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Village Earth

Help Win an Orchard for Pine Ridge

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Village Earth affiliate, Sustainable Homestead Designs, based on the Pine Ridge Reservation has entered a contest to win an orchard from Dreyer’s Fruit Bars brand and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. In order to win, they need the most votes for their project. [iframe_loader width=”280” height=”620″ frameborder = ’0′ longdesc=’ ‘ marginheight=’0′ marginwidth=’0′ name=’ ‘ click_words=’ ‘ click_url=”” scrolling=’auto’ src=”https://naturalhomes.org/fbp.appeal.orchard.htm”] You can vote once per day (please do), here’s how!

  1. Go to www.communitiestakeroot.com
  2. Find “Manderson: Sustainable Homestead Designs” by clicking on the “List by State” tab and select South Dakota.
  3. Cast your vote.

Sustainable Homestead Designs is a project whose mission is to create sustainable housing and food sovereignty on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Home to the Oglala band of Lakota Sioux, Pine Ridge Reservation is one of the poorest reservations in the poorest county in the country. Rate of diabetes are staggeringly high in part due to lack of access to healthy food. Our homestead model site is located in the middle of the reservation in the White Horse Creek community, close to the community of Manderson that includes about 1000 residents. The closest shopping is 35 miles away in the town of Pine Ridge. The local grocery store does offer a small selection of fresh produce but supply is often limited and the quality poor. Organic produce is not available anywhere on the reservation. For organic produce and greater selection residents must travel 90 miles to Rapid City, a trip that is prohibitively expensive for most families. A fruit tree orchard in this location would offer a great resource to the people of Manderson and White Horse Creek by creating access to fresh organic produce as well as educational opportunities through workshops and classes that will be hosted on site. Further, it will create a wonderful launch pad from which we can initiate more orchards throughout the community and the reservation so that an even greater population can be served. For more information please visit: www.sustainablehomesteaddesigns.org.

Upcoming Courses in the Village Earth/CSU Online Certificate Program in Community-Based Development

Winter I Session

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.

Register Now »
Fall I Session

GSLL 1518 – Community-Based Food Systems

During this five week course, you will learn about various approaches to building community-based food systems and movements for food justice around the world. Together, we will evaluate successful efforts at food system relocalization and the protection of community food resources, as well as the factors that threaten these efforts.

Register Now »

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