Village Earth Blog

Spring 2008 Online Newsletter

Village Earth2 — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:11:00 +0000

Happy Spring 2008! Village Earth continues to learn and grow as we expand our efforts as allies with indigenous communities and through our training programs. Village Earth believes it pays to be small and non-bureaucratic. This gives us the flexibility to be responsive to the grassroots and the ever-changing nature of the community empowerment process. Furthermore, our staff is committed to the people and communities we work with and relate to them as partners and friends rather than as experts or managers. This solidarity encourages honest communication and dialog necessary to determine what is working and what is not. Just look at what we're accomplishing...

Oil Exploitation will NOT bring "Development"

Besides working with indigenous organizations in the Peruvian Amazon to defend their territories oil exploitation, Village Earth is working with communities on micro-livelihood projects. These projects such as small-scale communal fish farms, women's artisan cooperatives, and a micro-credit program will allow the indigenous communities to take their futures into their own hands. For hundreds of years indigenous Amazonians have been at the mercy of large plantation owners, mining, and other extractive industries for any kind of income. By working with indigenous communities to create their own business ventures they can be proactive and take control of their own livelihoods in a sustainable manner with the income and working conditions being controlled by the indigenous peoples themselves. The Peruvian government uses poverty as the excuse to open up the Amazon to oil exploitation as if no sustainable alternative development opportunities exist. Yet, oil exploitation will only further impoverish the people of the Amazon as it destroys the natural resources on which they depend. By expanding Village Earth's efforts to include more indigenous communities in these micro-livelihood business ventures they can take a stand against the oil "development" proposed by the government.

Village Earth recently supported and accompanied a Shipibo leader to attend an important oil meeting at the Houston Petroleum Club. There, PeruPetro, the state-run oil licensing agency of Peru, was present to try to sell off the remaining 30% of the Amazon rainforest to oil companies. Fortunately the presence of the Shipibo leader and the information he was able to give investors about the risks of investing in oil exploitation in the Amazon helped to turn potential investors away from this very risky investment. However, the discourse of PeruPetro continues to be that oil exploitation will bring "development" to the Amazon region. After a speech by the Shipibo leader asking the oil companies to stay off indigenous lands, Daniel Saba, President of PeruPetro, said to the group of potential investors to visit the Amazon and see the poverty. He says there is no way the people of the Amazon "want to live like they did in the past" with 66% of the population in poverty. However, in the decades of oil exploitation throughout the Amazon in places like Northern Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, oil exploitation has brought nothing but severe health problems, environmental devastation, and an influx of new migrants to the Amazon-all with severe consequences for the indigenous peoples who call this region home. Children in Northern Peru have toxic levels of lead and other carcinogens in their blood from an oil-contaminated environment. The Camisea pipeline in Southern Peru has ruptured multiple times causing untold environmental damage. As well, the roads and infrastructure built by the oil companies opens up the Amazon to colonists and logging companies.

Together we can offer alternatives to the unsustainable development offered by the government and corporations, and instead, the people of the Amazon can determine their own futures.

For more information, visit the Peru Project Blog

Advanced Training Program on Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development at Bidham Chandra Krishi Viswavidyala - Calcutta, India

A team from Village Earth and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) held our flagship course Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development at Bidham Chandra Krishi University in Calcutta, India. January 25th through February 1st, 2008 a group of approximately fifty graduate students attended the seminar jointly organized by IISD and Bidham Chandra Krishi University. The training was well received by the students who all plan to work to support village development across India after they complete their studies.

For more information about organizing a specialized training courses for your group or organization, please visit International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Guatemala Scholarship Program

Providing annual $150 scholarships for Xucaneb, Guatemala students (as pictured above) has been a big success.

For just $150 a year, a student can pursue a ninth-grade certificate, which hugely increases their opportunity for a job with a future. Book groups and others have each sponsored a student, so that we have been able to provide a total of 50 scholarships since 2003. With that success has come a tremendous word of mouth, such that this year we have double the number of students hoping to participate. Checks to sponsor a student ($150) or smaller checks toward a scholarship can be sent to Village Earth, P.O. Box 797, Fort Collins, CO 80522.
For more information, contact MaryLou Smith at mlsmith@aquaengr.com.

