Coming back from planet Colombia / Retornando del planeta Colombia ENA meeting 2000/ Reunión de ENA 2000 By/Por Enrique Hidalgo Edul/ N´baraeté 
After reading newspaper headlines, watching TV news and listening to
sources that were supposed to have knowledge about Colombia, I was in
a quandry as to whether to travel to the ENA meeting this past
September 2000 or not.
Someone at my ecovillage had even told me that if I traveled to
Colombia and did not come back, she would continue the work and
accomplish it. I was less than encouraged to travel, but suddenly one
morning I woke up and said to myself, "This is a gorgeous day to die"
and the choice was made - I was heading for Colombia. At 5am I was at
the airport, ready to face my destiny. I was ignorant of
how the next 3 moving weeks were about to change my whole view about
Colombia, not only as a country, but as a living entity, full of
contrasts and diversity, a country that opened its arms to me from
the first moment I touched its soil, her soul; Colombia made a
difference in me.
I had no idea of the hidden reason of why I was coming to Colombia,
although my mission was to aid in the permaculture and ecovillage
design courses and participate in the ENA meeting. But, the real
reason my spirit was seeking a country with such a reputation, was a
mystery. A few minutes before the plane landed I felt an urge to
write and the words that came from my pen revealed the secret agenda:
A call to the world for peace in Colombia!
I invoke the four winds, the transparency of the water and its
experience, I invoke Pachamama (mother earth), the Sun and the stars.
I invoke every mountain - the oldest dressed in white clothing and
the younger ones, still naked, trying to grow in order to reach the
sky.
I am making a call for peace, for love and for brother and
sisterhood, so the beings that inhabit this country, the continent,
the whole world become united in the strength of their joy, peace and
harmony.
I ask the Great Spirit to be with us, so we all can feel togetherness
in the work about to happen.
A single cry for faith and humbleness, for unity and compassion to
come to us so we can understand that everything we have dreamed is
becoming a reality, that we can walk together with mountains; that
our sacred spirits, miraculous sparks of divinity, can change the
course of events in Colombia and the rest of world.
Tonight, while we are all united witnesses of a miracle - a miracle
called peace - the one we call moon, the miracle of the earth and the
thousands of stars shout: Never stop your walk, the whole road is
yours. There is nothing impossible to achieve when your shield's name
is wisdom, dressed in silk and colors, barefoot and loving like the
clouds.
The Andes talked to me: What a joy, what a warm moment. We affirm the
reasons that move beyond your intuition, we join in the call that
comes in deep pain, in between tears of frustration, in between a war
without love, without feelings and without a cause. I want to shout
tonight, to cry in the pureness of your being, filled with energy and
love. I want to believe that my tears and yours will clean this land
from the pest of terror.
A soft kiss on your skin; cry no more because this war is about to
end even before it begins. It brings sad experiences, abominable
suffering, but your tears and mine will bring back all the love that
ancient spirits held within, the illusion of the rivers, the
nakedness of the mountains, the feelings of this forest bellow and
the passion from the seas, passion burning inside of me for a better
tomorrow, for an "I love you" in the night, for a green rebirth of
the land, come with me, let's run naked into the water and give our
souls to the universe, together, we have tonight the strength of a
thousand million stars, a thousand million beings of light shouting
together with us. We give our peace and our love to Colombia!
Omatacuyasi!'
Having gotten the message, I met Liora Adler, ENA Council
representative for the Caribe, on the road with La Caravana. She was
waiting at the airport with Gabriel from the newly formed "Magic
Mountain Ecovillage" outside of Medellin. Montana Mágica produces
excellent goat cheeses, marmalades, and flower / berry wines. As we
drove from the airport up the mountain, they showed me the beauty of
the Medellín surroundings. It was cooler than I expected, and I was
unaware of the Inipi (Temazcal/sweatlodge) ceremony that was awaiting
me. Cleansing and rebirth were the key words for that night. All the
beautiful people from the Caravan were gathered at the ceremony,
also healers, a witch, a couple of shamans and many earth loving
beings. The ceremony lasted for hours inside the womb of the earth,
the heat and the sweat danced together with beautiful songs and
feelings of belonging to the same family. Later I understood that
this cleansing ceremony was helpful preparation for arriving at the
Sasardí Natural Reserve inside the Colombian jungle.
