Hi friends, As we are brutally confronted with images of the brutal reality facing millions of Filipinos around the country many of us find our hearts breaking and we ask, what can we do? Current unofficial estimates put the death toll over 10,000. Many areas still cannot be reached and sadly we expect that number to continue rise and rise. I have never seen anything like this destruction in my life and experienced UN Aid Workers are saying the same. Yet the Filipino strong! Everywhere on Facebook that spirit is evident with posts of inspiration as aid campaigns are organized and volunteers deploy to assist those in need. Trucks, planes, and ships are underway all across the country to provide immediate relief to those in need. Naturally, organically, groups of natural farmers and permaculture designers have begun to discuss on Facebook how they can get respond and help those affected. We natural farmers around the country can mobilize together to change the lives of thousands by focusing on our most valuable skill: producing healthy food naturally! A beautiful idea has developed from these discussions in response to the crisis. Immediately we can begin preparing materials on our own farms to ship to the affected areas over the next couple weeks to rapidly re-establish food self-sufficiency in those areas. We can start today by planting tens of thousands of small 1 square seed blocks in stackable, shippable trays. In a week or two, once access is restored, we can ship the small, already growing seedlings, more seeds, polybags, tools, natural farming ingredients like EM, IMO and FAA, printed training materials, and thousands of sacks of vermicast - everything people need to have productive food growing in their gardens and at evacuation centers as early as 6 weeks from now. We can also teach sprouting and send lots of mung beans (and others) so they can be eating fresh vegetables they have grown themselves as early as two weeks from now. Starting as early as today we can begin preparing these Natural Farmer Grow-your-own-food Start-up Kits that we can send to people in affected areas. We can do small kits for home growers and large kits to re-establish farms. We can each make customized kits depending on our resources and what we have available in our area and in surplus. Hopefully we can then find generous freight companies to bring those materials to affected areas site for free. Some of us natural farmers would also make a bigger commitment and go into the communities themselves where they would assist in on the ground training and assistance, utilizing the supplies we less courageous souls send them. We would establish central sites with intensive seedling nurseries, soil factories and training sites in affected communities and send those nurseries the supplies from our own farms to give them a head start. As a soil factory we would process the organic wastes like downed trees and broken houses from the disaster into high quality soil using shredders, making compost, bokashi, vermicast, potting soil and mulches. As the storm-downed material dwindles and industry resumes, those on-the-ground farmers can organize how to handle the communitys organic wastes for them the natural way. The goal of such a project could be to help affected communities get food self-sufficient as soon as possible, transitioning them into a more sustainable, healthier, natural way of living and building resilience to future calamities. Any one of us could do this on our own, or we could do it teams. We need wait for no ones permission nor need we join any organizations or groups. If we each start preparations today independently, it will be obvious in a week or two where we can send our materials. Our aid, rather than food itself, would be to start and nurse seedlings, distributing high quality seedlings, seeds, EM, worms, vermicast, compost, bokashi, quality potting soil and pre-made natural farming mixes while training and motivating locals to grow their own food at home. Instead of giving rice or money today, in the coming weeks and months we give almost mature tomato plants, half grown papaya trees, great soil, natural soil amendments, and free training. We would make it as easy for people to immediately start growing food in tens of thousands of containers like the water jugs coming in as aid, immediately assisting long-term evacuation centers to develop nursery programs so that as people return home they can bring already growing plants with them. We focus on our strengths as a community of natural food producers and do everything we can to help boost local food self-sufficiency as fast as possible so that when the aid runs out everyone is growing their own food plus a surplus. These ideas have been developing as people share their thoughts in various Facebook groups and chats. What do you guys think? How could we improve on these amazing ideas? Who do we know who can help? How can YOU help? Paul Henares, Sarah Queblatin, Rene Pamintuan, Farmer Fern, Keith O. Mikkelson, Daniw Arrazola, Renante M Areola, Tara Joy MacKeigan, Joyce Morrison, Riva Marris, Jojo Rom, Danica Lopez, Iam Chippy, Susan Santos de Cárdenas, Susan Willsey, Donna Hewitt, Joel Lee, Joe Balacaoc Ibañez, Steve Jeffery, Steve Gill, Mahiitosh Eguia, Chris Ducker, Jidoun Ibn Al-Rouh, Clayton Horton, Helen Pasamba San Agustin, Marie Magdalena Cavosora, Sarah Regnier, Anna Harris, Orly Ramos Colobong, Alex S. Marcaida, Dave Dewbre, Diana J. Limjoco, Jove Schrottmann, Eleri Kurvet, Coron Ecotours, Anabel V. Villanueva, Ed Skinner, Edward Ines Agdeppa, Grover Rosit, Marcus Swanepoel, Jungle Gypsy, Daryl Subito Balmoria-Garcia, Edgard Guevara, Jay Scull, Christopher Shimoji, AG Saño-Full, Samadhi Love, Trish Ferreira, Sarah Clarke We can even start preparing kits today :) We have about 2,000 seedlings started today and will start more.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 10:10:45 +0000
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