tea, tourism, and sustainable culture

TEA, TOURISM, AND SUSTAINABLE CULTURE

23rd to 27th November, 2007

AT MINERAL SPRINGS, DARJEELING
An INTERNATIONALLY CERTIFIED ORGANIC SMALL FARMERS TEA CO-OP
10 KM OUTSIDE DARJEELING TOWN

Homestay, All Meals, Transportation to and from,
Picnic, Day trek through the larger busty

meet and interact with the local women's group, help construct a passive solar water heater or a greywater system, learn about tea production: it's history, social challenges, and alternative models to centralized mono-cropping, and help in the creation of a more sustainable model of tourism, one that engages and supports local culture. last night will be a celebration of new friends and relations with thungpa and traditional food.

This is a fundraiser to support DLR Prerna's work in creating sustainable human communities in the Darjeeling hills through community participation, gender equality, and harmonious relationships with the environment.

COST
sliding scale: Rs. 2,300 to 3,200 (all inclusive)

FACILITATORS
Rico Zook: certified permaculture designer, consultant, instructor
Rohin D'souza: project manager dlr prerna, permaculture practioner
Navin Tamang: project manager dlr prerna, permaculture practioner
Sailesh Sharma: project incharge small farmers tea co-op

For more info on Prerna
www.darjeelingprerna.org

For more info on Permaculture and Rico
www.ricoclime.com

for further information about course kindly contact
Rico 9800045580
Roshan 9932024812
Ashesh 99320 55025
Darjeeling Ladenla Road Prerna
RCDC, c/o Hayden Hall Complex 42 Ladenla Road, Darjeeling 734 101,
Phone Number 91 354 2255894
email: rcdcdorg@sancharnet.in, dlrprerna@yahoo.com
website: www.darjeelingprerna.org

the pdc course that just finished went extremely well. it was a dynamic mix and very rewarding as many questions and thoughts were shared. we had much knowledge contained in this group that allowed close to half the class presenting different ideas and subjects. tea: history, social impacts and the tea industry today, bamboo as building material, ecovillage, nutrition, alternate economic models, as well as several projects were presented. anyone who doubts that a major part of teaching/facilitating , at it best, is a process of learning and letting go need only to have been in this course to realize this truth. this reality is one of the great rewards of teaching/facilitating.

this course also was one of meeting new friends. i am hoping to keep in contact with several of these beautiful people. in particular is one young tamil man who was sponsored by several of the foreigners who came up from auroville. karthik is intelligent (he taught himself the english language, both spoken and written), hard working and earnest. because of him, as well as a couple of other reasons, i have decided to include a visit to auroville during the second half of february. with some guidance and encouragement he could become an invaluable gift for his community. i am hoping to work with him over the coming years and look forward to learning along side this great young man.

this coming month will be a busy time as i am in and out of darjeeling at least three times, with a fourth in the works. first is a week trek with two friends, one a long time student, to visit their native villages. after this rohin and i trek to singalila so i can visit the five villages that are part of the food jungle component of this critical bio-corridor. this is part of a large international project working to conserve threatened plant and animal species and the habitats necessary for their survival. what prerna will be doing is to train local villagers and than to provide support as they create a food jungle to supply their fuel, fodder, food, medicine, craft material and an economic income. this will be done in such a way that they will become an integrated aspect of this bio-corridor with minimal impacts on the species that they share this environment with. this will be my first visit to the area. i am very excited of this opportunity to demonstrate a strategy that has great potential to be replicated in many threatened environments.

my third absence from darj will be for the 'tea, tourism, and sustainable culture' course. i am hoping that this happens as it is a fund raiser for prerna and should be a easy as well as fun. below you will see our local advert for this course.