The trip from Medellín to Turbo, was unexpectedly 30 hours long.
After one change to a bigger and more comfortable bus, everything was
wonderful until an landslide covered the road in front of us. The
"Paisas", beautiful people from the Medellín area, asked all the
"real macho men" to help to clear the road so we could continue.
Night had settled in and only five minutes past this first landslide,
7 more landslides awaited us; we had to stop for the night.Four in
the morning, no air inside the bus, and the ceilings still leaking
water from the rain. I stepped outside and went to sleep in the
middle of the road, no cars coming or going, just music from mother
nature and my old twin spirit that joined my space. At the first light of dawn there was the
flight of a bird who came to say good morning. Many more hours passed
until a machine cleared the road and we could continue on to Turbo.
All the way fromTurbo to the nearest airport in Apartadó, were
monocultures of bananas for export, with airstrips to fumigate
pesticides from the air. I wondered if those same planes would be
used by the U.S. to fumigate coca leaf plantations with the harmful
fungus fusarium in order to eradicate coca leafs from the country
according to the "Plan Colombia". I also wondered if the governments
involved had thought that fusarium not only would kill coca leafs,
but tomatoes and other vegetables, and probably even harm peoples'
health. Would anyone outside this magic and diverse country really
care? Did anyone really care about Vietnam? Iraq? Bosnia? Yes, I am
positive that there are people out there who really care about what
happens to the planet; the question is - How can I stop this
destruction? What can I do to prevent multinationals taking over the
world, the selling of weapons, the making of wars and earning money,
and therefore - controlling my destiny? What can I do as a human
being, so a handful of powerful people, or a bank will not decide the
fate of the world? A lot of questions dancing in my soul.
Imagine 1.3 million dollars, 80% of it in military aid, being used to
harm the environment and tear a jewel like Colombia into pieces? Coca
leafs were used as a sacred ritual plant by the natives of America.
The coca legend talks very clearly, and so does the Harvard
University report on coca leafs, about the nutritious effect of this
plant on people using it in the right manner and the harmful effect
on people using it with disrespect. How many billions of dollars will
be used to clean up the mess?
Colombia, like other 3rd world countries, is a victim of its natural
wealth. The areas most harmed by war are also the richest in natural
resources. If the interested parties drive away the people living in
those areas with terror, they can access those resources. Precious
stones, oil, fine wood; there is even a project about an alternative
Panama Canal going through the region next to Panama. This channel
was going to be built with atomic underground detonations, and would
have water from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans running continuously
from one side to the other. What would be the effects of that
venture? What killed the soul and the spirit of those who can act
with so little insight and respect for the Great Spirit's creation? I
could only cry, but I knew my tears of love would be cleansing the
mess actual rulers of the world are leaving behind, in the name of
progress.
Somehow I know they do not rule over my spirit and the spirits of
millions of beings like you. I am free to rule over my destiny and I
am free with my will, the clean food I eat, my lifestyle and my
actions to counteract destruction on our planet. We are the bringers of life, we
are the keepers of life; I kept telling myself. The great irony of our
existence is that war gets billions of dollars in aid, while peace
has to come from our own pockets. Maybe it's because peace is not
measured in billions of dollars, but in billions of hearts, but that
does not prevent us from going out and getting just as many millions
of dollars as the "Plan Colombia" in order to heal the planet, in
order to build alternative sustainable communities with like minded
people. Imagine how much beauty and peace we could create, how many
paradises we could design and inhabit, how many animals and plants
would find a home, how we could build a future together for
generations to come. First we dream it, then we go out and make it a
reality.
