Kenya update

Merry Christmas everyone,
I can't get into the spirit when its 80 degrees out but I finally wanted to get some photos posted from the past couple of weeks travel time.

I had a preview of some of the wildlife here in Kenya on a day trip to Nairobi Nat'l park.

We saw some nice animals

The baby rhino was super awesome. Baboons can be a little nasty. These guys were friendly.

I was super impressed by the permaculture being implimented at Nyambani Village,

this is part of an extensive agroforestry system they have planted around the edge of the village to provide food and fuel and catch rainwater in the soil with swales.

The village has 700 children and around 70 adults, grandparents actually. The kids are all orphans who's parents have died from HIV-AIDS. The houses are 1 grandparent to 10 kids, with four houses in a cluser.
These are some of the kids and grandparents.

We were working with this grandmother and her household to install a greywater banana circle for their shower water which provided an example for a simple solution to provide food where a stinky puddle once stood.

This is the permaculture design course class after our hands on installation with the kids helping.

David from Uganda.

The design course was fantastic, we had a very diverse group of folks from Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, India, and the United States. So many people doing great work in there communities and bringing this inspiration of the permaculture model into different communities.



Warren Brush from Quail Springs in CA, Nicolas on his left-the director of Nymbani and Joseph the sustainability coordination. I want to offer my gratitute to these men for their work on the PDC and at the village. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to help on the project. Looking forward to coming back soon.

Also I was able to send out seeds with several of the participants and gave a nice selection to Nyambani Village for their home gardens. Thanks again to Rich from Abbondanza and Michael from Heirloom Organics.


I'm leaving for Masai Mara in the morning first thing then headed out to the coast to try my hand at scuba diving for the first time. I'll be going to Mombasa and then up to Watamu where there is Marine Sanctuary. I have a few other permaculture projects in the wings coming soon.....


I'll try and send updates as I can. Lots of good wishes for the holidays I'll be thinking of you all.

love,
Andy

Arrived in Kenya

Hi Everyone-

I arrived in Kenya had a crazy few days in Nairobi and now am in Nyambani Village. Wow, I hard to put in words the contrasts of this place. I am enjoying the permaculture class I am involved in and have met some dedicated people here doing great work in their communities and on the land.

I'll get some images posted soon!

Andy

Seed donations, huge thanks!

Sending a big thanks to Rich at Abbondanza Farm and the crew there  eatabbo.org for the generous seed donation

and Michael Morris at Heirloom Organics and their program called Seeds of Action non-hybrid-seeds.com for their donation as well. Just imagining how many gardens and how much food this will provide!

From the Mara Soil- Film Trailer

From the Mara Soil -- Film Trailer

www.youtube.com

FROM THE MARA SOIL takes you to a stunning but impoverished region in Tanzania, where a handful of activists are fighting food scarcity, water shortage, disease, health problems, and deforestation by teaching their people to use Mother Nature to lift themselves out of poverty. FILM COMING JULY 20

Permaculture projects in Africa

I've got three weeks before my trip to Africa and am lining out some great projects to help out with in Kenya and Tanzania.
 http://www.permaculturedesign.us/blog/entry/755311/permaculture-courses-coming-up-in-rural-kenya

In Tanzania with Global Resource Alliance.  http://www.globalresourcealliance.org/permaculture-programs