We reported late last year on permaculture activists in Asia and Australia aiding community recovery and rebuilding after the super typhoon Yoland devastated the Philippines(here and here). This update report is from one group of activists working in the Philippines.
With your generous donation, we were able to send two teams of volunteers to Barangay Batug, Dulag, Leyte, for reconnaisance and community consultation/relationship-building. Apologies for the scattering of informaton, but as yet we do not have a dedicated volunteer to manage communications and public/donor relations. At year’s end, all donated funds have been disbursed with the remainder allocated as petty cash for base camp, to contribute to running costs for January and February, including tools, transport, and basic needs.
We have sustained a presence and developed a close relationship within Barangay Batug, paving the way for permaculture education and sustainable approaches to food security, livelihoods, and ecological restoration. Under difficult conditions, we sustained an active presence within the barangay (village) and achieved:
- Location and construction of a community garden, to demonstrate permaculture techniques for transforming typhoon waste into food
- Community consultation and relationship-building, to ascertain needs and firmly establish ourselves as partners in recovery
- Reconnaisance for future projects, specifically the Windship build conducted by Earthship Bioctecture USA in Feb –Mar 2014
- Psycho-social support for those traumatised by the typhoon
- Christmas lunch for the children of Barangay Batug (this is of utmost importance due to the predominance of Catholicism in the Philippines)
Following videos will give you some idea of what it is like at the ground level.
Yolanda Earth Village Respose, showing our first contact, working out the recovery strategy.
Batug Earth Village Project
The Earth is Our Home, showing the shelter built with natural material.
Windship Philippines by Earthship Biotecture
https://www.facebook.com/sarahmandala/media_set?set=a.10152007277923129.1073741834.714668128&type=1
This aid project evolves in a way that emphasises the organic, of necessity led by Filipino natives, to achieve real sustainability and resilience of the community. There are no quick fixes, and the project is long in scope.
We would like to extend our gratitude to all the supporters who have given us your time and resources, especially Hepburn Relocalisation Network without their generous donations and constant support, the project would not exist as it does today.
2 thoughts on “Permaculture aid update”
Hello, i am interested in learning on the ground permaculture techniques for aid applications, I am wondering whether there are any volunteer opportunities for this project if it is still going?
Howdy Ella,
Please read the latest from the post Yolanda Philippines by one of the most experienced Permaculture aid workers, Steve Cran.
http://holmgren.com.au/greetings-from-the-post-yolanda-philippines/