It was a day of love and harmony in Turbo; everyone outside in cafes
having fun and listening to "ballenatos", a tropical rhythm that invites you to dance. The next
morning, the whole group went on the "panga", a very fast boat, with
a cool captain at the wheel. The boat left the harbor which was
filthy with garbage and sewage water. It seemed ironic to have a
beach house there, and I was thinking how wonderful it would be to
give permaculture design courses to the authorities of the town, so
they could have a clean and beautiful harbor, appropriate sewage
disposal, and a healthier life. We need more people who want to be
owners of their destiny, I thought.
A few minutes after leaving the harbor, all the men had to get off
the boat at a military post. We were searched and asked the purpose
of our visit to that area. There was tension in the air, but it was
nothing compared to the rumors I'd heard about Colombia. The water
got cleaner and cleaner, as we continued on to Triganá, a beautiful
beach, a 40 minute walk from the Reserve.
I was greeted by Claudio, my brother who left a fat job in Europe in
order to dedicate his life to take care of the environment in one of
the most diverse and conflicted places on earth. The people at this
reserve have created a strong network of natural, private reserves,
protecting all inhabitants of the jungle. There are more than a 100
natural reserves with different goals and tasks, but covering 192.000
ha. of rainforest, showing how people can interact with the
environment without destroying it.
At the reserve one cannot hear planes passing overhead. Instead, a
family of monkeys passes a few times a day, jumping from tree to
tree, making music and entertaining us. There are 4 species of
monkeys living in that area in groups; the "Titis" are in danger of
extinction, as many others left with no home by the impacts of
civilization, export, greed and war. The amazing blue butterfly , as
big as an adult's hand, called "El caminante" by the locals, includes
4 different species, as well. Over the next days, I enjoyed the
company and grace of so many different creatures, lizards, snakes,
bats. They were not frightened and shared their beautiful home with
all of us. I even had a black scorpion get under my mosquito net and
sleep with me all night; it did not hurt me.
The energy of the group was very high; we had a wonderful ENA
meeting, everyone eager to give their support to one another. At this
meeting, Cuba and the U.S. were not two rival nations, but
expressions of the love between Mother Earth and Father Sky, children
of one rainbow nation. Decisions were taken with wisdom and patience.
A 9th ENA region was created to represent mobile communities.
Permaculture works were started to improve the infrastructure of the
reserve. Courses were offered in Medellín, Unguía and La Reserva.
Albert impressed me with how he set the pace at the courses. My
brother Jeff and his wonderful companion Carla brought a pelton wheel
to expand the power at the reserve. Clothes never dried, the birds
always sang, we all ate food prepared by the Reserva crew - hard
working hands, humble, happy, free people who live a life in joy and
hope, enduring the heat and humidity.
The houses were built with natural materials fitting perfectly into
the contours of the forest, a very steep terrain. The amazingly well
equipped office functions on solar energy, as do the phone and
computers, modern, but still respecting nature. The office books and
materials were filled with knowledge useful to preserving the forest
and its species, to giving trainings and imparting this wisdom.
The day before I left for home, we had a party. I was ready to leave,
although in many ways my soul was just arriving. A deep respect arose
for all present at the meeting. Each one had come to one of the
hottest areas of Colombia, beyond the limits of the country's
reputation. For every one of them, the conviction of bringing peace
and hope in their hearts to this country had been greater than the
fear of losing their lives in so doing. These were people I could
trust with my life, and I felt proud to have them as my family. My
dear ENA family, all those beings dedicating their lives and curing
their souls in order to give future generations a healthier earth to
inherit.
Between songs for the earth and toasts, laughing and joy, I could see
everyone had changed. The whole family had Indian warrior faces -
Giovanni my brother, my sister Lucía, Betty the center pole, wise
Alberto, Daniel, Giomar, our visionary Albert, noble Lee, Rodrigo,
Silvia the circle dancer, my sister Linda, my brother Kailash, Olga,
Julio, Margarita Rosa, Beatriz, Luisa, Jorge, Willy, Pablo, Hugo, and
all. It must have been the light in the sky, the scent of the jungle,
the grace of Claudio singing "Don Quijote de la Mancha", the company
of so many beautiful and giving human beings, but I can tell anyone
who asks me about Colombia, that Colombia is not only about war,
terror, gross killings Colombia was to me a planet sailing in the vast
universe, a bridge between the earth and the sky. I was on top of
planet Colombia feeling that Colombia is the mother of gorgeous
children with multidimensional environments, about deep love, about
never ending faith, and about... all of us. Enrique Hidalgo Edul N´baraeté Español... en traducción...