Cambodia Education Project Update

The Cambodia Education Project has expanded, and moved to a new room not far away. "The staff has increased their capacity, and we have some really dynamic students, who are taking on a lot of initiatves. The best feeling is showing up and learning what is going on. By giving them so much control it has a life far beyond what I could have ever provided," said Project Coordinator Drew McDowell.

To read more, visit the Cambodia Project Blog

Appropriate Technology Library Sale

SALE - $100 off March 2008 only!

The Appropriate Technology (AT) Library is one of the most comprehensive technology resources for anyone working in the field. The AT Library is full of thousands of small-scale, do-it-yourself technologies on everything from alternative energies to sanitation.

To purchase your library today, visit the AT Library webpage.

Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development Training Course

May 19-30, 2008
Colorado State University campus
Fort Collins, CO USA

Registration deadline May 2.
Join development practitioners, community leaders, activists, and academics from around the world in this important course.

For more information visit the International Institute for Sustainable Development
or contact nancy@villageearth.org

Upcoming Online Courses

Spring Online Courses begin March 21. Registration ends March 17.

The following courses will be offered:

Approaches to Community-based Development
Technology & Community-based Development
Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation
Community Capacity Building
Community-based Mapping

For more information about the online certificate program, please visit the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Village Earth Efficiency Indicators

Village Earth — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:42:00 +0000

Why should you donate to Village Earth? With all the different appeals you get from charities throughout the year and especially during the holiday season, it makes it difficult to choose how to make the most impact with your donation. Here's some reasons why we think you should choose Village Earth.

Rather than simply treating the symptoms of poverty and powerlessness, we engage in a long-term dialog with communities to reveal and transform the underlying, and often inter-generational causes poverty. For Pine Ridge that means helping Lakota families claim more control over their land base. In Peru that has meant helping to create a regional organization of indigenous Shipibo communities to unify their struggle against illegal logging and the contamination of their rivers.
Rather than focusing on problems impacting communities, we start with a community's long-term vision for the future. If communities only focus on "fixing" problems, they may not actually be transforming the underlying structural contradictions afflicting them. By first clarifying a long-term and shared vision for the future, communities are free to imagine an entirely different future and begin working to create it.
Village Earth is small and un-bureaucratic. This allows us to be responsive to the bottom-up and flexible to the ever-changing nature of a genuine community development process. Furthermore, our staff is committed to the people and communities they work with and relate to them as partners or allies rather than as experts or managers. This solidarity encourages honest communication and dialog necessary to determine what is working and what is not.
Because we are small and un-bureaucratic we are able to focus our energy on what's important - our mission. We use our resources efficiently. According to our most recent 990 Report to the IRS, our total income was $164,081. Over 87% of that income went directly to support projects, only 10% went to support administration of the organization, and only 4% on fundraising.

Our fundraising efficiency for 2006 (total dollars raised / total dollars spend on fundraising) was also high at 92%. That means we spent only 8 cents for every dollar raised. (see graph below)
Because of what we have accomplished! In 2006 we:

(Click on the links to see pictures and read more about each accomplishment.)

