permaculture

[Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>]

Hi! I am writing to you in the hope that you guys know someone who would fit
    a job... I am looking for a permaculture trainer with experience in small
    scale, low tech community based irrigation that speaks either French or
    (preferably) Swahili, and has experience working in developing countries.
    The job is based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, formally 
Zaire),
    working for an Irish NGO called GOAL (www.goal.ie). Although you have
    probably heard lots about the security situation in DRC recently, 
where the
    project site is there are few security issues, indeed I have been here 9
    months and have never heard a gun being fired. Most of the insecurity 
is in
    the North-East of the country, and the project site is in the South-East
    (based in a town called Manono, in North Katanga province).
    I have set up and run a food security project along permaculture 
lines, and
    now I am leaving and am desperate to find someone with the same 
worldview as
    me to continue, expand and improve on the work I have done.
    I have set up three 'agriculture centres' which are part research, part
    demonstrations (permaculture of course), part seed producers and mostly
    training venues. Each centre has a 'school building' in it, designed for
    training of local innovative people etc etc.
    I have successfully run 2 permaculture design courses here and they 
are very

- Ignored:
    well received. The local people, who are a wonderful bunch (although 
they've
    been treated really badly by the events in their country), are hungry for
    training and knowledge. The education system and the opportunities 
that they
    get are awful. It is really rewarding working here.

    I have recuited 30 people as a province-wide 'extension service', who also
    do research, distribute seeds and tools and lots of other things besides.
    They have received a permaculture design course and are now assisting 
people
    in their farms to improve harvests, fertility and management while 
attacking
    pests.

    I have done the set-up of the project. The next phase of the project (well
    funded, by the way) is:

    - to expand the ag centres into training venues: design and implement
    agricultural curricula, train trainers and get them running the courses,
    continue producing seed for distributing to farmers, and improve on the
    demonstrations in the centres.

    - implement 2 pilot small scale community based irrigation projects, to
    increase the number of crops of rice that can be grown in the year 
from 2 to
    3, maybe 4. A multitude of sites are possible for this, but first we 
need to
    figure out exactly how to do it in the local context, hence running 2 
pilots
    forst which can be expanded / replicated at a later date

    - ongoing management and development of extension service, including
    designing extension and training materials such as posters, examples and
    leaflets

    - distribute seeds and tools to 10,000 families (I have already done one
    distribution, but the poverty and effects of war have led us to conclude
    that more seeds and tools are needed by the locals before the local
    agricultural economy starts again in any meaningful way. With that hopeful
    goal in mind we have rehabilitated 5 markets too)

    There is room for lots of flexibility in this project. Although I 
wrote the
    proposal, it may require modifications / improvements.... one of the best
    things about GOAL is that they are flexible and will allow changes to
    project proposals as long as they are well justified.

    The main language here is Swahili, although lots of people speak 
Frenck too.
    English is virtually useless here although it is the language of the
    institution GOAL.

    At present there are 8 expatriates living here and working for GOAL. 
We live
    in one compound which is also our office. We live fairly comfortably,
    especially since we got solar power. We have lots of vehicles and 
tools etc
    and are pretty much independant, with good logistics with Goma which is
    where the country HQ are.

    If you know of anyone who is interested in doing this challenging but
    rewarding job, please let them know, or if you could advertise this so 
that
    it gets maximum coverage the people here will be very grateful! For more
    details contact me direct (Attn Dom at march@inmarsat.francetelecom.fr) or
    check out the job advert on GOAL's web site. Applications have to go 
through
    GOAL.

    I hope you can help. Time is running out. I leave in 5 weeks time and we
    hope that a replacement can be found as soon as possible to ensure
    continuation of the project.

    Sincerely,

    Dom Kihara-Hunt,
    Permaculture Trainer, GOAL DRC