One America Enrique Hidalgo - Edul N´baraeté  Enrique Hidalgo - Latin American Permaculture Institute (ILP)
Seven years ago I interviewed natives in the village of La Cruz de Tunupa and brought these words back to share with others: "Civilized people have forgotten to talk with plants and animals, with mountains and spirits... maybe it is time to talk again, our modern brothers and sisters. We have listened to you quietly for more than 500 years doing almost everything you asked us to do. Maybe if you were allowed, by your God, Time, we could sit by the fire tonight and talk together, talk until there is nothing else to say, until all sentences and letters are used... then, we could start listening to our silence, far away from the stressing noise of your cities... together, give form to that deep silence and paint it with colors, paint it with a rainbow into the darkness of the night... together, we could fly to the stars and come back again.... Let us sit together by the calmest water, maybe then you will realize that we are brothers, because we come from the same mother... the Earth. Yours and our children will inherit this Earth some day soon. Our modern brother, we have tried to live like civilized man, but have seen that civilization has proved to be very destructive for all life forms. Maybe it would be easier for you to become wild again, wild and free, natural and simple, so you could start using your strength to live in our world... a world where our inner technology is as great as your outer technology, a world where happiness fills our days, a world where we do not speak about freedom in between the horrible noise of our own chains, a world where the children have contact with the elder again, a world where our children learn to embrace the stars and talk with them. Lets dream together tonight, my modern brothers and sisters. We cannot keep living asleep. We have to wake up in order to make all these dreams come true." Seven years have passed since those simple words awoke a powerful feeling in me. There was a time in which I believed we had no partners in the North. A lot has changed since then. First I discovered Denmark, Norway, Australia, Brazil, Uruguay, El Salvador, and all the great movements in those countries, and then, in October of this year, I spent a week with the people of ENA, the Ecovillage Network of the Americas. After that meeting I can be assured we are not living asleep. We have woken up in order to live our dreams. In Colorado, I met my white brothers and sisters and I discovered that white Indians exist. I discovered that a rainbow nation is rising from the ashes of colonialism, from the ashes of imperialism and from the ashes of so-called democracy. For the first time I noticed that there were greater differences between some people of the South than there are with some people of the North. It is not unknown that competition, political games and conspiracies also exist as a sickness in the South. I discovered that North and South in the Americas is just one continent, which has only been divided to make us believe that the North is the helper and that the South is the helped. The South has enormous possibilities to help the North to become simpler, more spiritual and to be less stressed/structured. The two halves complement each other as yin and yang, but they are far from two different realities. Do not a Wall Street and also ghettos exist in the same New York? Do not extreme poverty and extreme wealth exist in the same United States, the place we call the North? Does not a North exist in every city inside of what we call the South? In ENA, we are just one AMERICA. Black, white, brown, red or yellow, we are the children of this land. I feel at home as much in the North as in the South. I have found beautiful beings in both places, and I have met twin souls as I soaked together with them in the mountain hot springs. It is only a map that divides us, it is only a visa that separates us, but it is the same ideal that makes us become ONE AMERICA. I thank the Great Spirit because I could find those beautiful beings at the ENA meeting. We created an opening in the wound of the Earth, so our Pachamama could relieve her pain through us. Among tears and laughs I felt love for my brothers and sisters of the North, and a sense of togetherness with my brothers and sisters of the South. Nobody was less or more, we were all like a cob of corn, different colors, different sizes, but belonging to the same cob, diverse but similar. The last day, after everybody else had left, Linda Joseph reminded me that it was a holiday because it was Columbus day. She looked at me with an almost guilty look. I told her that God plays strange games with us. What happened had to happen for us to be able to meet. I was not killed by the Spaniards I was not a slave then, so it would be silly of me to complain of something that did not happen to me. What it is important to work