Village Earth’s Adopt-a-Buffalo program expanded with the release of 19 more buffalo onto Lakota lands, which too increased by 1800 and 320 acres, not to mention the dozens of off-spring from previously released herds. To-date this program has helped to restore the plains ecology through sustainable bison restoration— impacting over 7000 acres of reservation lands and returning an important cultural symbol to the Lakota.
Facilitated the first ever Indigenous Tribunal (regional gathering of indigenous leaders) in the Ucayali Region of the Peruvian Amazon.
Established a community center run by local women in Cobán, Guatemala. As well ten Mayan students received scholarships to continue studying, and the Guatemalan project coordinator attended Village Earth’s yearly training course Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development.
Helped form the Organization for the Defense and the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon (ODDPIAP) and get legal status so they can begin accessing much needed resources and start working for the people;
Expanded the women’s microfinance project in Purulia, India – more than doubling the amount of women participating to over 160 women! The women have stopped migrating to the city in search of work and now have economically-viable ventures within their own communities. These women’s micro-finance groups have also now formed Forest Protection Committees that work on creating eco-friendly livelihood strategies.
We supported a Shipibo women's craft cooperatives with funding from Aid to Artisans and by connecting them with international markets;
Trained Sri Lankan government officers to better engage local farmers in participatory practices as they work to empower local farmer organizations to take ownership over rural infrastructure maintenance in an effort to reduce poverty.
Supported a Shipibo leader, Limber Gomez, to attend Village Earth's training course in the states - which he then returned to Peru and replicated the course with community leaders and in local universities.
Helped launch the new Shipibo website: www.shipibonation.org
so they can represent themselves and for ease of communication between the region and the world.
And using Geographic Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, we have worked closely with several communities to teach them this technology, create maps, use satellite imagery to detect illegal deforestation and cattle ranching on indigenous lands, and assisted in the legal process of demarcating territorial borders.
Facilitated community-based film workshops for Zapara, Kicwa, and Bora communities along Peru's remote Rio Tigre.

If you would like to support the continuation of this work please contribute today!

Use our secure Online Payment System.
Or, Send a Check or Money Order

Village Earth
PO Box 797
Fort Collins, Co 80522

Or, pay by credit card over the phone by calling 970-491-5754.

For international payments we accept Bank Wire Transfers and PayPal. For more information please contact info@villageearth.org.

Northern Colorado Weekly Writes Exposé on Village Earth's Work Along Peru's Rio Tigre

Village Earth — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:58:00 +0000

This week's edition of the "Rocky Mountain Chronicle" features an exposé on oil exploitation in the remote region of Northern Peru along the Rio Tigre where Village Earth facilitated a community-based film workshop with Kichwa, Zapara, and Bora communities in the region. The expedition took place over 5 weeks, November through December of 2006. The community-based film workshops, developed by Village Earth, allow entire communities to work together link past, present, and possible futures into a shared narrative with the express purpose of communicating with outsiders to raise awareness and support for their situation while attempting to mitigate the distortion or framing of issues by outsiders. The workshop is also designed to allow communities to preserve a degree of opacity that they decide is appropriate. According to Stetson (2007) "opacity permits a shift in the Western ethno-colonial gaze from a concern for authentic representation of indigeneity to a concern for collective expression and transformation.

The roots of this approach stem from the cinéma-vérité approach Village Earth utilized in earlier films such as Pine Ridge Session One (2004) and REZONOMICS (2005). In these films we attempted to limit our influence on the subject and topic by avoiding elaborate staging, lighting, large-intimidating cameras, and even narration. However, even with these precautions it was difficult to avoid framing the issues from the outside through the selection of subjects and especially while in the editing room. Yet, despite these limitations the power that these films had to giving form to an emerging narrative for issues on the Reservation, especially the growing movement to recover and utilize lands, was readily apparent. It became clear that film would be a powerful tool, not only to educate outsiders about complex issues but also to mobilize communities for collective action.

Village Earth's believes that western values are not determinative and that all communities have the right to self-determination. This core belief has guided our work with indigenous communities around the world and has allowed us to be allies despite our position as 'outsiders' and with our less than complete understanding of their world-view. Furthermore, we recognize that leading up the end of the 20th century there emerged a growing crisis for the Western world-view. The crisis of scientific positivism brought about scholars such as Kuhn and Feyerabend, the delegitimazation of cultural imperialism, the rise of cultural relativism, and the acceptance of the environmental crisis caused by capitalist globalization created a paradigm shift for the totalizing meta-narratives of the Western worldview. According to the French Philosopher Jean François Lyotard, these meta-narratives were the basis of the social bond for western society, in their absence society is faced with a crisis of legitimacy especially in how it defines "development". According to the Arturo Escobar, "First, modernity’s ability to provide solutions to modern problems has been increasingly compromised. In fact, it can be argued that there are no modern solutions to many of today’s problems. This is clearly the case, for instance, with massive displacement and ecological destruction, but also with development’s inability to fulfill its promise of a minimum of well-being for the world’s people... Second, if we accept that what is at stake is the recognition that there are no modern solutions to many of today’s modern problems where are we to look for new insights?"

