For our wedding anniversary, we traded our warm clothes and went to the sunny island of Hawaii. We spent nine days exploring the Big Island, discovering its beaches, mountains, communities, and culture. The luau dinner was a perfect way to cap our first night on the Big Island. There was music, dancing, storytelling, great food, and the people were…
Permaculture on Hawaii’s Big Island
La’akea Community is an intentional permaculture community near Pahoa, on the Big Island of Hawai’i. On our recent trip to the Big Island, we had a chance to visit La’akea and spend a night there learning about some of the farming techniques used in the community, as well how the community structures itself. The Community sits on approximately 23 acres…
Wanted: Good Food
Food. Shelter. Clothing. I remember growing up learning from school that these are our three basic needs. In this trinity, food is king for the very obvious reason that we will die without it. However, these days, with the proliferation of genetically-modified, chemically-manufactured, and highly-processed food, we can no longer say that what we are buying at the stores,…
Cob Building
The first time I heard about cob building was when Liter of Light pioneer, social entrepreneur Illac Diaz introduced dome-shaped mud houses in the Philippines. In 2005, he built a prototype in Escalante in Negros Occidental, very-well embraced by the media because it really was a promising innovative solution to the country’s housing problem.
Farmers on the Forefront
Last week I had a remarkable opportunity to visit the island of Mindanao. Since I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer, I am allowed to do dangerous things like ride motorcycles, climb the Mayon Volcano, and visit Mindanao under my own risk and without a crackdown from Washington. The island of Mindanao is known in most media circles as…