Jame

Not sure what that first one is all about. ******** to you too!

Alan, I thank you for reminding me about the seed debate. Shortly after I arrived in Kenya, I wrote this entry that I have just dug out and re-read together with the comments it got. Interesting how many similarities I see between your journey of discovery in Tala and my own. Love to you and Sara; welcome back home.

Christine, your comments are always an uplift, I think you and I inspire one another to some extent; be that so I’m happy about it.

Not much news here. Enjoying tastes of spring, working, training for a half marathon, doing pilates, continuing to build our little family of sorts. Am trying to get Reece exicted about the idea of spending some time in an intentional community but thus far my cat-ish man will have none of it! Also watching the downturn in the American economy – trying not to spit nails hearing about Bush’s $150Billion bail out plan to keep people consuming!

Have been relishing in the stories of a new found favorite author Anne Lamott. If you’ve not read her before, I recommend especially Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. I think you might enjoy her as an old friend.

Take care, Christine

P.S. just a comment to Alan. First, hope you are enjoying the gifts of Tala! Second, the likes of Monsanto’s BT corn and suicide sees are detrimental to the ENTIRE world – not just South countries. Twenty-five years ago, here in Canada, we had a public seed system – a result of the sharing and exchange of seeds between farmers, formal seed breeders, and public, that is, government and university-run seed breeding programs. Today, private interests have radically transformed the Canadian seed system, and our government is dangerously close to handing over what remains of the public aspect of this system to a handful of large, transnational corporations. We Canadians have much to learn from South country activists (like Dr. Vandana Shiva who wrote Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge) on this issue.

Just reporting in from Tala… everything’s ok with Sara and I. VSO had us quarantined at the Methodist Guesthouse for a few weeks (remember that place!) but we’re back now.

You mentioned permaculture… I studied sustainable agriculture in university a few years ago, and wrote a few papers about permaculture. One important breakthrough I learned was: not all pesticides are bad. I used to be a typical “no GMO, no pesticides” hippie, but now I know that some pesticides are naturally occurring and biodegrade just fine. Not all GMO is bad either… just the likes of Monsanto’s BT corn and suicide seeds (which are detrimental to the third world who depend on seed saving!).

Keep in touch!

-Alan
http://sarainkenya.org