In the absence of the meta-narratives of the West (summarized by Escobar by the concept of modernity) we must create new narratives that become the raw material of a new society and a renewed social bond. But for this new society is to be based on equality, reciprocity, and compassion we must exchange the totalizing meta-narratives of the modern era, based on the on a notion of "Truth" and exchanged and monopolized for past several centuries by the Western States for a more relativistic notion of "truths" and the acceptance of differing world-views. Thus, this is a two part processes for individuals and communities. The first is rejecting the legitimacy of western knowledge as being implicit because of its reference to the Western meta-narrative of logical positivism. The second is creating new, more localized narratives where legitimacy comes from self-reflexive dialogue and community consensus. According to Lyotard "A collectivity that takes narrative as its key form of competence has no need to remember its past. It finds the raw material for its social bond not only in the meaning of the narratives it recounts, but also in the act of reciting them." While this may be a paradigm shift in western world-view its the basis of the social bond for many indigenous communities who have been able to avoid, for whatever reason, the assimilation and acceptance of western meta-narratives.

Another principle that guides our work is the right that communities have to opacity. "For Glissant, "opacity boils down to the “irreducible density of the Other,” suggesting that it is not possible to ever fully know, understand, or be the Other. More importantly, Glissant recognizes the inherent violence in appropriations of the Other and warns against the types of appropriations that are evident in the social sciences and that tend to dominate the Western way of thinking. Western understanding, in this context, is based on transparency, measurement, and reduction. Glissant argues that in the West, “In order to understand you and thus accept you, I have to measure your solidity with the ideal scale of providing me with the grounds to make comparisons and, perhaps, judgments. I have to reduce” (Glissant 1997, 190). Moreover, the seemingly benign act of understanding, from an etymological perspective, constitutes an aggressive act."(Stetson, 2007)

[A] “right to opacity,” which is a right not to appropriated, not to be objectified, not to be essentialized, and not to be understood (too deeply), arguing that is time to give up the “old obsession with discovering what lies at the bottom of natures”. [Glissant] develops a theory of difference that rejects pure... In this sense, opacity acts as an ethic that encourages a shifting of the gaze away from objectifying the other. However, while it leads us away from essentialization or objectification, (Stetson, 2007)

In 2006 Village Earth was invited to facilitate a community-strategic planning session with the Shipibo-Konibo of Peru's Amazon Basin. After a discussion with community members it was agreed to structure the planning around the creation of a shared narrative of drawing from the past, present, and possible futures. The reasons for this decision were multiple: For one, it was thought that this approach would be more practical since at the end of the workshop they would not only have a plan but a compelling way to share that plan with other's in the community who were not present at the workshop but also to outsiders and potential funding agencies. The other reason was that it was thought this would engage the participants more as they saw their story take shape. We also decided to venture further away from creating films of people to facilitating communities to create their own films and thus have greater control over the framing of the issues, the level of opacity, and the creation of their own narrative.

The central idea was to create a cohesive narrative of the community, what it was, what it is, and what it could be. By participating in the creation of the community's story, workshop participants take an active role in framing and re-framing a shared narrative of the community and archetypal images. While also framing their own representation(s) for people outside of their community. Simultaneously creating a narrative that is empowering internally to your own community – addressing the role of individual/community agency but also analyzing the structural changes that has limited personal/community agency and self determination.

