Education and food go hand-in-hand. Without nutrition, a child cannot grow their body or mind. With many children, a small budget, and land that doesn’t receive very much rain, we are challenged to grow the most nutritious food at the least cost to our budget and to our land.
This summer we will introduce the practice of permaculture to the food plantation at our Rakai Home. Our staff will receive training from an experienced permaculture practitioner from Australia, Rosemary Morrow. Together they will then design, and begin the implementation of a plan to create a food-growing program that builds on local knowledge, maximizes local conditions, and minimizes resources to grow the most nutritious mix of food for our children and staff. In addition, the local community and our partner secondary schools will receive training – exploding out into the wider community the ability to farm more sustainably.
One of the founders of Permaculture, Bill Mollison, has defined Permaculture as "the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems, which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems".
"Permaculture" is the combination of the two words "permanent" and "agriculture". Permaculture is an agricultural philosophy that allows us to use the resources that we have around us to their fullest potential. By observing and learning from our environment, such as how does nature replenish its soil, how does nature protect and conserve its water resources, how has nature adapted to the specific climate of an area, etc…we can learn how to imitate these natural processes in our daily living. The more closely that we can work with nature, the more likely we are to establish a balance which will provide us with the things that we need without hurting the environment.
Permaculture is rooted in the fact that no single problem or solution stands on its own. In recognition of this balance, it embraces four basic principles:
- Working with nature rather than against it
- Thoughtful observation rather than thoughtless labor
- Each element should perform many functions rather than one
- Everything is connected to everything else
We are partnering with Permaculture Across Borders (www.permacultureacrossborders.org) to bring sustainable agriculture to our Rakai land. Please contact us if you would like additional information, are interested in helping to fund or intern on the project, or have contacts or connections that would be useful to us.
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