towards, is actual abuse and actual slavery, both in the North and in the South. If Columbus had not come to the Americas more than 500 years ago, I would not have been able to share a dream, a vision a hope with my brothers and sisters from the North and the South. Without Columbus, we probably would not have even been present to meet one another, sitting by the creek under the precious and clear Colorado sky. I was so happy to be able to have my family with me and make them part of the ENA dream. My children and your children are the hope for tomorrow, but they have to be present in order to learn from their elders, in order to interact with one another, growing as different medicine herbs from the same garden. I believe that the South needs the North as much as the North needs theSouth, like men and women need each other in order to procreate. The ENA meeting was a joining, where North and South gave birth to a new seed, a seed of unity, a seed of polarity, so necessary to keep the balance. In the South we already have thousands of villages that only lack the "eco" in the front. I feelthat the South can be proud of being in the lead, by being less developed, and therefore naturally more ecological. Our task is to make people in the South see what development has done to the North, and make them see that we have beautiful people there, showing great solutions to problems and a fantastic example of harmonious interaction between them and nature. We have to make them see that the same peoplewho were leading us toward industrial development have changed direction and are coming towards us to redefine their future as our future, together. People are giving their all for a better world. America, the continent, has the opportunity for the first time in more than 500 years, to become one big unitedRainbow Nation. Lets not cut America anymore, it has bled too much already. Lets start erasing geographical limits. Let's have unity inside diversity.
Ecovillages in Bolivia Enrique Hidalgo In 1989, permaculture captured the attention of Enrique Hidalgo, a native agricultural economist and anthropologist from Bolivia. Together with Øyunn Gulliksen, his Norwegian wife, he started an organization in Norway called "The Pachakamac Eco-holistic Movement". In 1993, the couple started building "La Cruz de Tunupa" ecovillage on the highlands of Bolivia, 4100 meters above sea level, with their own resources. This project is 35% complete and is already a demonstration center, integrated with three other neighboring villages 25 km away from the city of La Paz. It was here that the first permaculture course was given in 1994, funded by Gaia Trust and through a Norwegian grassroot organization which gave US $ 500 to pay for the co-teacher Alejandra Caballero. In 1995, the organization was renamed the Latin American Permaculture Institute, ILP. Today the ILP works with individuals and NGOs in 11countries. Current work is with two NGOs in Bolivia, ANAT and CIMCA, to build an ecovillage network and tend to permaculture issues in Bolivia. The ILP works at the Institutional level. The ILP Network is planning to become an open network of permaculturists in the whole of Latin America, providing teacher training in Permaculture. In 1997, the ILP started converting a beautiful rural village into an ecovillage. The Village of Marquina, located near the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia at 2800 meters altitude, received the second Permaculture course in Bolivia with no funding at all. Teachers Claudio Madaune, Klaus Lotz and Enrique Hidalgo covered the course. Villagers started herb gardens and herb spirals, and a group of 33 women set up a micro business, making "dreamcatchersls. A couple of ecological houses have been built, and the ILP has half a hectare of land to start a permaculture training center. There are two permaculture demonstration gardens in the village, a restaurant, a course center, and an ecological Hotel! Hotsprings are 6 km away. In 1998, the ILP started a Green business, dealing with ecotourism, ecological- and permacultural design and export & import. From February 2000 Eco-pilgrimages will be held, covering trips from the Andes to the Amazon, and from Lake Titicaca to the Cochabamba valley (working with the Andean Medicine Wheel). In 1999 Enrique started working for the Norwegian Permaculture Institute, through which he is planning the Rainbow Project , for close North-South cooperation.
| ENCA Gathering Annual ENCA gatherings—Encontro Nacional de Comunidades Acuarianas/Alternativas/Arcoiricas (depending on whom you speak to) or National Gathering of Aquarian/Alternative/Rainbow Communities in Brazil—have been held on the Full Moon of July since the mid-70s. This 23rd year’s gathering was held at a new community, one year old, Vale Encantado, a truly enchanted valley, in a national Nature Preserve about 2 hours from Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil.
