Chile Trembles and the World Changes: by seconds and degrees

Hola Friends, We are just over three weeks out from the big shake with the dust now settling in Chile, and have a clearer picture of the damage. We realise that we are blessed and uniquely prepared to make a big difference in the restoration of Bio Bio Chile. In coming months we will be living up to our destiny as a regional centre and living university of Transition, fully engaged in regenerative design for eco-social regeneration.

Can you help us to invest in the resilience of our small rural community in Chile post quake as a living model of local resilience that can be replicated throughout this devastated region of Chile?

Vision is seeing things as they will be

We intend to quickly establish a model of disaster response that can be widely replicated in the Biobio region, and invest in the foundations of long term resilience in other communities like ours. We have established a strong foundation over the last few years here, and now we need your support to make the most of disaster as an opportunity for catalysing change.

We intend to install basic systems for water and food security for 80 people and to reconstruct two damaged houses for 9 people in two families. This will be implemented in coming weeks and months in collaboration with local, regional and national government, the permaculture institute of Chile, and international friends the Permaculture Research Institute, Holmgren Design Services etc. We have a multidisciplinary team of permaculture professionals and volunteers on standby willing to go, supported by a large network of people throughout Chile and around the planet. We want your help, the collective intelligence of our international learning community. Invest in our transition. 

There are many ways you can help

1. Donations can be made through the Permaculture Research Institute here – please reference "chile".
2. We need information. Do you have design(s) for permanent / emergencia small quick houses 35m2 with local bio materials. We are thinking round pole timber post and beam with earth bag footings (with recycled adobe), light straw clay (harvest time now) insulation walls floor and ceiling.
3. Construction details for Ferro cement tanks in Español, or any kind of water tanks.
4. Information on pumping solutions for shallow groundwater, and for drip irrigation – on flat sandy soils with no stream flow and 1300mm rain.  
5. Anything about grain mills.
6. Ideas for large water storage in sandy soils.
7. Woodstove / rocket stove stuff in Español.
8. Recommendations for machinery that may be available in Chile.
9. Advice on small scale solar generation.
10. Advice on round pole construction techniques, and milling and drying of small diameter eucalyptus glutens y nitens, large old macrocarpas and of 25 year untreated pine.
11. Volunteer; we need more hands, especially people who are skilled in construction and technology, in working with people, managing groups, facilitating etc, food growing and preservation, communications and reporting etc, etc etc.

Some News

We are well in El Manzano Biobio Chile, 130 kms from the epicentre. Despite the full-on quake the damage has been minor for most. Concepcion and coastal towns worst affected. Many in those areas are homeless and without basics. Aid has kicked in and things are normalising. The main problem is the minds of the people… their fears and addictions… as we are learning, their personal resilience. We are in a state of curfew for most of the region from 6pm till 12 midday. Food is scarce in most communities, supermarkets closed and empty…. most were ransacked within 8 hours of the first shake. The military are on the streets… the situation is a little tense… but improving rapidly. Many regional roads and bridges on the main highway Ruta 5 are severely damaged and transport is limited. You probably know as much as we do. There is a lot of stuff on youtube.

In El Manzano we are somewhat more prepared than most. We are 80 strong; 21 children, 27 women (two pregnant) and 32 men (during the event we were 140 with an additional 24 men, 28 women and 8 kids). And lucky. No one received even as much as a scratch. The trees didn’t fall. The ground didn’t swallow us up. And we were far enough away from any big urban centre. We have some minor damage to buildings, with two substandard shacks / homes in our village made inhabitable. Many are still sleeping in tents for fear of more quakes and building collapse. We have given our bioconstructions the best possible test and they passed with flying colours. We have manual pumps for water supply and abundant shallow ground water. The dam and a few bridges were destroyed, and we are doing a quick repair to get irrigation going again… materials are hard to come by in the area, we are improvising.

We have grown a lot of food this summer, and were in preservation mode until the earth moved… most of our produce survived with last minute redesign of shelving for earthquakes. We have 5 hectares of wheat and rye to mill, with 1.5 hectares of potatoes, maize, quinoa, amaranth, onions close to harvest, plenty of fruit (apples, blueberries, mushrooms etc.) we are drying, and plenty of veges. The two cows are still milking, eggs and meat. The electricity has now returned and we can irrigate the gardens a little better, have light, turned the freezer back on, and can communicate with the world.

As a community we have gathered together and reinforced our interdependence. We have realised that community is the key for our well being. That we are resilient and adaptable. The divisions between us are only illusion. Our little insignificant village has emerged stronger, with all its inherent unsustainability and barriers and its long chaotic history. There is life here, abundance, simple clean ethical living, humble loving peasants. We have ensured the safety of everyone and security of water and food. We have reassessed our vulnerabilities and our priorities for increasing our resilience drawn into sharp focus. The work we have done in the past two years investing in our community has been rewarded. El Manzano is a light of calm – a sane awake quality of not striving, of letting go into the unknown.  