The process of the film workshop has four steps: 1. Identify important defining images/stories from the past, answering the question “who were we and how did we live?” this is accomplished by writing or drawing pictures on pieces of paper. 2. Identifying important defining images/stories form the present answering the question “who are we and how do we live today?,” 3. Identifying important defining images/stories for the future “how would we like to live and who do we want to become?” The final stage of the workshop is tying together past, present, and future by identifying narrative “threads.” An example might look/sound like this: “In the past our rivers were clean and full of fish (past). Today, because of the oil companies drilling upstream, our rivers our contaminated and there are no more fish (present). However, we plan to organize with other communities along the river to make our voices be heard and let the world know about what these companies are doing (future).” (See below)

(Above: The Creation of Narrative Threads)

Once the group has come to consensus on the most important threads, the next step is creating a storyboard. We accomplish this by having the workshop participants break into groups, one for each thread. We then give a brief explanation of “shots” and “scenes.” Scenes are collections of individual shots that tell a story. A particular thread might contain several scenes. For example, to tell the story of river contamination you might want to have a scene explaining how children get sick from swimming in the river. This scene might have several shots – children swimming, a sick child, an interview with a doctor, or whatever the participants believe will tell the story best. Once they are satisfied with their scenes they create a “shot list,” basically a list of of their shots, where they will do them, and who will be responsible to get it done. Finally we give a brief explanation of how to use the cameras and then let them go out with their teams to start working on their lists. Each night we would collect the footage, digitize it and work with each team to edit together their scenes (below).

Photo: Ralf Kracke-Berndorff

The final evening of the workshop was the film premiere of the Shipibo's new, completely participatory, documentary which they decided to title Paromea Ronin Bakebo, which is Shipibo for The Children of the Anaconda. Many people from the community showed up and there was quite a buzz throughout the village about Village Earth and the film. This was very exciting for everybody involved. The film premiere was amazing. As one American observer remarked, "It was like the Shipibo Academy Awards." After many long speeches, songs, and special recognitions, the film was projected onto a make-shift screen in the community hall for all the people to see. Everyone was very happy with the film and the children were so excited to see themselves on the big screen.

The impact of the film was readily apparent. According to one participant, "Working on our Cosmovision has brought us together and gave us an opportunity to keep the dreams of all the particpants' families with us." Stetson writes, "in the video the Shipibo express themselves in terms of the possibility of re-living or re-making Shipibo culture (via language, traditional medicine, pottery, dress, reciprocity, sharing, and community integration). The film also reveals practical and material needs such that the interests in getting micro-projects funded
reflects the reality of being indigenous in a modern world. As mentioned, the video deals with the real structural constraints that both individuals and communities face. However, to look at the Shipibo only in these terms would be a mistake. The workshop participants, in Children of the Anaconda, framed Shipibo culture in terms of the past, present, and future. The past is dignified, beautiful, and even romantic; the present is a crisis, economically, environmentally, and culturally; but the future is potentially bright, given the potential to re-live and re-new Shipibo culture, of course, with the help from, and relation, to the world."

For more information about Village Earth's community film projects, facilitation or training in this approach contact Ralf Kracke-Berndorff.

VE - Sri Lanka Collaboration

Village Earth2 — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 23:30:00 +0000

Village Earth recently concluded a two-week training/consultation with key officers from the Supporting Infrastructure Maintenance to Reduce Rural Poverty (SIMRRP) project team of the Government of Sri Lanka. The SIMRRP project team came to Village Earth with the request to learn techniques to better engage the local farmer organizations with whom they work.

"We want to go to the villages and discuss what we have learned with the farmers. This training is very useful for how we can engage with the farmers."
- Technical Officer, SIMRRP

Village Earth facilitated workshops on Community Mobilization, Common Property Resource Organizations, etc. as a way for the farmer organizations to take ownership over the rural infrastructure and sustainably maintain it. Village Earth also took the SIMRRP project team on a site visit of the North Poudre Irrigation Co. to see the world-class irrigation organization in Northern Colorado, so SIMRRP could take what they learned here and apply it to their system in Sri Lanka.

Above: Key Village Earth training staff and SIMRRP project team.

