By Alfred Decker
Support a training for experienced permaculturalists interested in teaching with a special focus on refugees and migrants!
“I don’t believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charity is so vertical. It goes from the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other person. I have a lot to learn from other people.” ― Eduardo Galeano (literary giant of Latin America).
About the Course
Galeano’s quote reflects the spirit of the Training Permaculture Teachers with Focus on Refugees & Migrants (TPT4R) course, where from Day 1 we all come together as teachers and learners. The TPT4R is an international teachers training course taking place at the Permacultura Llobregat project at an ecovillage in Catalunya, Spain from the 21st – 29th of November, 2022. Training Permaculture Teachers is a course developed by the highly respected and beloved educator Rosemary (Rowe) Morrow, and draws on her decades of permaculture teaching experience. After teaching dozens permaculture design courses, Rowe realized that a teacher training course could have a powerful multiplier effect in giving confidence and practical teaching tools to permaculturists who wanted to teach but lacked the confidence and skills to start.
The November course will be the first time that the TPT will have the “4R” added to it, the special focus on Refugees and Migrants, and the intention to help build this international network of permacultural solidarity exemplified by the work of Permaculture for Refugees. So far the nationalities of the people attending the course include Kurdistan, Syria, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Gambia, Cameroon, Haiti, Israel, United States, the Ukraine and other European countries.
The invasion of the Ukraine and the hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking asylum in the European Union has focused attention on the issue of mass migration. There is now a much greater opportunity to support displaced people by training refugees to train each other. As the Permaculture for Refugees international working group states, “Our aim is to support refugees in transforming the places where they live —be these refugee camps or communities in receiving countries — into productive permaculture-designed communities, and ultimately to equip them for integration into society for the collective benefit of all.”
Support the Campaign
On October 17th, we will launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to cover full scholarships and travel expenses for 8 permaculture educators who are also refugees and migrants. This funding will allow them to share their practical experience and knowledge with others who want to collaborate with this population and your support is key. As Galeano said, “I have a lot to learn from other people.” Please support this work by sharing the campaign with your family, friends and networks. You can find information about the course and the crowdfunding link as it goes live on October 15th at: https://12pdesign.net/2022/03/11/tpt4r-vidalia-11-2022/