listener to also connect and express our rhythms. Many people do that through dance—wild, ecstatic and beautifully rhythmic dance.
Specifically, an “mbira” is an instrument unique to Zimbabwe—a thumb piano of sorts, with metal keys attached to a wood board,
sometimes with bottlecaps or metal items attached to resonate and add a tinny sound. The sound is magical, sweet. The complete mbira sound, though, includes someone on shakers—the most incredibly energetic and energizing shakers I’ve e
ver witnessed—and someone on a drum, hitting it with two sticks, and two or more mbira players… some low, some high, all with different rhythms, etc.
Here's a clip of a little kitchen mbira jam with James, my housemate:
Mbira music is traditionally part of ceremonies – all night rituals of music, dance and prayer. The songs are stories and statements, layere
d into the enveloping sounds and spirit of the night.
In Harare, mbira shows are dotted through nightclubs and restaurants, a favorite Friday night activity for many. I was lucky enough to attend four or five mbira shows, each time bringing me to deeper respect for this music, tradition and culture. It's just awesome.
June 22, 2007
Appropriate Technology at Kufunda
Appropriate technology is a fancy way of describing ideas that simply make sense, ecologically and socially, in any given situation. Here are some examples from Kufunda Village's learning center.
Many people, especially in rural areas, cook over an open fire. This is quite inefficient since much of the heat escapes around the sides of the pots, so Kufundees developed these efficient stoves made of clay that funnel air into the fire but keep the heat contained, thus using much less firewood! The one issue with these stoves, however, is that in the winter, families gather around the cooking fire for warmth, and these stoves don't allow for that. Oh well, appropriate technology is an ongoing experiment.
For example, one Kufundee is experimenting with building ovens out of mud. Since few people have ovens to bake bread, and the available bread is usually bleached white bread with no nutritional value, the idea here is to create a bread baking oven and save money while eating healthier. This photo is the prototype oven, built out of ant hill clay, some of the best building material in Africa!
This is a video clip of Elias, from one of the rural communities, explaining how he discovered how to turn plastic bottles into parrafin. Now, the burning of plastic is not a good idea of course, but it is a creative use of the many, many, many plastic bottles that plague Africa. This is also an example of how Kufunda encourages experimentation and then the cross-pollination of ideas from one community to the next.
One appropriate technology that I brought to Kufunda was the "hay box"--an insulated box that captures heat of a pot of food and finishes the cooking process without additional fuel inputs. In other words, instead of cooking your rice for 45 minutes on a stove, you can cook it to a boil and then throw the pot int
o the hay box and use the embodied heat to do the cooking! So simple, so easy, so powerful. Why doesn't everyone have one of these?
They are quite easy to make-- any insulation will work! Here you can see our box before we had a box... we just wrapped the rice pot in a wool blanket. It worked perfectly.
June 20, 2007
Kufunda Village, working with Zvimba community
Kufunda works with five rural communities, one of which is Zvimba community, about two hour
s west of Harare. I went there for a Bira ceremony, an all-night ritual. Here are photos of visiting Felistis, one of the women who has been attending Kufunda workshops. Some items of note (that she learned at Kufunda and is not only im
plementing at home but teaching her community) are mulch in her garden, herb gardens, rammed earth buildings and this fuel saving stove.
plementing at home but teaching her community) are mulch in her garden, herb gardens, rammed earth buildings and this fuel saving stove.While this stove is quite useful for reducing the wood you need to cook (the clay walls absorb and store heat, as opposed to an open fire) but Kufundees 
have learned that the stove is not always the "appropriate" technology they meant it to be. In the winter, the open fire in the center of the hut serves not only as a stove but also as a heater for the family--so they don't want the clay walls to "take" all of the heat! Felistis said that they use the clay stove in the summer when they don't need the heat. For now, it's a nice spot for their "pet" Zebra. ;-)
have learned that the stove is not always the "appropriate" technology they meant it to be. In the winter, the open fire in the center of the hut serves not only as a stove but also as a heater for the family--so they don't want the clay walls to "take" all of the heat! Felistis said that they use the clay stove in the summer when they don't need the heat. For now, it's a nice spot for their "pet" Zebra. ;-)
The item that caught my eye the most, however, was something that Felistis created herself: her dish shelves. She made these beautiful shelves out of clay from ant hills! Somehow, ants seem to find or make super strong clay, great for building!!
