permaculture

[Jim <ashevillecurrencyproject@gmail.com>]

I was at one of the many simultaneous house parties that took place 
around the USA yesterday, in celebration of the Nobel Prize going to 
Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank. The house parties were 
organized by RESULTS,  ( results.org ) an anti-hunger group.

The most intriguing thing for me was the revelation that, as a condition 
of getting a loan, borrowers promise to plant vegetables. Here's the 
text from the website, and the link to it.
-- Jim

The 16 decisions of Grameen Bank
http://www.grameen-info.org/bank/the16.html
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1. We shall follow and advance the four principles of Grameen Bank --- 
Discipline, Unity, Courage and Hard work  in all walks of our lives.
2. Prosperity we shall bring to our families.
3. We shall not live in dilapidated houses. We shall repair our houses 
and work towards constructing new houses at the earliest.
4. We shall grow vegetables all the year round. We shall eat plenty of 
them and sell the surplus.
5. During the plantation seasons, we shall plant as many seedlings as 
possible.
6. We shall plan to keep our families small. We shall minimize our 
expenditures. We shall look after our health.
7. We shall educate our children and ensure that they can earn to pay 
for their education.
8. We shall always keep our children and the environment clean.
9. We shall build and use pit-latrines.
10. We shall drink water from tubewells. If it is not available, we 
shall boil water or use alum.
11. We shall not take any dowry at our sons' weddings, neither shall we 
give any dowry at our daughters wedding. We shall keep our centre free 
from the curse of dowry. We shall not practice child marriage.
12. We shall not inflict any injustice on anyone, neither shall we allow 
anyone to do so.
13. We shall collectively undertake bigger investments for higher incomes.
14. We shall always be ready to help each other. If anyone is in 
difficulty, we shall all help him or her.
15. If we come to know of any breach of discipline in any centre, we 
shall all go there and help restore discipline.
16. We shall take part in all social activities collectively.