Project FOCUS on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview 2011

Last year, Project FOCUS was featured on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview with Jerome McDonnell. PF Member Grant Buhr spoke about about the history of Project FOCUS, our philosophies, and the early stages of our first development project, the Lyantonde Internet Center.

Now the Internet Center is up and running, and Grant was invited back on Worldview's Global Activism Series to speak about both the successes and the struggles encountered while developing the Center in southwestern Uganda.

If you missed it live, you can still listen to it here via WBEZ online.

A Space for Learning, Sharing, Creating, and Income Generation: Vlog #2!

In his second video blog Grant welcomes the Project FOCUS community to the empty space that will soon be transformed into the community Internet Cafe. He also introduces Michael, the founder of our partnering organization, ICOD, and takes us on a brief trip to the Lyantonde market where we can see and hear some local flavors of the community.

Enjoy!

Back from the farm with a lot of homework to do....

After leaving a utopia like Quail Springs, settling back into a city like Chicago will have its challenges, but what I took with me most from the 4 weeks worth of workshops was that the folks there are more committed to people, than any dogma or movement philosophy.

I am having troubled mustering up the words to explain the whole experience. I learned more in a month then in the rest of my days combined about nature and its intricate and intuitive intelligence. I learned (even just for a moment) to actually open up and see what was happening around me, and I did a shitload of dishes.

I did self-evaluations, community development project presentations, and conflict resolutions exercises. I designed a music and yoga studio for the desert with passive air-conditioning that was shaped like a banjo, and I made what I am sure will be lifelong allies. I'm certain that many of the principles of permaculture will benefit the work of Project Focus and the work in Project Focus.

Permaculture Update

Permaculture: an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in the natural ecologies.

As you may remember, Grant is taking a Permaculture course this summer in California. Here are some of his reflections over his experience so far:

Hello from the farm! It has been an incredible journey so far. The days are filled with a mixture of classroom talks, on-site "practical" adventures, my work-trade chores (I am paying a small portion of the tuition through jobs like clearing campsites, harvesting juniper trees for fence posts for the tomato garden, fixing the classroom roof after hard winds, etc), amazing organic meals and equally amazing company. The information flow has been dense and captivating, but thankfully the philosophy of permaculture is more about seeing a situation from new eyes, than memorizing characteristics of plants and animals (research is still imperative). It is about looking deeper and observing the intelligent functions of all aspects of nature and trying to mimic those symbiotic relationships while working to restore all that we have destroyed, and maintain what we have left.

The principles of permaculture apply to all the movements we are a part of, and so many of the situations that occur in nature reflect the human drama. Diversity is a key component in permaculture - the more diverse a system is the more mutually beneficial relationships there will be to feed back to the system. But as we are learning, diversity only truly works when the system benefits all its participants. Another important principle is to "obtain a yield". This reminds us that any system we design should provide self-reliance at all levels - including ourselves. So take care of yourself!

Huge thanks for your help in getting me here!