June 18, 2007
Kufunda Herb and Nutrition Workshop
Kufunda hosted a four-day Herbal growing/processing and Holistic nutrition workshop for the five communities that they work with. The participants spent two days learning about nutrition, analyzing the current typical diet (mostly
filled with sadza--boiled maize meal, with low nutritional value) and considering the abundance and diversity of fruits and vegetables available
that could be used to make a healthy meal. They also learned about local herbs that could be used to spice up the dishes! 
Here are photos of the class learning to make fruit salad--it was a lot of fun as you can see, and a great way to encourage healthy snacks!
At each meal, the workshop organizers introduced new foods and ideas for food combining. It's pretty unusual for Zimbabweans to eat more veggies than starches, but by the end of the week many participants commented with surprise that they felt great and really enjoyed the "strange" foods, which were actually made of the locally available foods that they usually see, but just prepared in new recipes.
For the other two days the participants learned about growing herbs and then processing them into medicines. Much of this knowledge was actually the traditional techniques that people's grandparents
used but that has been lost with the temptation, availability and pressure to use modern Western medicine.
Participants shared some of the ailments that are affecting their communities, and many were surprised that the same diseases affect neighboring communities. Discussing illnesses are often socially unacceptable topics, but the atmosphere at Kufunda is very nurturing and safe, and people opened up to share their issues. Then together they could learn about and practice some of the herbal remedies for many of the ailments.
The original intention of the Herb/Herbal Processing Team at Kufunda was to grow immune boosting herbs for HIV/AIDS patients, but their work has grown to include other common ailments like diarrhea, coughs, skin issues and general health. They are even beginning to sell their products in stores around Harare!
June 16, 2007
Day of the African Child: June 16
I went to a second Uhuru community slam (see May 25 for explanation) in an area outside of Harare called Chitungwiza. The slam was on June 16, in commemoration of the Day of the African Child, sparked by the Soweto Uprising on June 16, 
1976, where 1000 students were shot dead while protesting the new apartheid law that directed all schooling to be in Afrikaans.
well as celebrate the beauty and the hope that today’s children inspire us with. The idea of the slam was to honor this history and to remind today's children that they can and should stand up against oppression and injustice in their communities.It was a beautiful and fun event, filled with poetry, th
eatre and music to inspire and connect people. I admire Uhuru for reaching out: they are bringing music and words—popular education!—right to the heart of crowded but often forgotten neighborhoods around Harare.
June 15, 2007
Learning Journey in Rusape
With the Boston Barr Fellows, we visited one of the rural communities that Kufunda works with. Over two days with the Rusape community in eastern Zimbabwe we witnessed the seeds of Kufunda’s work that was growing in this rural area!!
We were greeted with a big celebration, speeches and tour of some of the projects. We first met a very lively group of women and children singing “Mahuya!” (welcome) and dancing around us. In the center of the meeting area we found a group of school children playing marimba, and everyone started dancing – it was really fun.
The Rusape community went all out to welcome the Boston visitors… we lined up to shake hands with the local chiefs and headmen, and then watched an opening ceremony where 
three elder women brought water and homemade beers on their knees to the chiefs.
Then there were plenty of speeches (some political, 
some about the projects). Lou from Boston got up and thanked everyone for their warm welcome.
Here are some of the Kufunda-inspired projects:
The Preschool (ok, older kids are pictured here)
Arbor Loo composting toilets (once they are full, the toilet is moved and a tree is planted above-- here you can see the new tree)
Tree planting project
Rammed earth natural building (reviving a forgotten local building method)
It was great to see the myriad Kufunda-inspired projects, and the community energy and empowerment that was built through them!
Rusape community -- life in rural Zimbabwe
See June 15 for an introduction to Kufunda’s work with Rusape community. Here, I want to share with you my time with Anna, a sparky woman who co-founded “God’s Power,” a women’s knitting collective (pictured here wearing the clothes she knit out of old sacks). I spent the night at her house, with two other women visiting from two 
other Kufunda-connected rural communities. We quickly discovered that we all love to sing and knit, and we had a really really fun night together!!
We sat in Anna’s kitchen hut and roasted peanuts, sang and shared stories.
I love her creative decorations—newspapers cut into doilies.
In the morning, Anna showed me her super herb garden, packed with more than two dozen medicinal herbs, which she learned about through Kufunda’s herb program. 
Another creative item: an old bedspring is the garden door.
She also introduced me to her whole family, living in huts dotted 
around the little compound.
A view of the kitchen hut and maize storage area.
Her composting toilet--Kufunda inspired.
