[Trusties] Ecuador and permaculture volunteers

[Trust Internode]

Hi Anja,

I have forwarded your request to our email list to see if there are any
volunteers. I'll also mention the Equador project to the course participants
as a potential internship position. 

Cheers,

Tim



-----Original Message-----
From: Anja Light [mailto:anjalight at bigpond.com] 
Sent: Saturday, 19 January 2008 10:23 AM
To: info at permaforesttrust.org.au
Subject: Ecuador and permaculture volunteers

Dear Tim and all at Permaforest Trust,
I hope this finds you all and the project well.
My name is Anja Light, a long term campaigner and project officer  
with the Rainforest Information Centre and a co-founder of the Sloth  
Club in Japan (who organised a tour of visitors from Japan to the  
trust about a year and a half ago) (more info. www.anjalight.com).
There are a couple of things that we may be able to connect on, and I  
would like to talk with you in more detail by phone if possible - or  
even maybe on a visit.
One is a permaculture/aternative development project in Ecuador  
called "El Milagro". More info on the RIC website in the Ecuador  
section. It is a 35 hectare reserve bordering the Cotacachi-Cayapas  
reserve, one of the 10 hotspots of biodiversity on the planet. I set  
this up with RIC, the Sloth Club and many international volunteers  
about 8 years ago and am looking for more partners and volunteers to  
be involved in continuing its mission (supporting local communities  
to improve their quality of life with simple, cheap replicable  
solutions to avoid destruction of the forest and to build resilient  
communities).  While in Ecuador from 1999 till 2004 I set up an  
ecology centre and organised very successful alternative development  
expos with the support and cooperation of the indigenous Mayor and  
community groups.
Specifically we need long term volunteers who want to live and work  
in a beautiful part of the world helping and learning from local  
people living a subsistence lifestyle. We have been involved in fair  
trade and organic shade grown coffee projects that have helped the  
community successfully resist a massive copper mining project in the  
cloud forest. We also initiated the Ecuadorean Seedsavers project  
that I believe is still continuing.
I would be very happy to do a presentation on this project at the  
Trust centre to volunteers sometime before I return to Ecuador  
(around March).
The second thing is a little more immediate. Right now I am just  
setting up a base in Woombah (near Iluka) and need one or two able,  
willing people to help piece together a mezzanine floor in an  
oversized shed (truss works arriving by next weekend), as well as  
work on a permaculture design (especially with swale systems) for the  
4 acres of land (about 1 acre already cleared when purchased). The  
land backs onto the Bundjalung national Park and it's about 5 kms to  
the nearest (pristine) beach.  I'm not sure what kind of system you  
have with WWOOFERs etc. but would be able to at least offer food and  
shelter (the shed has water, electricity and phone)...Let me know if  
there is anyone who may be interested in coming for one or two weeks!
My number in Woombah is 02 6646 4604.
Regards, Anja Light

  
  


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