permaculture

["Marsha Hanzi" <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

Ava,

Maybe it's time for these girls to start teaching other youths...

Marsha

----- Original Message -----
From: Ava Devenport <essenheal@iname.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 12:00 AM
Subject: Suggestions Please


> Dear List Members:
>
> I am about to embark with a small group of youth to my little piece of
> heaven in Colorado.  There are two 17 year old girls in the group that
have
> made this trip for the past 4 years and I'm running out of 'new' to teach
> them.
>
> Most of the youth in my groups have been females, and I've noticed there
> seems to be a 'new' type of feminist emerging.  No longer the bra-burners,
> but the young women who feel they can be feminine and also exert
> themselves.  I'm not saying the feminists of the 60's-70's weren't
> feminine, but others seemed to percive us in this manner.  The emerging
> feminist I see knows who they are, are strong young women and are
committed
> to their children and the land.  They nurture and have a strong commitment
> to the future.  As I've seen things, the young women today are making more
> of the decisions as to where and how they live, whether it be with a mate
> or alone.  They seem to have more interest and commitment to returning to
a
> more nature-based way of life.
>
> Over the past years, I have worked with these two girls in particular,
they
> were both city girls, one from a 'bad' family, no father, mother took in
> drunken/drugged mates, was content with paying the way just to have a man
> and was content to be a waitress, have fallen arches and carpal tunnel
> syndrome, rather than educate herself beyond her highschool diploma, even
> though she could have.  The other young girl comes from a very stable
> family, her parents are both teachers, but she had never ventured more
than
> 50 miles from home and was very protected.
>
> I see these two girls from very different backgrounds come together and
> meld their minds and personalities as though they have always been
> together.  They were in awe the first time they ever saw the sun set over
> the Rockies, in more awe when they saw for the first time in their lives,
> stars and planets in the blackness of the night with no surrounding city
> lights to obscure the view.  I taught them how to camp and hike, build a
> fire, forage for roots and grow their own food.  How to make soap and
> shampoo from wild Sweet William and a little borax and hot water.
>
> They have worked with me, side by side, clearing silt from the ravines and
> hauling it to mulch garden beds, they have learned how to truly listen
and,
> in the silence, hear nature.  They have learned how to feel subtle
energies
> coming from the earth, people, animals and to sense the energy flows
around
> them.  They know how to make 'pottery' from clay they've dug and added
sand
> to, how to color their tiles with plant decoctions, how to cultivate and
> reforest and restore.  They can make their own adobe bricks and build
> beautiful monuments, walls, fireplaces and ovens.
>
> They know native plants and their importance to the land, how to use them
> for tea, food, medicine, how to wildcraft with integrity and always put
> something back.
>
> What more can I teach them?  Or, should I now begin to learn 'from' them?
>
> They will spend the next three weeks living with the land, they have
> courage.  It's hot now in the high mountain desert, but very cold at
night.
> They used to be afraid of the cows, now they respect the mountain lion and
> the bear with her cubs.
>
> There's a traditional sweat lodge happening about 200 miles north of us
> that will incorporate the teachings of the Stone Clan People.  Should I
> take them there for a new experience, will it be too much for them?  They
> also go to the HerbFest with me in Iowa and have endured grueling
volunteer
> schedules at the botanical sanctuary in Ohio and re-developing the
wetlands
> in a state park near us.
>
> I love working with the youth, especially the girls with their high hopes
> and their fears of tomorrow, I don't want to push them too hard.  Any
> suggestions?  What would you teach them if you could?  I need to know this
> before Wednesday and would truly appreciate all input.
>
> Blessings,
> Ava
>
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