Sadhana Forest Kenya- a permaculture project!

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:

http://sadhanaforest.org/en/

To donate and see more about the Kenya project visit:

http://sadhanaforest.org/en/kenya/

Contact Esther at:

Esther.Shanti1@gmail.com

Contact the director of Sadhana Forest, Aviram, at:

Sadhanaforest@gmail.com

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.