Here is her year’s supply of maize—staple food.
You can see how smokey the kitchen fire is—no ventilation in the hut. As you can imagine, a lot of rural African women and children have lung/breathing ailments.
We walked back to the road to meet everyone and had more fun singing and 
dancing in the street!
June 14, 2007
Kufunda Learning Journey: super cross-pollination!
I was lucky enough to join a Learning Journey from the Barr Foundation in Boston. A group of 12 Barr Fellows, non-profit leaders from across Boston, came to Kufunda to learn about Kufunda’s model, meet with Kufunda’s community friends (namely, the Uhuru Network!), visit one of Kufunda’s rural communities, and connect with many layers of current Zimbabwe life.
Introductions
It was very exciting to sit in a circle with a dozen Bostonians who had just arrived in
Zimbabwe and listen as they asked questions about the political and cultural aspects of Zimbabwe… let the cross-pollinating begin!
Exploring Kufunda
The next day, the Bostonians and Kufundees spent the morning swapping life stories, first as pairs and then in small groups. In the larger circle, people reported back with their feelings, surprise
Later that day the Bostonians got active with a few projects around Kufunda, making herbal remedies, permaculture garden beds and a new “arbor loo” composting toilet!
One of the evenings we enjoyed dinner at Mrs. Knuth’s house (the mother of Marianne, who founded Kufunda). I shared some Portland stories with the Bostonians… here they are watching the City Repair video.
Later, a few of us had an energetic political conversation with Mrs. Knuth, who works for the government.
Berkana Exchange
More cross pollination: Kufunda, Uhuru and 12 leaders from Boston!
A dozen leaders from non-profits in Boston, an urban network of social change collectives, and a permaculture education center spending the afternoon together... and me! What fun!
After weeks of spending time at the Uhuru Center in Highfields Township, I suddenly found myself packed into a room with many members of both Kufunda and Uhuru, as well as the non-profit leaders from Boston (see previous post for explanation).
Here's a clip from the introductions:
It was pretty excited to anticipate the flow of information and ideas that was about to happen.
Here is a little clip of Warrior's Truth explaining what "Toyi Toyi" is:
After introductions, we split up into more of an open space forum, with activities and conversations with each Uhuru Collective.
Here is the Permaculture Collective showing off their diagrams and plans. The Bostonians were intrigued with some of the deeply creative means of popular education (stories to be shared in person).
Outside looking at the backyard garden…
In the next room over was a demonstration of the Media Collective’s work, as well as a deep conversation about freedom of speech and journalism.
This video is a little narrated tour of the action:
June 08, 2007
Open Space forum with Kufunda communities
Kufunda's work is focused on five rural communities, and a few times a year Kufunda hosts workshops for a few of the communities at a time so that they can learn together and cross-pollinate stories. This workshop was for the Zvimba and Mhondoro communities as an introduction to many of Kufunda's offerings, including the use of "the circle" to facilitate democratic 
participation, visioning sessions and discussions about interpersonal dynamics among village leadership.
These are photos from the end of the week where they participated in an "open space forum" and focused on issues
of their own choosing.
These workshops reveal Kufunda's magic. They not only pass along useful tools that the villagers can use to facilitate their own community empowerment and project management, but the
y also build connections between two villages so that they know they are not alone with their struggles. It's very powerful to know that you have allies. And the skills that they gain--especially the women who are not always used to being listened to--are critical for the many complex issues that the villages face.
In this workshop, one of the village headmen visited Kufunda for the first time, and he was surprised at how effective a "circle" discussion--where each person checks in and shares their feelings and ideas-- could be in bringing light to current issues. Before this he had never formally listened to the village women's opinions.
June 01, 2007
Open Day at Kufunda
Kufunda hosted an Open Day to invite potential funders and collaborators to visit and get to Kufunda's unique programs. Most visitors were from embassies and foundations.
It was fun to see Kufunda exhibit each of their program areas! The visitors enjoyed a tour, a yummy Kufunda-style homemade healthy lunch and wonderful mbira music and poetry. It was definitely a feel good day and the visitors really appreciated the experience!
On the left you can see Admire showing off Kufunda's energy efficient stoves. 
On the right is the Herb Team, proudly displaying their products.
Below is Silas explaining the basics of permaculture gardening, and James playing mbira and singing with the preschool kids!
Cool bug o the day
Or maybe not so cool, as it's quite poisonous. Still, it's pretty cool looking. I hope you can see how the thin black legs connect to the BRIGHT red body.
