I am busy preparing to take a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course, offered by Tom and Zaia Kendall of PermEco in Australia. It’s an online course, and even though their courses and other activities are donation-based, I have still paid what I would have paid to take the same course here in South Africa. To me, that wasn’t pocket change, but I believe that it would be worth every last cent.
Strangely enough, I have owned the recommended book for years already, and I almost have enough coloured pencils to supply a Kindergarten class, but I still need some formal maps and permissions and a tracing paper pad to work on. A lightbox will obviously be nice, too, but for now, I shall have to do without.
Why take a course? Don’t you know just about everything there is to know about Permaculture?
Not quite, no. There is always more to learn, as technology evolves and more experiences are shared. Permaculture has outgrown its baby shoes and is becoming an international way of looking at how we interact with nature and each other.
Tom Kendall has structured his course back to the roots of Bill Mollison’s original teachings. What that means to me is that the knowledge that I shall gain would be pure and unadulterated by politics and other agendas.
What I expect is not only to learn new applications of Permaculture that I can work with here in Rustenburg but also to be qualified for a new career, internationally. Frankly, I don’t want to do what I am doing now until I am old(er) and gray(er), and if I can move my life to safer shores and soils, I definitely will. It would be difficult to simply pack up and go, and never look back, but nothing worthwhile has ever been developed from within anyone’s comfort zone. It is time to give the edges of mine a little shake.
To me, Permaculture is a beautiful system, as it transcends every barrier ever put up. There is no room for religion, race, politics, gender, or even sexual preference. Permaculture can be applied whether you live in a small city apartment or on a massive stretch of wilderness in Alaska. In the end, it’s about making life better for every single living thing on this planet. Yes, that includes meat-loving people like me. After all, that sheep had a great life until a few really horrible moments right at the end. If the knife was honed well enough, those moments would have been brief, so no, I don’t feel guilty.
You live in an apartment and you work full-time. Where are you going to fit in the time for a project? And what will your project be?
I am fortunate to have a very supportive boss, who appreciates my… um… enthusiasm for new challenges. He has agreed to actually let me design the project around the small library that I am currently working at. I have no idea how many (if any) of my design suggestions will be implemented, but nothing stops me from turning this final assignment into a proposal and getting it done. After all, it’s “green” and even in Africa, that counts for something.
What I’ll do, is present my project to him (and some other influential people) and ask him to help me structure that formal proposal. Who knows? This could become an interesting portfolio piece.
On top of that, Australia is on the other side of the planet, time-wise…
I know. It probably won’t make much of a difference to when I listen to or watch the lectures, but it will influence my interactions with my fellow students, and since the project will be subject to peer review, it’s vitally important that I meet some of them in the online groups and forums. For six weeks, my waking hours will therefore be pretty unusual.
And finally…
As we are all aware, we’re living in “interesting times”. Most folks have a lot to stress about, and I had gotten worried that I would not be able to take the course. I am, and I am actually looking forward to the experience. This won’t just be another paper qualification, but one that I can carry with me to wherever my path takes me. For now, that seems to be nowhere, as the skies are still closed to most South Africans, vaccinated or not. Hopefully, that will change soon, and I will have a lot more to write and blog about. Adventure awaits, and I plan to meet it halfway.