Update from Bob in India
Excerpted from www.bobsarah.blogspot.com
Tour of India One - Auroville
As prefaced, we traveled to Auroville from Sri Lanka on the 5th of February and remained the rest of the month, our purpose to visit a Wild Gift project called Convergence (www.thepointofconvergence.org), a residential program in experiential environmental education created by leader Iain Duncan. Wild Gift (www.wildgift.org) is the nonprofit organization Bob founded that supports Iain and other new leaders, age 21-30, who have a self-designed ‘better world’ project proposal that contributes to the development of sustainable communities and balance with wild nature. The Wild Gift program shapes the leader’s proposal into a business contract, then provides funding and mentor support during the project’s first year. Convergence was Launched in October 2007. We were eager to check-out the project and contribute to its progress. See how the program fit with the utopian city of Auroville. Of Auroville’s distinct communities with names like Certitude and Serenity, Convergence is located in the Evergreen Community. All of the Auroville communities are small, home to fewer than 50 people in most cases. The numbers swell during the tourist season of Jan - Mar. Tourists contribute significantly to the Auroville economy relative to lodging and participation in its smorgasboard of fitness programs, which center on yoga, other movement/breath disciplines, and nutrition.
Evergreen is a forest of approximately 25 acres dominated by the Australian neem and acacia. Cashew, a tree native to India, is the exception. Three families reside here, comprising its community. The area occupied by the homes of Dave and Natasha Storey; Amir and Tamar plus five guest resident structures and a community kitchen represent the Convergence compound. In keeping with the theme of integrating nature and appreciation of the dry, tropical climate, the structures lack outside walls. Sarah and I spent three weeks in one of the guest structures, a most delightful tree-house. Our bath and toilet was located at ground-level. Solar panels provide lighting to the entire compound and power the pump which draws water from its aquifer. The waste stream consists of composting toilets where human waste is recycled into the forest and community garden; kitchen non-organics sorted for use in the outlying Indian communities.
Iain and the Evergreen Community found each other. Dave, an Englishman, and his wife Natasha, an Indian, had spent years working in UN aide and relief missions, primarily in Africa, that Dave directed. Amir, from Israel and Tamar from South Africa met and married in Israel. He was a soldier and owner of an insurance business. She a translator and marketing consultant. Both couples have two children each. They wanted to raise their children in the kind of environment they found at Evergreen in Auroville. And both couples wanted to parlay their multi-cultural world views and the lifestyle pivot they prize in connection and balance with nature into a residential program at Evergreen. A third couple, Mark and Mathilde from Spain, also with two young children and living in another of Auroville's communities, would also be partners in the program. Mark's passion for cooking and organic foods provided that important element to a well rounded 'sustainable lifestyle' program. Iain had already worked in experiential environmental programs in Central America and Canada and was determined to design his own project. He proved to be the catalyst at Evergreen that led to the Convergence program. He directed its implementation in the first year at Evergreen with Wild Gift's mentoring and financial support.
Guest residents live the Convergence lifestyle while in residence at Evergreen, are in daily contact with its principals and directed to complimentary programs in greater Auroville. The philosophical component of the program is Deep Ecology, the 'new environmentalism' that places far more emphasis on the intrinsic values of nature rather than our utilitarian connection. Sarah and I participated in a week long Deep Ecology workshop led by the Convergence team. A 'classroom understanding' of the platform principals of Deep Ecology is integrated with field exercises leading to a stronger personal connection with nature, yoga/body movement, and appreciation of organic cuisine as art. Sarah and I chipped in with sharing experiences related to wild as opposed to domesticated nature and how we integrate the wild into our lives. The take-home charge, something worked on during the week, was for each participant to write his/her guide book for the next generation. Lots of interpersonal appreciation marked the entire week. Sarah and I have gained new friends for sure.
A week of post workshop evaluation with the Convergence Team was a high energy dialogue and very rewarding. We are confident of the future of Convergence as Iain returns to his home in Toronto, Canada to organize and direct a community grassroots organizing team for a nonprofit there and, separately, to found Convergence Canada which will maintain ties with Convergence India.