May 25, 2007
Africa Day -- Uhuru Community Slam
Part of the Uhuru Network Toyi Toyi Arts Kollektive’s organizing strategy is to host “community slams.” These are events where a number of different artists, including musicians, theater groups and poets, share the stage in an accessible community event. The first Slam that I attended was in honor of Africa Day, May 25, commemorating the Organization of African Unity.
I was deeply impressed with the words of the poets, the poignancy of the theater performance, and the depth and diversity of the music.
Here you can see the Arts Kollective Ghetto Project hip hoppers… they’re great! ;-)
And here is Selma Mtukudzi, daughter of the famous
Oliver…
In the morning, I helped hand out and post flyers. Everyone was gr
ateful and excited for this celebration of Africa Day!
May 24, 2007
Back in Zimbabwe, riot police need to guard the sugar
Fuel is getting to be more and more of a scarcity. Sometimes there is just none, anywhere in town. Power cuts are more frequent and longer… last week we didn’t have power for five days, then it was on for an evening, then gone again for 2 days. Sugar, cooking oil, and other essentials are harder to find. A few days ago, one supermarket had sugar, and they had to have riot police guarding it. Otherwise, you sometimes find it on the black market.
Why the shortages? With the crazy inflation of the Zim dollar, it’s quite hard to import anything, but there also seems to be some element of government control. Some say it’s a good form of slow torture to control these essential items; others point out that it’s a good way to keep up the fear and chaos of daily life, thus giving the gov’t more power to “help” its people.
As I mentioned in my previous Zim posts, the only semi-consistent “official” way to get fuel is to buy coupons from a South African company using foreign currency, and then wait in line at the filling station. And to buy coupons, you have to go to an office across town and then buy a minim
um of something like 1000 liters.
Sometimes there is a normal gas station that has gas—we actually found one once! (Looooooooong line!)
May 17, 2007
Permaculture in Malawi
Note: if you are unfamiliar with permaculture, go google it.... ;-)
Even from the States, I heard that there was a strong permaculture movement in Malawi, and I am lucky enough to be here during a meeting of the permaculture technical advisors for Malawi's new Sustainable Food and Nutrition Program, which is bringing permaculture to schools across Malawi.
The story here is quite interesting, and it first requires knowing just a bit about Malawi’s political history (don’t all stories start with the past?). Briefly, besides a somewhat typical African mix of colonialism, missionaries and tribal warfare, Malawi was governed by a dictator for 30 years. Banda contolled everything from dress codes (for example, women weren’t allowed to wear trousers and men
couldn’t have long hair) to music (the Paul Simon song “Cecilia” was banned when Banda’s heart was broken) to free speech, press and international presence. On top of all of that, Banda insisted that Malawians embrace Western values – and in the agricultural realm that meant that people should eat mostly maize and stop their “traditional” growing techniques and foods. Now, Malawians are devastatingly malnourished, eating mostly boiled maizemeal or cassava. (photo: cassava mounds – losing precious soil and water!!)
On top of that: 70% of kids go to school hungry and 75% quit before the end of FIFTH grade!
So the permaculturists here are targeting schools and school kids for gardens and education about holistic healthcare. Somehow, they have convinced the Ministry of Education to start a program to train teachers and agricultural staff in permaculture gardening. Starting with five pilot schools in each district, the national working 
committee is offering trainings and technical support to teachers, community members and local gov’t agricultural staff.
I attended the last day of a meeting where the permaculture advisors were reviewing the 10-day permaculture training that they had just done for 180 people over the last month or so. The working group is a mixture of black and white Africans, and two couples who moved here 10 years ago from the States and Britain. The team is actually led by one of the Americans, who first came to Malawi with the Peace Corps… it was interesting to wi
tness such familiar ways to run meetings and the program. Of course, we discussed the fact that outsiders are making things happening here, and the dynamics that come along with that… and they seem to be really trying to reverse the feeling of “entitlement” and expectations of hand outs that so many Malawians have become used to… I watched Stacia (the American) point out to locals a few times that making this program successful is up to them and that the Ministry (and mzungus-whites) could only help 10% and they had to do 90%.
A few examples: there were a pile of bricks at one school, obviously left for some time. When we asked what they were for, the headmaster said that it was supposed to be for toilets but “the project” didn’t work out, meaning that some outside aid organization’s support didn’t come through. Stacia quickly turned to Mr. Phiri, one of the local permaculturists, and said, “did you learn how to build composting 
toilets in your permaculture training?” He said, “yes, of course.” So Stacia turned to the headmaster and said, “You can do this yourself—you don’t need to wait for a project to come along. You have the knowledge and people here!” We visited two schools and Mr. Phiri’s home, and it was quite impressive what these schools had accomplished in just a few months!