Participatory Design

A meeting of emergency was held to refresh our plans for 2010. We currently have some funding to invest in the community with a pre-existing strategy to install appropriate technology in all the houses in the village, and to mobilise the community to participate in design for climate change. Our priorities have been redirected a little, and with blessings in disguise we now have full support and commitment from our community and the draft of a shared plan for action. We identified the following priorities:

• Regular community meetings with full participation
• Celebration together
• Manual and or solar / wind pumps
• Large water storages
• Food preservation
• Community gardens – winter is coming (seeds, tools, land)
• Community plant nursery
• A multi use community safety centre with public services
• Community storage of bulk foods
• Grain mill
• Small animals
• Diesel generators
• New more efficient wood stoves
• Composting toilets
• Communications
• Security response plan
• Machinery – rip saw, chainsaw mill, chainsaws etc.
• Energy production for simple needs
• Shared transport
• A plan for the development of community and individual resilience
• Tools for construct and food preserve

This is a work in progress. Detail plans will emerge soon. Please be patient with us.

Resilience and Vulnerability

We have learned that resilience is a natural inbuilt characteristic of the natural world. And, she is much bigger than us. We need not worry about the future too much, we will survive. Resilience is something that we have to remember from our past, and to cultivate in our communities. It means the capacity to cope with life’s adversities, overcome and even be transformed by them (Grotberg). Resilience means functional connections, networks and community, taking care of the whole system. By experiencing adversity we can adapt, and if we heed the message well, we can build resistance to future crises, and provide living examples for others to practice.

We can move beyond sustainability and mere mitigation, towards a more resilient way of living, one that rolls with nature and rebounds quickly – not a blind bounce back from crisis, but a practical transformation. We can let go of the old, let go into not knowing, and we can create the new. With every breath we choose, we speak into the world and so design, and so co-create the world around us. By leveraging the capacities of our networks, by starting small, and thinking big, we can catalyse fundamental change.

This great transition has never been more urgent, we need not wait for disaster to act. It is never to late to adopt common sense. It´s never too late to invest in resilience.

Any help you can give us will be very wisely applied.

There was a large fire, the moon was in its glory and animals in the distance warned us that the earth was still trembling, in the circle around the fire passed the tobacco of the word. And word for word the people did nothing but confirm that he understood the message and that resilience also involves the "relationships" human, spiritual and multiple connectivity we have between us and nature. – Ruben

Love from Chile

Grifen, Javiera and the families of El Manzano.

Update: ‘Letters from Chile‘ reports from Craig are coming in. Check them out!

Donate via PRI USA (USA residents)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here
Donate via PRI Australia (rest of world)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here
*Please be sure to click on the ‘Add special instructions to seller’ link, and then type ‘CHILE’ in the field provided, to ensure these fund are correctly diverted.

El Manzano in Transition – Towards Community Resilience, by Design

by Grifen Hope of Ecoescuela El Manzano

1. PROJECT AIM
2. BACKGROUND
3. PROBLEM & LOCAL CONTEXT
4. OBJECTIVES & ACTIONS
5. NETWORKS
6. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

1. PROJECT AIM

The primary objective of this project is to assist devastated communities of Chile to plan and design their own resilient settlements, to quickly recover from the devastating Earthquake of February 27 2010, and to build long-term resistance to the future effects of natural disaster, economic, climate, and energy disruption.

This project presents a call for regional, national and international investment in living examples of good practice in the planning and design of resilient human settlements. Evidence of the outcomes from this approach will be used to influence regional and national government officials and policy makers to replicate the model throughout the affected regions of BìoBìo and Maule.

2. BACKGROUND

On February 27th 2010 Chile was hit by a ´Mega-earthquake´ that shook the very foundations of Chilean society. In total 4.2 million people have been affected, many of whom are still without basic public services. Approximately 1.5 million homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged, with an estimated 1 million people left homeless. Initial estimates suggest the recovery will cost US$30 billion and take 3-4 years.

On reflection it could have been much worse. While the quake was 500 times stronger than that in Haiti and devastation is enormous, Chile has fared relatively well. Compared to Haiti the death toll and damage to buildings and infrastructure has been moderate. With a long history of devastating earthquakes the Chilean government and people are well prepared to withstand, respond and recover from a large earthquake.

At this point in time the priority is still on the relief response and providing basic needs to hundreds of thousands of affected people. However, attention is now turning to planning for the reconstruction phase. I think some concise reference to the vulnarabilities of modern industrial systems to multiple likely future impacts of peak oil, climate change, etc. is warranted to explain why this local resilience approach is so important to advance, rather than using existing local national and international capacity to rebuild communities on the old pattern.