Tour of India One - Auroville
As prefaced, we traveled to Auroville from Sri Lanka on the 5th of February and remained the rest of the month, our purpose to visit a Wild Gift project called Convergence (www.thepointofconvergence.org), a residential program in experiential environmental education created by leader Iain Duncan. Wild Gift (www.wildgift.org) is the nonprofit organization Bob founded that supports Iain and other new leaders, age 21-30, who have a self-designed ‘better world’ project proposal that contributes to the development of sustainable communities and balance with wild nature. The Wild Gift program shapes the leader’s proposal into a business contract, then provides funding and mentor support during the project’s first year. Convergence was Launched in October 2007. We were eager to check-out the project and contribute to its progress. See how the program fit with the utopian city of Auroville. Of Auroville’s distinct communities with names like Certitude and Serenity, Convergence is located in the Evergreen Community. All of the Auroville communities are small, home to fewer than 50 people in most cases. The numbers swell during the tourist season of Jan - Mar. Tourists contribute significantly to the Auroville economy relative to lodging and participation in its smorgasboard of fitness programs, which center on yoga, other movement/breath disciplines, and nutrition.
Evergreen is a forest of approximately 25 acres dominated by the Australian neem and acacia. Cashew, a tree native to India, is the exception. Three families reside here, comprising its community. The area occupied by the homes of Dave and Natasha Storey; Amir and Tamar plus five guest resident structures and a community kitchen represent the Convergence compound. In keeping with the theme of integrating nature and appreciation of the dry, tropical climate, the structures lack outside walls. Sarah and I spent three weeks in one of the guest structures, a most delightful tree-house. Our bath and toilet was located at ground-level. Solar panels provide lighting to the entire compound and power the pump which draws water from its aquifer. The waste stream consists of composting toilets where human waste is recycled into the forest and community garden; kitchen non-organics sorted for use in the outlying Indian communities.
Iain and the Evergreen Community found each other. Dave, an Englishman, and his wife Natasha, an Indian, had spent years working in UN aide and relief missions, primarily in Africa, that Dave directed. Amir, from Israel and Tamar from South Africa met and married in Israel. He was a soldier and owner of an insurance business. She a translator and marketing consultant. Both couples have two children each. They wanted to raise their children in the kind of environment they found at Evergreen in Auroville. And both couples wanted to parlay their multi-cultural world views and the lifestyle pivot they prize in connection and balance with nature into a residential program at Evergreen. A third couple, Mark and Mathilde from Spain, also with two young children and living in another of Auroville's communities, would also be partners in the program. Mark's passion for cooking and organic foods provided that important element to a well rounded 'sustainable lifestyle' program. Iain had already worked in experiential environmental programs in Central America and Canada and was determined to design his own project. He proved to be the catalyst at Evergreen that led to the Convergence program. He directed its implementation in the first year at Evergreen with Wild Gift's mentoring and financial support.
Guest residents live the Convergence lifestyle while in residence at Evergreen, are in daily contact with its principals and directed to complimentary programs in greater Auroville. The philosophical component of the program is Deep Ecology, the 'new environmentalism' that places far more emphasis on the intrinsic values of nature rather than our utilitarian connection. Sarah and I participated in a week long Deep Ecology workshop led by the Convergence team. A 'classroom understanding' of the platform principals of Deep Ecology is integrated with field exercises leading to a stronger personal connection with nature, yoga/body movement, and appreciation of organic cuisine as art. Sarah and I chipped in with sharing experiences related to wild as opposed to domesticated nature and how we integrate the wild into our lives. The take-home charge, something worked on during the week, was for each participant to write his/her guide book for the next generation. Lots of interpersonal appreciation marked the entire week. Sarah and I have gained new friends for sure.
A week of post workshop evaluation with the Convergence Team was a high energy dialogue and very rewarding. We are confident of the future of Convergence as Iain returns to his home in Toronto, Canada to organize and direct a community grassroots organizing team for a nonprofit there and, separately, to found Convergence Canada which will maintain ties with Convergence India.
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