This is a little video at Mr. Phiri's house of Stacia pondering why everyone doesn't build healthy soil...
Note that Malawi has a very strong tradition of sweeping—many times a day people will do outside to sweep clean their fro
nt yard
s, thereby removing all topsoil and plants!!! Most ground around houses is rock hard and completely dead, ca
using all sorts of water problems and of course inability to grow.
So to teach Malawians to mulch their yards into gardens is quite a task. But here you can see that this school has succeeded in mulching their whole huge front yard!! Now, parents are coming by to watch and learn what is happening here.
This school is transforming its land into the five zones of permaculture… with layers of gardens, fruit trees, and natural forests. In this photo, these kids are telling the a
dults about “guilding”—planting fruits and veggies in a group so that they complement each other’s needs and inputs/outputs. Awesome.
Here, you can see pineapples under a mango tree… the seedlings were brought to the school by the parents! So the learning continues…
As we walked around, we (the PC advisors) also gave the school
some advice, like how to capture rainwater where it makes most sense.
At this other school, they transformed much of th
eir grounds into mulched gardens – a revolution!!
But they still had some things to learn – here, the permaculture team is advising the local teacher not to clear away all of the native bush here for their gardens, 
but to integrate it all (on the right: new garden, on the left: bush with lots of useful native plants!).
hers in the region desperately wanted, so they gathered some seeds to share. The fruit is really tasty!!
American activists in Africa
Stacia, Chris and their daughter K, are Americans who have lived in Malawi for about 10 years, and it's very interesting to consider their roles in the community. Once Peace Corps volunteers, they have continued the spirit of working with local communities to solve their own issues. Yet they have also brought in new ideas, such as Permaculture and holistic health. MORE SOON!
May 16, 2007
Serendipity
In the back of a matola (mini bus), a young boy proudly showed me his English dictionary. On the last page, he wrote: “I am Davison Mwanza, I was born on 22-January-1989.” Hey, that’s my birthday!!! I pulled out my license to show him, but the fact that I could drive was more exciting to him than the fact that we shared a birthday. Oh well.
More cross pollination!
I also shared with them the story of Kufunda Village, the permaculture education center in Zimbabwe that I visited. This photo is a short video clip of Silas from Kufunda giving a tour!
And here's a little video of another presentation in Malawi, for a group of new permaculturists... it's of Silas at Kufunda, and then the translation into Chichewa (Malawi local language).
May 15, 2007
White farmers in Zimbabwe
This is Gus, who drove me from the Malawi/Tanzania border down through central Malawi… a very nice guy. He is also one of the white Zimbabwean farmers whose land was taken from him by Mugabe in 2002, part of Mugabe’s efforts to give Zim back to the black Africans. Gus had two months to leave his farm, but others only had 6 hours. And while Gus still has the title deed, he received nothing in payment… now some Zim Minister is just sitting on the land.
While I agree that much of Africa’s land and resources was stolen by white people, it didn’t make sense to just steal it back, the way that Mugabe did… all he did was destroy the country’s economy and agricultural capabilities and give all the land to his cronies, NOT “the people,” like he said he was going to do!
Gus now lives in Tanzania and buys and sells paprika…
Too many issues
Just a snippet of another major issue in Africa: mining. Here, you can see some of Malawi’s remaining forest (most of it already overharvested) being cut down for power lines for a new uranium mine… thanks to the Australians for this one.
May 13, 2007
3:50
Another cool thing about Swahili culture is Swahili time: the day begins when the sun rises at 6am (and since we’re close to the equator, it really does rise at 6am all year long). Therefore, the system of time begins at 6am… so, for example, when it’s 7am, you actually say that it’s 1.
I took this photo at almost 4 in the afternoon… it took a few days to add 6 to every time, but once I got the hang of it, I liked it!
Fun cultural differences, eh?
May 12, 2007
I still love drinking tea in public spaces
Zanzibar still has active public spaces, and dotted around the city you can find men (yes, it is a gendered activity) clustered together around a tea or coffee kettle enjoying spic
ed tea and snacks (peanuts with gooey sweet stuff). Oblivious to the fact that it’s sort of a men’s place/time, I sat down at this tea spot and ended up spending hours chatting (in Swahili) with these guys. And of course, I immensely enjoyed sipping deeeeeelicious tea in these cute little cups!
