SADHANA
FOREST KENYA: A PERMACULTURE PROJECT
Fresh air, fresh food, genuine smiles,
sincere indigenous forest making and open beautiful natural buildings
– these are a few qualities that come to mind when I think of
Sadhana Forest in Auroville- India. Sadhana Forest is a sustainable
reforestation community which was created 9 years ago. They started
off with 70 acres of barren soil, and a borewell that had to go down
26 feet before hitting water. Today they enjoy abundant green
surroundings with 30% of the plant species being native and an
increase in ground water by 6 meters.
Their community in India has done so
well that it brings over 1000 volunteers from all over the world
annually to their grounds for a minimum of at least 2 weeks.
Inspiration has spread like fire throughout the world and soon they
found themselves a parent of a daughter reforestation site in
Anse-a-Pitre, Haiti after the earthquake. They are directly fighting
hunger and malnutrition by providing native food trees and knowledge.
Sadhana Forest in Haiti is working with locals helping them create
food forests and kitchen gardens. To date over 40,000 trees have
been planted in this area, and a 55,000 tree nursery has been
created. The project is no short term solution, it is a long term
solution approach, focusing on a sustainable local food supply,
alternative energy- solar, soil quality- regular composting of food
waste in addition to dry toilet composting, education and water
conservation. The education element includes permaculture design
certificate courses, helping others understand more deeply the
systems behind the work that is being done.
Sadhana Forest's newest endeavor is
creating another daughter project in Kenya. The location is in the
area of the Maralal in the Samburu district. The indigenous people
suffer from severe malnutrition as they are in the process of
switching from pastoralism to an agricultural based lifestyle. This
has proven very difficult for them as their soils are severely eroded
and they do not possess expertise in regenerating soils. The most
pressing problem due to the lack of their nutritional needs being
met is a high child mortality rate, with only the strongest of
newborns standing a chance of reaching maturity.1 This
problem is one among: Infant malnutrition, pre-term labor and high
mother/infant mortality.
Sadhana Forest is equipped to assist
with their expertise, experience and enthusiasm -enabling a health
and environmental transformation ineluctable! All they require now
is the funds in order to start the work. The minimal amount needed
to jump-start the project is $10,000. However, the full cost for the
whole setup including salaries of local people for 2 years would be
$250,000. So far 1% of funds have been met.
The first action plans for Sadhana
Forest – Kenya will be to build a nursery, drill a bore well and
construct an infrastructure for a training center.
The plan from then, is as follows:
“Once
the tree nursery and the training center are built, we will start
producing seedlings at a rate of 100,000 per year, and training
members of the local community in basic water conservation and tree
planting techniques.
Those
trained will receive free seedlings that they can plant in their
kitchen gardens.
Emphasis will be given to those trees that provide highly nutritious food. We already identified more than 30 species of trees, shrubs and grasses that can grow in our area and can provide nutritious, diverse and tasty food.
The
recent success of our project in Haiti makes us confident that,
together with the Samburu people, we will be able to create a strong,
positive impact in the Maralal area.
The
project in Kenya will have a large volunteer team, headed by an
experienced volunteer project director.”
- citation taken directly from the wethetrees fundraising site: http://sadhanaforest.org/donate/
Any support in this endeavor would be
greatly appreciated. Whether it is through volunteering, funds, or
even just sharing the message with others.
More information can be found about
Sadhana Forest from their website:
To donate and see more about the Kenya
project visit:
Contact Esther at:
Contact the director of Sadhana Forest,
Aviram, at:
References:
1. Spencer, P. "Samburu Notions of
Health and Disease and Their Relationship to Inner Cleanliness."
Samburu Notions of Health. East African Institute of Social
Research, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.
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