|  |  | | ABRASCA or Asociacao Brasileno de Comunidades Acuarianas/ Alternativas/ Arcoiricas (Brazilian Association of Aquarian/Alternative/Rainbow Communities) was born from the first ENCA gatherings and exists as a registered Association in Brazil with bylaws, statutes, etc. ABRASCA is composed of 24 Regionaos, some of which are communities and others individuals who are the Regional representatives and do the networking and contact work. In each region there are usually several communities and committed individuals working on social service projects. There are also about 30 "correspondents" who receive mailings from ABRASCA. The Encantado community has 5 permanent members, a few part-timers and a few more who have vowed to stay on to help. All members are quite young, very committed, living in difficult conditions (no electricity, one communal residence, mud, cold and rain in winter) but in a gorgeous place, clean river, good soil, a glorious sun that shines forth when it’s not raining, blessings and possibilities, a very harmonious communal energy, and an incredible young natural leader Marceu Estevalit. This year’s gathering brought together some 300 people to celebrate life in community, to share information and ideas, trade seeds and crafts, to report on the current years’ activities and to plan for future events. The achievement of 300 people living in almost perfect harmony for more than a week with little infrastructure, defined leadership, or structured activity, but somehow all the essentials being taken care of, was a miracle of experienced communitarianism. The GEN Secretariat office and the Caravan sponsored travel to the ENCA by Liora Adler, coming several days downriver to Manaus and thence by air to Porto Alegre, and Enrique Hidalgo, arriving from Norway. Lucia Battegazore arrived from Uruguay together with Ana Lucia. Luciano Davyt arrived several days later, as well as Zulma from the same area of Uruguay. | All of the Uruguayans are in the planning stages for an ecovillage. Andre and Fernando Soares arrived several days later and the group worked very effectively as a networking outreach team. Andre and Enrique joined to give an Introduction to Permaculture Workshop to more than 60 participants. Ana Lucia did a Women’s Workshop and Sacred Circle Dancing Session. At the ABRASCA community reports session, Liora presented the work of ENA and the Caravan. Enrique presented the work of the ILP (Latin American Permaculture Institute), his Bolivian ecovillage project and ENA. Lucia presented their proposed project for an ecovillage in Uruguay. Supported by Enrique, Lucia, Luciano and Andre, Liora did a Consensus Facilitation Workshop for over 50 participants. She also presented a Caravan slide show with some touches of ecovillage and bioregional work. On the last day, most of the team was present at the final assembly when the decision was to be taken for the site of next year’s ENCA. There were two strong proposals and after several hours of discussion, consensus could not be reached. After an oracular session of Tarot and Sacred Path cards did not resolve the issue, an Elders Council was called and Liora was honored to be made a participant. The Elder’s Council also approved the participation of Peter Midkiff, one of the ABRASCA founders, to be a formal link to ENA’s work. Andre invited Franco Werlang, a successful Brazilian businessman who attended the Gaia Association Permaculture course, and who has gotten more and more involved in the ecology, ecovillage and permaculture movements in Brazil, to spend a day at ENCA. Franco took the group home with him and hosted a visit to the Coolmeia Cooperative Fair in which some 300 family organic producers and crafts people sell their wares every weekend. —The ENA Away Team |
Home on the Range: ENA meets at Earth Art Village
Twenty-nine representatives from 10 nations (Canada, U.S, Mexico, El Salvador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Brasil, Uruguay, and Argentina) gathered in the San Luis Valley in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of Colorado in early October. Jeff Clearwater, Albert Bates, and Enrique Hidalgo 
