Left: Peruvian Dancers from Peruanos Residentes en el Norte de Colorado group Village’s Earth recent A Night on the Amazon: Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Sustainability was quite a success raising over $1300 in donations toward achieving sustainable development in the Peruvian Amazon. The night began with an introduction by Village Earth founder Mimi Shinn. Next David Bartecchi and Ralf Kracke Berndorff outlined Village Earth’s work with indigenous people in the United States on the Pine Ridge Reservation. A short documentary on Pine Ridge was shown to emphasize the importance of documentary film-making for use within communities, as well as for raising awareness and bringing to light issues these communities face. Then came the highlight of the night – the dancers from the local Peruanos Residentes en el Norte de Colorado group. Amazing costumes and powerful moves made for a striking performance, as well as some stunning Peruvian flute music. Village Earth is eternally grateful to Peruanos Residentes en el Norte de Colorado. Founded in 1993 to research, preserve, and promote Peruvian culture through folkloric expression, the Peruvian group donated their time and effort to Village Earth’s A Night on the Amazon event. For more information about the Peruanos Residentes en el Norte de Colorado, check out their website: http://www.geocities.com/usaperurnc/. 
After the excitement of the dancing, George Stetson – Village Earth’s Latin America project coordinator – gave an outstanding presentation on the potential for a highly successful project with the indigenous Shipibo-Conibo people of Peru. He showed the link between preserving cultural diversity in the Amazon basin in order to protect the biodiversity of this biologically-critical region. A silent auction with crafts from around the world and local donations ended the evening. We would like to thank all who attended and made this night possible. And a special thanks to those local businesses that sponsored the event: Old Town Yoga, The Rio Grande Restaurant, Wild Oats, Odell’s Brewing Company, Avogadro’s Number, Olive Street Bakery, and KRFC.
GSLL 1501 – Approaches to Community Development
This course provides a framework for community development based on a participatory, bottom-up, multi-sector model. Various approaches have been used in community development with varying degrees of success. One approach that has consistently demonstrated effectiveness is the Village Earth model based on participatory practices.
Through personal and structural empowerment, the objectives of economic well-being, environmental sustainability, and socio-cultural vitalization can be met. By looking at an overview of the entire development process and using case studies, this course will prepare participants to work in the field of community development and illuminate how all of the development efforts fit together to support the overall goal of sustainability.
Upon completion of this course participants will be able to:
Compare different development approaches and evaluate their effectiveness.
Understand the basic principles that underlie sustainable development.
Incorporate participatory practices into community development activities
Design a development project based on the Village Earth model
Who should take this course? This course is suited for people who are interested in community development and work or plan to work in this field. This includes people working or volunteering at NGOs, NPOs, governmental organizations, without border organizations, or missionary organizations. In addition, people involved in funding community development projects benefit from this course.