I had a great conversation with this guy about the imbalance of education and resources between Africa and the West, and what we can do about it. One of my lessons learned is just the pure power of a good education... I think this is one of the most important things we can "help" with around the world.... (just HOW to do it is the question, but that's for another time).
A small village in Zanzibar
So, when my body and mind both needed a rest from my cross-pollination journey, I spent a week in Nunge Villag
e, the northernmost point of Zanzibar Island.
The coastline at high tide… at low tide we walked 30 minutes down to the next village for the Almost Full Moon/May Day party. Good times.
This is Sele, who gave me the most delicious cardamom/cinnamon coffee every day. He also gave me great life advice.
The village is very mellow… I went there for all my me
als (avoiding the tourist places on the beach). Every day, I ate deeeelicious rice and beans, chappatis and tea, all made with fresh spices. Yum yum. This photo is of Fatma, one of the two women who fed me dinner each night. They would pull a table into the “sidewalk” area and people would congregate. I loved
it. (I didn
’t catch a photo of our dinners, so here are my friends at the spot where we ate.)
May 11, 2007
Cinderella
I did some work trade for a few days to stay in a nice place on the beach, and then after a few days there I just slept on the beach.
May 10, 2007
SPICES!!!!
Back at home, we try hard to eat locally, but spices are one of the few remaining items that we buy from across the world. And here I am on “Spice Island”—so I went on a spice tour to see how these things are grown. Of course, they didn’t really answer my questions about the use of chemicals or the lifestyle of the workers, but it was good to learn a bit more about how and where my favorite tastes are created.
So here is your tour:
Lemongrass
Tumeric
“Lipstick fruit” – natural d
ye. (thanks to the goofy American for the pose)
Pepper – black, white, green and red, all f
rom the same plant. This is me, proving that indeed, a bite of this vine is quite strongly peppery!
Very special: cardamom!! This plant is an orchid, with flowers crawling out over 
the ground… very cool. Yum.
Super yum: fresh cinnamon bark!!!
Also very special: CLOVES! Here is the tree and a close up of the fruit. I wish I 
could share this delicious smell with you!!
Another spec
ial spice: nutmeg. Isn’t the outside of the nut so pretty?
One of the best smells in the world – ylangi ylangi flower. I couldn’t stop smelling it. It’s used for perfumes and bath gels, but nothing is like the scent of the flower itself.
And last but not least, vanilla… a very difficult to grow orchid. Each flower is hand pollinated… and it’s expensive to buy even here where it’s grown.
ZIFF – super creative art for social change and peace building
I met up with Martin in Stonetown and learned more about the awesome work of ZIFF. Through the year, they use media to promote peace and understanding. He told me about a really creative effort to use film to create a healthy conversation between factions of village conflicts… first they show a movie in the village and allow everyone to just watch it together, but at the same time they videotape the experience, including the people asking questions to ZIFF, and just being people. The next night they will show the video to both sides of the conflict, so that they can see with a bit of perspective that everyone is just human, sharing a common experience.
Then, they ask each side to select a person to explain what the conflict is about, and to select another person to be the videographer of that spokesperson. The ZIFF folks will teach anyone to use a video camera, as they know that things are better explained by and to people who know and feel comfortable with each other.
So, each side of the conflict will videotape themselves explaining the issues at hand. Then, ZIFF shows the videos to the other side of the conflict, allowing each group to see the other with space, time and perspective, and with no pressure for immediate defensiveness or reaction.
Then they will continue to videotape the groups until they are able to speak together and resolve the issue. Really interesting ideas! They say that it works quite well… and even works across power dynamics, like between a village and government officials. Nice work.
Here is a photo of a movie being shown in the town park… they show movies three times a week for a few months before the film festival as a build up and as education for people, getting people used to seeing videos of other cultures and ideas. ZIFF’s focus is on the “Dhow Countries,” the countries linked by the dhow boat on the Indian Ocean.
Zanzibar!!!!
Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania, is one of those very special places in the world -- it still has unique culture, un-Americanized!!! Swahili culture extends along the coast of East Africa, but much of its origin is Zanzibar. 
Zbar is also where the most pure form of Kiswahili language is spoken, and I had a really great time learning it! In fact, I spoke Kiswahili 90% of the time I was there!! So much fun, and such a good way to get past the normal tourist-local relationships that tend to happen.