3. PROBLEM & LOCAL CONTEXT

The village of El Manzano, home to 28 families, is the first official Transition Town in Latin America and in a pre-earthquake process of redesigning itself for resilience to disaster. The village remains highly vulnerable to the systemic crises of natural disaster, economic, climate, and energy disruption. Many of the basic necessities such as water, food and medical care are dependent on external resources, and existing housing is not fit for human habitation. These poverty related issues have been compounded by the recent earthquake. As El Manzano is out of the main disaster area it is very low on the priority list for recovery. In response the community has identified its own vulnerabilities;

1. Dependence on electricity for water for drinking, irrigation of crops and animals.
2. Lack of access to land for subsistence crops, low fertility and low moisture holding capacity of existing soils, with dependence on unhealthy external food sources.
3. Earthquake damage to two houses making them uninhabitable, and a general state of substandard housing for the majority of village residents.
4. Reliance on septic tanks for household and human waste disposal, subsequent excessive use of water and contamination of shallow groundwater used for drinking.
5. Low participation in community activities and the design of a community plan for the development of local resilience.

4. OBJECTIVES & ACTIONS

The community of El Manzano has identified the following priorities for disaster response and recovery in coming months. These activities will provide practical training opportunities for local residents and permaculture trainees in construction of simple systems, and in regenerative design that can be replicated in other communities.

1. To ensure water supply for 28 families independent of the electricity grid for drinking and irrigation.
   (a). Implement appropriate solutions for the supply of gravity fed household drinking water and irrigation systems to generate resilience in drought times or black out.
   (b). Manufacture of PVC hand pumps for extraction of clean shallow groundwater.
   (c). Recovery of existing deep wells which can extract water without electricity.
2. To ensure local food security for 71 people by increasing natural fertility and water holding capacity of soil using locally available materials and recycling of organic wastes.
   (a). Establish 1.2 hectares of community garden to meet the vitamin and calorie needs of 71 residents.
   (b). Cultivate 1.9 hectares of community compost and grain crops for the food self-reliance of 71 people.
   (c). Implement a local food cooperative so residents can purchase bulk food in the village.
   (d). Development of soil improvement techniques and organic soil amendments.
3. To rebuild two houses made uninhabitable in the earthquake (affecting 2 families: 3 children, 3 women, 4 men) as a model for other residents to improve substandard housing conditions.
   (a). Rebuild the 40 m2 house of Don Oscar and family using locally available natural materials to be earthquake resistant.
4. To ensure appropriate sanitation for 28 families, reduce need for water and reduce groundwater contamination.
   (a). Reduce water consumption and contamination of ground water with construction of dry composting toilets.
   (b). Implementation of simple bio-filters for the safe re-use of grey water in gardens.
5. To support the community design process in EL Manzano and develop a Community Resilience Action Plan.
   (a). Provide a model of community-led planning and design for community that can be replicated widely in the affected regions of BíoBío and Maule, and around the world.
   (b). Disseminate the results widely to local and regional authorities to attract attention and replication in other affected communities of BíoBío and Maule.

5. NETWORKS

Ecoescuela El Manzano (EEM) is uniquely positioned to make a big difference in the reconstruction process. EEM has developed strong relationships with the El Manzano Neighbourhood Association and Youth Group, and assisted a core team to begin the Transition planning processes here. Relationships have been formed with the mayor and local council of Cabrero and their PRODESAL programme supporting rural women in small enterprise. A partnership has been formed with the regional demonstration centre Centre of Education and Technology (CET) Yumbel to share resources and expertise. EEM is working with the foundation Work for a Brother to duplicate the El Manzano project in some of the worst disaster affected communities on the coast of BíoBío. An existing contract with the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) through the Environmental Protection Fund exists to install appropriate technology during 2009 in a community demonstration centre, and in 2010 in all houses in the village. In 2009 El Manzano was recognised as an example of best practice in community development by national organisation Territorio Chile. At a national level Ecoescuela has been instrumental in forming the Instituto Chileno de Permacultura and training a network of 140 permaculture designers and teachers. At an international level Ecoescuela is a regional training centre for sustainability in partnership with the Permaculture Research Institute, Holmgren Design Services, Gaia University and the Transition Towns Network.

6. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Ecoescuela El Manzano has committed to raise US$50,000 to augment an existing US$17,500 for this ambitious and important project in 2010.

A donation from you will help turn disaster into opportunity. Through redesign of damaged settlements we can alleviate emergency need, and invest in long term resilience.

Gracias from Chile!

advance to the worldwide permaculture community for getting behind this work. You never know – in the future you may be the recipient of such assistance.

Donate via PRI USA (USA residents)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here
Donate via PRI Australia (rest of world)* Other non-paypal methods of donating here
*Please be sure to click on the ‘Add special instructions to seller’ link, and then type ‘CHILE’ in the field provided, to ensure these fund are correctly diverted.