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| 24 December/06 Second permaculture course completed |
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Our second permaculture course at Greenhand Field School finished 10 days ago. The course went well with 23 trainees completing their Village Development Course. Half the training was practical, so we added a few more food gardens to our training facility. The soil at the centre is fertile and with the rainy season the growth is fast and healthy. Our next challenge here now is training the staff to a standard where they can effectively run these permaculture courses without me.
The first staff trainees are called Greenhand Cadets. They must now complete an intensive 10 week course covering all aspects of permaculture and how to train people in it. Some of the training is formal classroom theory, some hands-on in the garden and some training is achieved through planning and implementing small projects around the house and farm. The current 15 cadets are divided into 3 teams of 5 and given various small projects. For example one team had to build a wall with a permanent white board from local materials for the training centre. Another team had to build an automatic closing gate to stop the local goats slipping into the farm. One group had to address the problem of the wheelbarrows getting flat tires. They solved this by removing the tubes and replacing them with a rice husk, cement and glue mix. Now they're 'forever' tires.
The groups must solve the problems I give them with local materials. This kind of pressure is rarely seen in this country and many of the cadets have never had to apply their initiative, so they feel challenged. There are many things about this training they find difficult. They have to show up on time or they are on 'manure patrol' where they have to go off and collect buffalo manure. It's hot and they have to get the job done, not sit around and talk about it. They are given tasks out of the blue and have to get a result or the rest of the team is penalized. They ask me a question and I answer it with a question so they are forced to think. Slowly, slowly their brains are starting to stretch. Every time they complete a project their confidence and ability grows.
A few times the cadets have been close to mutiny or calling it quits. At this point I call a meeting and re-focus them on the big picture. I show them all the things they've built and get them to see that the training is working. It's a hard job for me at times but with a bit of humor and creative problem solving on my behalf the team is taking shape.
I must also remember the first anniversary of the tsunami is coming up on Monday and this is adding to their stress levels. We are all standing down for 3 days for the memorial day on boxing day.
I have 3 excellent volunteers, Celia McPartlin and Sam Oliver, from New Zealand and Paul Kean (alias Ringo) from Australia. These guys keep me sane and are a great help in all aspects of this training. Celia has trained the kitchen staff to cook non-fried food which has saved my liver. Sam has built a heap of furniture, fixed many broken things and set a great example to the other cadets. Ringo had stepped in at the right time to take over some of the training duties to give me time to organize the million things that slip between the cracks. We all have a good laugh.
Many box-type houses are popping up along the tsunami zone now. These 'lego houses' are devoid of gardens or shade. There is little planning or good design in their construction but the people are happy to be out of tents. We will focus next year on home gardens and retro-fitting these houses with pergolas and trellises -- helping the tsunami survivors to turn these boxes into comfortable houses with real food security gardens and living fences. The military have almost disappeared but are still seen at the river organizing the timber operations. Everybody wants the peace here to be permanent.
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