Zanzibar is special in so many ways… with its laid back island pace, dhows (wooden boats with one sail, used for centuries), abundance of ocean
-related food, fresh spices of all kinds, and Swahili Muslim/African culture. It’s just a special place. Stonetown, the main town, is a labyrinth of skinny little streets and courtyards, where you can explore for hours, finding hidden spots for spiced tea/coffee, bakeries, little stores, and lots of people sitting on ledges chatting the day away. Old men ride bicycles trough the windy streets, women with c
olorful head covers exchange gossip, children bounce balls off the old stone walls of buildings… it just feels nice. And once in awhile the loud speakers of the closest mosque ring out its prayers.
Of course, I tried hard to block out the tourist trap aspects that certainly dominated many parts of town (speaking Swahili helped) and I avoided the “friendly” approaches of the infamous “beach boys.” And there are certainly other, more hidden, aspects and issues of Zanzibar (like the international drug trafficking), but I needed a break from the issues of the world…. so with this report I will just share pretty pictures.
This was my first few hours on the island… sunset in Stonetown… the beach filled with boys playing soccer, people doing acrobatics, kids swimming, women strolling, fishing dhows returning home with dinner’s catch… it just felt so peaceful and mellow.
Zanzibar pizza: fried dough with veggies and egg inside. Yum. Everything in Zanzibar seems to be fried. Goes well with spices and tea!
This photo is of an almost full moon over the beautiful architecture of Sto
netown.
April 27, 2007
A bit of maintenance
After wearing the same clothes for almost four months, a few things are starting to get a little tattered. Here, you can see a street sewer fixing my skirt for me… we chopped off about 14 inches of hole-y material. T
here were at least two dozen sewers along this street (in Moshi, Tanzania, next to Mt. Kilimanjaro)!
April 26, 2007
April 25, 2007
Deep breathe… orphanages in Africa
You can’t travel very far in Africa or discuss issues of the day without talking about orphans. It is 
one of the saddest things to think about all of the orphaned children on this continent… millions and millions. While many kids are reabsorbed into their village by other family members, many families have been so devastated by AIDS that they just can’t afford to feed
and clothe (and send to school) all of the kids. So there are many, many orphanages around (though not enough), all hoping to meet a wealthy American or European donor to help.
April 24, 2007
I hate being a tourist
So, I tried to take a break from cross-pollinating for a day or two to take in some of Tanzania’s magical places: Ngorongoro Crater (next to the Serengeti) and Mt. Kilimanjaro.
While I knew that to visit these places would cost a lot of money (beyond my budget), I thought that I could somehow hitchhike in or find a back door or something. Well, I ended up spending a few very frustrating days getting close to the parks but not actually inside (photo is of the village where I got stuck). I just couldn’t justify spending hundreds of dollars on a few days of game park visits, especially knowing that most of the money was going to the wrong places. I was surr
ounded by money-hungry men seeing me as their latest catch – another “rich American” tourist to make money from. I tried to explain that yes, I’m American and comparably have wealth and privilege, but I actually don’t have much money and I am not a normal tourist… I am living on $10 a day and staying with communities, not resorts, and trying to solve the problems of the world… but they didn’t hear any of it. To them, I was just another tourist. For days I tried to have a more human-to-human relationship with various people in Arusha (the jumping off point for the game parks) but it just didn’t happen… I got put into the tourist role every time. And I HATE BEING A TOURIST!!!! I want to just be another human on this earth!!!!! I guess it’s nice, though, that I haven’t really been a tourist so far…
But, I’ve been in Africa for four months and haven’t experienced the great African wilderness or seen the big exciting animals… oh well, maybe when I’m 60.
In the next town over, next to Mt. Kilimanjaro, I found a little more success. When I found out that it costs $60 per day just to get into the Mt. Kilimanjaro park (WHY ISN’T NATURE’S ABUNDANCE AVAILABLE T
O US ALL??), I asked around for possible day hikes near the mountain, or on the lower slopes. Luckily, I met a nice guy who showed me a back door into the park… so I spent a wonderful day with my new friend Roy exploring an infrequently-visited mountain village on the slopes of the great mountan. It was super.
(note, the black dot on my right cheek are the stitches from a biopsy I had… I got a yucky skin infection… but now I’m better)
By the way, if there is anywhere in the world where I belong, it’s a mountain village. Definitely home.