If you are interested in Village Earth's specialized training programs or consultations, contact: info@villageearth.org or +1-970-491-5754

For more information about our training programs, visit our training partner: International Institute for Sustainable Development at Colorado State University.

State of the Village Report

Village Earth2 — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:28:00 +0000

Fall 2007 Online Newsletter

Village Earth2 — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:02:00 +0000

We are pleased to inform you of this summer's accomplishments, which were only possible with your support. Thank you!

New Indigenous Organization

During the Indigenous Tribunal this past June, Shipibo leaders from throughout the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon decided to form a grassroots development organization. The new Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, or ODDPIAP (as they call it), will work to bridge the gap between the poorly represented indigenous peoples and the government as they work to defend their territories and provide development assistance.

Above: The newly elected President of ODDPIAP.

Village Earth is currently working with the democratically-elected leadership to build the capacity of and support for ODDPIAP. We are also working together to raise the funds necessary to legalize ODDPIAP so that it can be officially recognized by the Peruvian government. The leaders of ODDPIAP are busy planning workshops throughout the region to mobilize students and community leaders to work together, and they are already preparing for the next Indigenous Tribunal to be held January 2008. Village Earth will continue to ally with ODDPIAP in their struggle for the self-determination of the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon.

For more information, visit the Project Blog or contact the project coordinator, Kristina Pearson, kristina@villageearth.org.

Appropriate Technology Grants Program

The Appropriate Technology Library now has a new discount pricing scale for low-income organizations. For more information, check out the new Appropriate Technology Grants Program.

VE Training Empowers Global Leadership

Village Earth and the International Institute for Sustainable Development recently pulled off another successful Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development training course, August 6-17, 2007. Participants came from all around the world including Sudan, USA, UK, Kenya, Guatemala, Peru and Americans working in Southeast Asia and Africa - in all their diversity to contribute to a dialogue about participatory community-based development.

Above: Training participants on tour at a local organic farm.

Participants learned the theory behind the Village Earth Approach and how it is constantly refined through action and reflection as the Approach is put into practice in the field. One highlight of the training included the participation of Limber Gomez from Peru and Adriana Lazaro from Guatemala, two Village Earth project partners, who contributed their perspectives and experiences as "internal activators" within Village Earth-sponsored activities and illustrated the effectiveness of the Approach as applied in their communities. The two-week workshop also included lively discussions about the importance of Appropriate Technology to building sustainable communities, the role of Monitoring and Evaluation, and a new section of the course focusing on non-governmental organization (NGO)-Community dynamics.

The group also decided to form a global network of development practitioners as the focus of the strategic planning session part of the workshop. Far from seeing themselves as competing NGOs, participants saw the need to pool their resources in a common task of building a dynamic network where expertise could be shared globally.

We are very grateful for the level of wisdom and experience that each participant brought to the training that helped to make this course a truly consciousness-raising experience.

For more information, please contact: info@villageearth.org

Village Earth Partners with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation to do Strategic Land Planning on the Pine Ridge Reservation

Village Earth is now accepting applications from allottees who own undivided interests on the same allotment(s) on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to do land planning workshops. For more information, visit the Pine Ridge Project Blog Contact: David Bartecchi - david@villageearth.org, 970-491-5754

Village Earth Founders Recently Returned from West Bengal, India

Drs. Maurice Albertson and Ed Shinn visited Milan Dinda and the Purulia project team on their way home from teaching at Trisakti University in Indonesia. They hope to return soon and hold a Village Earth training program with students from the agricultural university in Calcutta. For more information, visit the Purulia Project Blog.

New Guatemala Project Website and Blog

Adriana Lazaro, coordinator for the Village Earth Guatemala project, recently attended the Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development Training Course in Fort Collins, CO. Check out the new website and Guatemala Project Blog. We look forward to keeping you updated as our projects progress.

And we would love to hear from you - we welcome comments, questions, and feedback to our newsletter editorial board. You can reach us at: editor@villageearth.org.

Sincerely,

The Village Earth Team