at the end of nov. i may be teaching a course for local tea workers again. this one, however, would be sponsored and run by 'the chai project'. this is an ngo that is support by tazo tea. for those of you who may not know, tazo is owned by starbucks. (did i hear some groans out there) i have been in conversation with them about pc and did a one day presentation recently for their office crew. the director is an american while the rest are local darjeeling folks. they are all sweet and committed people. while there is no doubt some corporate image advantage to this funding, they are also doing some good work. and as far as i can tell, tazo funds mercy corp (of which chai project is a program) with little influence on actual projects or programs. (having said this i will inquire further to ascertain how true a statement this is) within the ngo world, with precious little money to do some very important, necessary and immense work, funding can become a question of how much of your soul to sell. it is not always this way, and it is all to often a challenge many sincere, good hearted people are forced to face. for me, within the consulting framework, it is a dance that i am willing to do. what the question becomes is about actual work done and the physical reality of what is accomplished.

inbetween these excursions i have a couple or three days in town. these will be immersed in this digital world that has become a strange and very important part of my work. crazy, is it not, that my work, so focused on physical reality and the natural world, would become so influenced and supported by this digitalized communication. at least i can have my veg wrap and hot lemon while doing so.

PDC in Dabipani

today i and the participants go down to dabipani. this one looks to be a great group, and thus, course. there will be 15-17 people, 7 or 8 of them foreigners. (one is never sure of things here till they actually happen.) we have an environmental science professor, a man who works at a power plant (not nuclear,i think), a women who has built an organic farm product distribution system into delhi, and some farmers. many of the foreigners have some to more experiences in organic farming, building with bamboo, sustainability, social issues and have been exploring these in india. i'll definetely be having these folks sharing their knowledge and experiences with us all. one of the things i love about doing these courses is how much i learn. with indians, americans, british, kiwi, and finish people this course has lots of edge. it will be a great time.

i have been trying to get my mobile internet connection to work with my apple. the service works as i can get it through the phone, however, with cable or bluetooth my mac cannot find the server. my phone co. here is who i get the service from. they have not been able to get it to work either, despite several hours of trying. apple is very rare here and perhaps the motorla sets here are not set to work with macs. the bluetooth does connect between the two. anyone have any ideas? if so, please place a comment to this writing. i'll be calling both companies soon.

with this situation and my time in dabaipani my next posting will be in just over two weeks.

much peace

consider this

i sit here in glenary's, a westernized bakery/cafe/bar in darjeeling. wireless connection and hot lemon drink at my beckon call. i am fond of this hill city for its easier and slightly more familiar ways. as a mountain person myself i find a bit more ease here as well as the people being more relaxed. i am not the only one of the opinion that hill people are, in general, more easy going. i think it partially due to the terrain. it takes longer and more energy to move from one place to the next. this relaxed atmosphere is complimented by a somewhat cleaner environment. the monsoon rains are just about over. days are starting with a clarity that gives way to clouds and sporadic rains. a week earlier we had three days of crisp, clear days. the type of days where the air grabs your psyche and the boundaries between yourself and the world are thinned. the air itself is a place of beauty, a place filled with possibilities just beyond our grasp. yet it's there. it is more than feeling. it is other than visceral. beyond yet part of this world. it is this air, this effect, this reality that hints at what is possible if we but listen to what is around us. these days, where the air is a vehicle of spirit as well as physical, strengthen and sadden me. it is a strange brew. i wonder how many days will there be of this potential in the future? how many other people have the opportunity to be reminded by and to exsist in this air? there is a great concern in me that these days of clarity are growing fewer. that our children will rarely, if at all, know this experience, this reality. we have been gifted an amazing world. these are easy words to say. the thing i wonder is, how many of you have experienced a time, a place, a knowing where these are not mere words? i pray that you have. if so, you'll understand what is at stake. i like that phrase for this is what i describe. for we are literally burning this world. do you understand this? excuse me if sound as a preacher. the thing is, as fewer and fewer of us experience a day where the air is beyond crisp, where we are pulled to a place not described, both of and beyond our understanding, what than? what of our children who will never know these days? what are we taking from them? what i am asking is for us to think beyond our selves. to be like a day where the air seems to exsist as a rememberance. and to consider, what will we truly lose if the air never again takes us to a place beyond the boundaries of self?