April 23, 2007
Change of plans: not joining caravan
If you have been following my journey, then you know that I had planned to spend April with the Peace Caravan in Kenya. I did spend two weeks in Nairobi, shadowing the main organizer and learning about Kenyan-style community organizing (and, well, spending a week sick in bed). But by the time the Caravan was set to begin, I realized that it didn't feel like what I was supposed to spend my time with. for reasons which I will share once I have more perspectiv
After three full months of intense connections with the activists and issues of Southern and East Africa, I just needed to slow down and BE. I realized I just needed a break from my cross-pollination journey - I was feeling tired (body and mind) and overwhelmed. So I will continue my journey south to Tanzania, to immerse myself in Swahili culture (and language) and let myself merge with the slowed down island life of Zanzibar.
April 22, 2007
Happy Earth Day?
I went to Kibera Slum today, where I went on my first full day in Africa, three months ago. I went back to catch up with Michael, who is involved with a vibrant youth group in "Soweto East" area of Kibera.
Now that I've been to ghetto areas in four other African countries, I really see that Kibera is by far the worst, most out of control, horrific place.
Literally, every pathway/streetway is filled with trash (of all kinds--from plastic to human waste). There is no sanitation facilities, very little water and electricity, and more than 1,000,000 people cramped into tiny tin or mud/stick shacks piled on top of each other. Every square inch has people or trash or goats... or 
children playing in the trash. It's more than a mess--it's completely inhumane.
And, how ironic that there are TWO THOUSAND NGOs "working" in this small corner of Kibera Slum. I asked Michael what they were doing, and he said that all of them except *two* are completely ineffective. They take their rich donor money, make nice maps and plans for projects, but either don't do them or do them without real knowledge of how things work in Kibera, and therefore their projects don't work.
Two examples: I sat in on a "leadership training" that Michael was attending in the UN Habitat center in Kibera... it was teaching people how to make business plans. At the end of the three-hour lecture, one of the students said, "we still don't understand how to make a business plan--can you come back and help us?" And the trainer replied that this was just supposed to be an introduction, and that until they get more funding to do more lectures (not effective teaching/learning anyway) he can't help. So what was the point?
Second example: UN wants to build new housing, but it would cost *way* too much for anyone to live there, and people would be perpetual renters without a chance to own. It just doesn't work.
So Michael and the Soweto Youth Group are starting their own micro-enterprise collecting and sorting garbage and compost. They can sell the recyclable plastic and compost. This photo is of the site th
at they secured in partnership with one of the two "good" NGOs, "Maji na Ufanisi" (water and sanitation).
The other effective NGO is the Pamoja Trust, which, SUPRISE, is the 
local affiliate of Shack Dwellers International!!! (see my previous posts about this very cool group.) We bumped into Stephen, pictured here on the right, who is involved with one of the savings schemes and he told me about the Kenyan structure of the organization.
One of the major efforts, and successes, of Pamoja and the local savings groups, was the prevention of evictions along this railway.
April 19, 2007
Milimani bulldozing three months later
I can't believe it's been three months since the World Social Forum and since my wild experience with the bulldozing behind the hostel in Nairobi (see January posts). Today, I went back.
As I walked up the entrance alley, my heart jumped to see a familiar looking structure set up--a store!! My mind said, "Ah! Rising from the ashes--yes!" And then I walked in and saw that this was the only structure on the property.
I hardly walked in ten feet when a man said, "Hey, I remember you-- you're that journalist!" He quickly informed me that the case was still in court ("land claims take a long time!") so everyone is just waiting. Many people still have not found homes, and many are squatting in the upper area that was not bulldozed. No one is building on the land, and the weeds are beginning to take over.
They did, however, rebuild the restaurant out of the half-standing concrete building. They said, "we need to eat. People are starving." Inside the restaurant was a newly painted room with a menu written on the wall. The chappatis and spinach dish looked great. Next door were some men drinking tea.... and then up the hill was a temporary structure housing another restaurant and a bar. A handful of people were sitting around eating and drinking.
They all said that they are in limbo, that things are tough, and that they are just waiting.
And they asked what I can do to help them. Again, I felt helpless.
April 18, 2007
Peace Caravan planning
Hi. These are photos of Rachel, the visionary behind the Peace Caravan. It's been quite interested shadowing her around, seeing community organizing Kenyan style.
Here we are at a radio station in Mombasa, on the coast, promoting the Caravan. I was a guest voice talking abo
ut how I came all the way from the States to learn about grassroots projects like this that creatively connect and mobilize people... it was fun!
Rachel also went on TV.