I'm going to Thailand in January to co-manage a sustainable farm site for a whole year!
I'm so excited about this project, it's through the Panya Project (a permaculture education centre near Chiang Mai), who have been approached by a Thai family near Bangkok. They have a 25acre property and are funding Panya to design a full sustainable farm, integrating animals and plants and using appropriate technology to create an education centre, community and sustainable farm which actually makes money, as an example to the local people how to regenerate systems to provide, not just self-sufficiency, but surplus and abundance, to create local finance and employment. Four managers have been hired along with myself to facilitate the year implementation process. I will be manager of the 'people care' side of things, Volunteer co-ordinator and social and events organizer, integrating the local community as much as possible (perfect for me, the social body I am!!). Other management areas are 'Food Forest and Gardens', 'Building and Construction' and 'Animal systems', we will all work together of course, as Permaculture is about the relationship between systems and elements and integrating to create 'polyculture', not monoculture. There will be around 10 interns with us for the whole year implementing everything, from earthworks, to creating community! It will give me the hands-on experience I need, after such a wonderful, life-changing, empowering, information packed year studying Permaculture Certificate 4, an Accredited Permaculture Training Course at Djanbung Gardens, Permaculture College Australia, Nimbin.At the moment I have a long term vision of taking the APT or even just PDC's out to rural Australia when I get back.. to my home town and all the tiny country towns like mine.. as I can now see that, of all the Aid work that I want to do, its Australia that needs the Aid, and I have an opportunity, being a 'local' and having networks and contacts, to make a real difference to our footprint and effect on the earth.. one garden at a time!
Here's the link to the article I wrote about the new sustainable farm project happening in Bingara, a small town half an hour from where I grew up in rural NSW: http://permaculture.com.au/
If you would like to help me get to Thailand, where application of of my passion and studies will be most benefited now, please follow the link below to donate. It would truly mean the world to me.. I've never had the knowledge or skills... or passion to be worthy of sponsorship, so it is very difficult for me to ask.. I know now I can make a difference.. we all can! As Gandhi says, 'Be the change you want to see in the world'
