permaculture

[Skye <skye@tortuga.com>]

Hola Thilo Pfennig

"I think everybody can have access to the internet"  -- wow!!!

Let me tell another story.

Yesterday I was in a course with people from isolated Mayan villages.
The theme of the workshop was water harvesting and conservation. We
stood in the 42deg (C) heat while I demonstrated sheet mulching around 
a fruit tree as a way to reduce evaporation. At the end, they said they
thought it was a good idea (in saying so they were challenging and
breaking many strong cultural patterns) but asked me if I knew where
they could get the newspaper. 

In asking further I realised that most of these people had never had the
opportunity to learn to read or write (although all were totally fluent
in at least two languages!). There is no newspaper in their village.

I guess because their disposable income is effectively nothing,
globalisation has not yet exploited their village. Some have only
recently received connection to the electricity grib (which inevitably
brings with it the Coca Cola truck!!!).

In the workship we also built a type of ferro-cement tank of 2000litres,
at a cost of $40 - but for most of them that was simply far too
expensive - although a few expressed an indication that they would try
to save their money in the hope that they could build one next year.

Access to internet????? They have no money. Few phones exist in the
community. Most cannot read. And more importantly the very concept is
totally foreign to them. Even if my spanish was good enough to translate
it, 99% of what is written in this listservor would be utter giggerish
and their comprehension - although if we cared to listern they could
teach us a great deal.

Its fine for some of us to be connected into the global economy,
especially if we use it constructively. But don't get caught into
believing the corporate propaganda about a better world for all. The
rich are getting richer (and better connected) - the poor are still poor
- and getting more so.

Stay connected, but also try to remember what the reality is in this
world. Some have, most do not.

Skye   

-- 
Skye - Apdo # 391,  Patzcuaro, Michoacan, CP. 61600 México. 
fax  (52) 01 (434) 24743
Profesor y diseñador en Permacultura
Director del Instituto de Permacultura de México A.C.
Talleres de desarrollo humano, planeación participativa y 
economía comunitaria.



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