| | | Twenty-nine representatives from 10 nations (Canada, U.S, Mexico, El Salvador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Brasil, Uruguay, and Argentina) gathered in the San Luis Valley in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of Colorado in early October. We met for eight solid days, working and playing together until we interconnected like willows by the streambed. Latin passion for life and a sense of play combined with Northern structure and attention to process to make a joyfully productive time. Professional facilitators and translators and translation equipment was brought in and Earth Art, only tenderly awakening to its village-ness, did a fabulous job of hosting. The first thing that strikes you about Earth Art Village (38 08 93 N, 105 50 96 W) is the air. Sometimes it does strike you, as the temperature change driven by the morning sun on the wide, flat, treeless valley stirs a wind that builds from the South and ascends the Continental Divide each afternoon. Strong gusts rattle the windows and make you wonder when they plan to install the wind generators. On one afternoon, with a storm approaching out of the Southwest, the village’s Arabian horses jumped the fence and tore around the yard, white manes and tails flying in the wind. Inside, the meeting house was a solid frame of Ponderosa pine, backfilled with strawbale and wool, and, with the barrel stove fired up, we felt little of the growing chill as the rain tapped gently on the tin roof. The next day we were outside and it began to snow. This was a new experience for some of our South Americans whose entire lives have been spent within 10 or 15 degrees of the Equator, and we did not miss the chance to throw snowballs and slide around. At night, we floated on our backs in the warm natural pool and gazed up at the Milky Way. For four years we had been gradually moving towards this point in time. The first steps were at meetings between existing networks, first drawing in a few, and then many, ecovillagers from throughout the hemisphere, exploratory voyages to the Northern Plains, the Mountains of Mexico and the Amazon Basin, meetings in three countries, a steering committee, and intrepid fundraising: all with this one goal fixed in the mind’s eye; this historic bringing together of the seed group—Consejo de las Americas. A very fruitful discussion of autonomy vs. coherency resulted in a new simplified ENA Council/regional structure. Each of the regions in the Americas will now select a primary and secondary delegate to the Council. Primaries attend a yearly meeting and the secondaries will join in every other year. Initial primaries are Albert Bates, Lee Davies, Corinna Bloom, Linda Joseph, Andre Soares, Claudio Maduane, Silvia Balado, Giovanni Ciarlo and Liora Adler. In the Regions we have identified the need for ECOs—Ecovillage Contact Offices. We are asking that in each region that there be at least 1 primary ECO and have asked for funding requests from them to be included in our strategic and fundraising plans. Regional steering committees are now tasked with developing their local infrastructure, creating memberships, and getting more organized | The central ENA office will move to Colorado with Linda Joseph as President and Kailash as Treasurer. We set a December 1st deadline for the creation of the initial fundraising packet to seek network funding through the year 2000. Our 18 committees became 4 committees: Fundraising/Finance, Process, Info Management, and Promotion. We also established committee and regional listserves, or email discussion groups, to help focus our energies on major issues. ENA is now past its infancy stage and starting out as a small child—still looking for its balance while boldly walking forward. Hopefully, as in a child, overconfidence and inexperience will not result in too many stumbles, or at least only corrective ones. It was clear to us all that the South needs the North and the North needs the South, like men and women need each other in order to procreate. This meeting was a joining, where North and South gave birth to a new seed, a seed of unity, a seed of polarity, so necessary to keep the balance. The South can be proud of being in the lead in creating ecovillages, by being less developed, and therefore naturally more ecological. One task we take from the meeting is to help people in the South see what development has done to the North, and assist in creating the recognition that the South has beautiful solutions to problems by retaining its harmonic interaction with nature. On the final day we hosted an open workshop in consensus for the surrounding Baca community and Jeff Clearwater gave the participants a half-day workshop in renewable energy system design, with special attention to assessing the microhydro potential at Earth Art. That night we soaked one more time under the stars in the hot tub at Valley View and said our goodbyes. As we left Earth Art and fanned out to the four directions, we were briefly saddened by our parting, because in only a few days we had become more than friends, we had become a family with a shared vision for the future. These thoughts were short-lived, because the tasks awaiting us, and the challenges we face in implementing our ambitious goals, lie immediately ahead of us. We are strong in our solidarity across our region, believing we in the Americas can put aside any small differences which separate us and join in speaking with one voice for our shared future. |
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