Summary

Did you see Avatar the movie?  My families history is very similar except for a few things: a) Our homeland was destroyed in the end b) Our story did not gross over $2B .  The machines did come in and carpet bombed our adobe house, our fertile lands were flooded to build a hydro electric dam, my aunts and cousins were killed, tortured for no good reason.  Our old and young had to flee or be killed.  I was 8 years old when I was displaced.  My father was separated from us and in exile for 4 years.  After a 12 year civil war and complete destruction of the country the slow process of rebuilding has begun.  There is a chance to rebuild in a better way and permaculture is a great design tool to help this reconstruction.  El Salvador's Permaculture Institute has been working for 12 years to help the Suchitoto communities rebuild themselves with local resources in a regenerative way.  They are having some financial difficulties and need your help to survive this year and to continue their work.   Please help them regenerate my home town and country.  

 Impact of donations

• $5 will teach one farming family to how to make compost
• $20 will provide a family with climate resistant seeds 
• $50 will help 10 families get their produce to the local farmers market
• $100 will pay for 20 leaders to meet and support each other to teach Permaculture in their villages
• $200 will fund a visit of 50 famers to our Demonstration Site
• $500 will teach training skills to 6 Permaculture Apprentices
• $1,000 will pay for a volunteer to teach a whole village for a year

Full Story

Along my path I ran into a wonderful tool for redesigning our way of life. Permaculture is a design science that asks that we look at nature to model our systems. It's aim is fairly simple, "to create a culture that can be permanent  (regenerative)".  It injects a few simple ethics into the design process: earth care, people care and fair share.   I had thought that Permaculture would be a great tool for helping El Salvador redesign itself.  Much to my surprise I found that there was already a Permaculture Institute in El Salvador and it was based out of Suchitoto, my families home town.  I went to visit IPES experimental farm and took some of my family.  My aunt said this is the same road where my family had previously run Cooperativa La Bermuda (Monge). 

They have been working hard for 12 years and have been training local leaders in this holistic design methodology.  They have impacted hundreds of families in the area but it’s slow work that happens farmer to farmer.  None of the campesinos can afford the class so at the moment they rely on donations to pay for the training and on-going support.  Please help me keep this vision alive.  

In order to heal from the grief of war and displacement it's also important to heal the ancestral grief.  Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of the ancestors.  In El Salvador we gather at the cementaries and bring food, music and stories.  Everyone has the day off and the cemeteries are packed.  

The stories flow and we hold space for this grief so that it doesn’t not build up and get released in war or anger.    The donations will help keep the institute open and will help us document and revive the Maya/Lenca/Pipil cultures that had been there for the past 10,000 years.  It also helps keep the historical memories alive so that we don't repeat the past. 

Please help us regenerate this small village.  

A note from the Permaculture farmers in El Salvador!

The Permaculture Institute of El Salvador (IPES) is trying to change that by planting new images – images of hope and the real alternatives we have been building the past 12 years since the Permaculture Institute was founded. 

A decade of experimenting, demonstrating and teaching natural ways of living and farming and finally our Government and UN agencies are showing interest.

But right at this crucial moment, we are running out of funds. We are at the “tipping point” and just need a big push from our friends.

Will you help us keep the permaculture movement alive in El Salvador?