17 years ago (1997)....heard news of my sons journey into the world ( Alexander Bengtsson) and so left UK woodland direct action and bought a one way ticket to Sweden (yes, he was on his way IN Sweden lol) 16 years ago.....started my first Swedish environmental NGO....New Roots International as a way to keep accumulating input for the Green Circle Alliance model for sustainable decolonisation of our homelands (after already 11 years focus on this and prior indigenous contact) 15 years ago.... together with Sandra Brovall and Martin Spaak became the first in Sweden to recieve solid information on Earthship Biotecture and ran with it after a quick excited review of all the implications - micro to macro.... 14 years ago.....ran to the local town hall the three of us and was offered full time employment working for the kommun to build Swedens first Earthship (for them) at the recycling station, as part of their campaign to become the greenest kommun in Sweden through the campaign Eko-2000. Attended a year of meetings at our expense. 13 years ago.....after the politicians chickening out, began a series of small lectures to raise money for our OWN land with zero income. After a year, had succeeded in gathering a band of 26 warriors, through an initiative called New Earth Villages, later to become the Medicine Ways Co-op (registered ekonomisk Förening) and bought 2.5 hectares of land at the outskirts of the kommun. 12 years ago.... based on the politicians promise of the right to build a completely sustainable home, me and Sandra had the first OUR two kids, Star Schot (followed 2 years later by William Schot) with our merry band of warriors encamped on the land and eagerly awaited the green light to start building our home. In the meantime, Chief Oren Lyons took the time to visit with Tonia Moya of Green Cross International to wish us well on our journey. Promised planning permission to build denied. 11 years ago.....appealed to the regional authorities that something wasnt right here and was denied there too at the end of a lengthy proccess. Started building one anyway, a scaled down version to test the materials, techniques and natural phenomena it was possible to interact with in this climate, throughout the seasons. 10 years ago......started using the Internet wisely and focus on scooping up all available research in the world that would contribute to making historys smallest ecological footprint, all in one place for a family (thus on the macro, slamming the breaks on the onslaught of colonialism and ecocide). Started studying my familys consumption patterns and looking at the land with new eyes. Kept building on the small ship by hand, focussing mainly on long winter conditions. Took a few weeks away to do on-land support for the Grandmas and Grandpas of the Diné out in Black Mesa, Arizona and was invited up to listen with a Hopi Elder. 9 years ago......was offered a position together with the old band of the Medicine Ways Cooperative, to develop a 200 Earthship landbase in Gullspångs kommun and so attended another year of meetings (whilst being offered a loan of 15 million kronor by the JAK bank). The local town hall had a re-election, turning the politics from green to blue and the new politicians took the wholle project back to day one You want to build with WHAT?. We turned down the 15 million and walked away. 8 years ago.....Sandra and I decided enough was enough and in the middle of a snowstorm in 2006, started carrying materials out into the white field and accumulating what we needed to decolonise ourselves on the spot and build an Earthship, now known as the Midgård Blackship all over the world. At the end of the year, we had pounded 2000 tires together (Sandra doing the first 1000 herself whilst I created a hill made up of 20 000 wheelbarrows of Earth, to hide the build from the neighbourhood)....... 7 years ago .....building, Sandra working for a humble economy - me going it alone everyday, every night, every season, every weather, without oil or machine.... 6 years ago ......still building..... 5 years ago .....still building.....(with neighbours starting to leave recycling materials and leftover planks, cement etc......) 4 years ago ....still building but straining the family economy to do so...... 3 years ago......still building but with some suprise visits from international volunteers warrioring up.... 2 years ago...... reported for illegal building (biggest ever in the kommun apparently :-P) and photographed by aircraft .... the politicians descend (a visit to the ship by 12 of them) and they decide to take a new decision, which was a no that they then tried to bill me 12 000 kronor for and fine me a further 40 000 kronor. I returned the bills in the same envelope, with a handwritten note saying Just wait shall we and decided to take it to every layer of the shit-cake, the colonial pyramid....and fight for everybodys right in the country to build these, without asking. 1 year ago.......made it up to the top of the shit-cake and Svea Hovrätt (Stockholms high courts), who wussed-out after a letter to the authorities declaring myself and my family eventually sustainably independent from this murderous, ecocidal system. They sent it down a layer to the land and environmental courts in Vänersborg.....who wussed out, and sent it down to the regional authorities (whom we appealed to in the beginning, all those years ago)....who finally sent out two ladies to see for themselves what was going on. They loved it and overturned the Outlaw status of the building, saying it fit beautifully into the landscape and forced Falköpings Kommun to legalise the build in some way...... A few months ago.......the new Town planners/architects (another two honourable and kind ladies) help us represent it to the politicians and cornered them into declaring it a legal Earthcellar..... and so FINALLY at the same time (and a few journalist interviews later) could open up the Medicine Ways Co-operative actively for international membership for all that comes next, with space for 50 on the team (a few places left....10 for sure ;-) ......with a solid and fully researched plan for taking it to the next level for the whole band of warriors and caretakers...and for all our relations. .......and then Sandras workplace closed down at the same time, leaving us struggling and sliding and with only the coop membership fees supplying a buffer for site electriciy bills and warriors food fund, which would have kept things going while I negotiate a more stable sponsorship deal as fast as possible in the background. A few weeks ago......finnished months of pathway digging and planting 2 014 trees.....then started getting final demands for bills unpaid - slightly out of time with the planned new land deal with the new members of our band/memberships fees coming in. Last week......got all the windows we need from one of the original band members of Medicine Ways..... A few days ago, bit down, but added up what the economic damage is (and what will worsen with extra costs if we dont pull together in time as a team)...... Yesterday.....had an uplifting day with a visit from a gang of our Göte band members from Gothenburg, as well as our current on-site French warrior Tof Ninetynine and started looking at how we can start saving the unfinnished Blackship roof..... Today.......realise that a 50 000 kronor loan to the Medicine Ways Coop from somewhere (to be repaid within this year via the incoming membership fees), would balance out this whole situation with the site bills currently unpaid, as we continue the struggle together to get off-grid. The members buy attachment to this landbase as Mother tree site as first security.......and for those 50 000 kronor, we budge over and start preparing the site for the bigger plan for all.....meanwhile, were legal to build another 100m2 of U room onto the Blackship and tires dont cost anything ;-) (he says needing to transport 1000 of them but with no driving licence in the family ;-) ;-) Now........about to continue waking up the 150 food and medicinal plant species I have care of out on the land, with a weeks planting in and in front of the ship......sending out good thoughts to the Universe in the hope of SOMEONE......ANYONE seeing this, who has the potential to lift this work and finance a proper start-up, now that weve won every technical and political battle that was in our way.......please step forward now, were at a critical make or break point and we NEED a second wind!! Right, sorry about all that......dont know where that came from so early in the morning......ahem lol..... wishing peace to all who are working for it, for all our relations. Good morning from the greening Spring-kissed plateaus of the North relatives :-)
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 05:46:38 +0000
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